Performance Measurement and Reporting in the Rate Collection Agency (Northern Ireland Assembly Papers)

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www.videocreditscore.com - collection agency - This video Q&A addresses the definition of a credit collection agency and how they work with credit card companies.

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Debt collections is a task nobody enjoys doing. Business owners naturally prefer that their customers pay on time and that friendly relations are maintained all around. But truth is, there are customers who are hard to collect from. There are cases when the debtor can not be reached by mail, phone and email. There are even those who simply vanish, leaving you in despair over the loss of funds that would have made a big difference in your business operations. But bleak though the situation is, everything is not yet lost. You can still employ a collection agency.

Employing debt collection agencies should only be resorted to after you have tried all other conceivable means of debt collection. A debt collection agency is an entity that provides debt collection services. By employing a debt collection agency, you are in effect, outsourcing your debt collection functions.

By employing a debt collections agency, you do not generate more opportunity costs. Instead of spending frustrating hours on the telephone, writing mails and emails to reach your phantom debtor, you can do other more productive things with your time.

And debt collection agencies are effective in inducing people to pay their debts. Most people are wary of collection agencies. The moment their debts are with collection agencies, bad things happen to their credit records. Collection agencies are also persistent in their efforts to collect the money, thus a constant stream of phone calls is expected. Employing a collection agency proclaims to your customers that you are determined to collect.

Debt collection agencies can also help you with filing a case in court if such becomes necessary. Collection agencies are proficient in debt litigation and will be valuable if you decide to go this route. Of course, you have to make sure that the debt owed is worth the cost of going to court.

Finally, the best thing about collection agencies is the fact that you don't pay them anything while they are trying to collect off your customer. They work on commission basis, payable only after they have managed to collect from the debtor. Thus, if the collection agency is not able to collect, you saved time and money that you would have spent had you been doing the collecting yourself. If the debt collection agency succeeds, then you get your money back minus the paid commission that's money well spent.

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Industry Risk Ratings Synopsis

This Industry Risk Ratings report from IBISWorld evaluates the inherent risks associated with the Debt Collection and Credit Agencies in Australia industry. Industry Risk is assumed to be 'the difficulty, or otherwise, of the business operating environment'.

The report looks at the operational risk associated with this industry. Three types of risk are recognized in our analysis. These are: risk arising from within the industry itself (structural risk), risks arising from the expected future performance of the industry (growth risk) and risk arising from forces external to the industry (external sensitivity risk).

This approach is new in that it analyses non-financial information surrounding each industry. Industries are scored on a 9-point scale, where 1 represents the lowest risk and 9 the highest. The Industry Risk score measures expected Industry Risk over the coming 12-18 months.

Industry Definition

This industry includes establishments that provide consumer credit reports and ratings, opinions and risk assessments on companies, and various financial instruments and arrangements. It also includes establishments that provide debt collection services (also known as mercantile services).

Report Contents

Risk Overview

The Risk Overview chapter includes sections on Industry Definition and Activities, Industry Risk Score and Risk Rating Analysis. The Industry Definition and Activities section provides a detailed definition of the activities carried out by operators in this industry as defined in NAICS. A list of the primary activities of the industry is also included. The Industry Risk Score section provides the Overall Industry Risk Score as well as the Risk Scores for each of the three types of risk covered that combine to form the Overall Industry Risk Score. These three types of risk are Structural Risk, Growth Risk and External Sensitivity Risk. The Risk Rating Analysis section discusses the underlying factors contributing to the Overall Industry Risk Score.

Structural Risk

The Structural Risk chapter looks at risk arising from within the industry itself and provides a detailed discussion of the industry’s level of exposure to seven key indicators. These key indicators are Barriers to Entry, Competition, Industry Exports, Industry Imports, Level of Assistance, Life Cycle Stage and Volatility of Industry. The Overall Structural Risk Score is a weighted aggregation of these seven key indicators. Each of the key indicators is discussed in detail in this section.

Growth Risk

The Growth Risk chapter looks at risks arising from the expected future performance of the industry. The Overall Growth Risk Score is determined by amalgamating the scores for Recent Industry Growth and Forecast Industry Growth. Detailed analysis is provided discussing the reasons for the growth scores of both.

Sensitivity Risk

The Sensitivity Risk chapter looks at risks arising from forces (sensitivities) external to the industry. The Overall External Sensitivity Risk Score is determined by identifying the most significant (up to 6) external factors and weighting them to represent how significant each sensitivity is to the performance of the industry. Examples of External Sensitivities are Exchange Rates, Interest Rates, Commodity Prices and Government Regulations. There is also a detailed analysis of the affect each of the sensitivities has on the industry, including charts and data tables where appropriate.

Industry Risk and Industry Risk Scoring Methodology

This chapter provides an overview of how IBISWorld defines Industry Risk and discusses the methodology used to arrive at an Industry Risk Score. There is also a table that provides a definition of the seven levels of Industry Risk.

L7868 - Debt Collection and Credit Agencies in Australia
G - Retail Trade in Australia
K - Finance and Insurance in Australia

Debt Collection and Credit Agencies in Australia - Industry Risk Rating Report

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In a recent case, a debt collector sent a validation notice to the consumer, who was a resident of New York City. New York City rules require licensed debt collectors to provide their assigned license number in all written materials to consumers. The debt collector was properly licensed to collect in New York City; however, the letter provided to the consumer did not include the required license number.

The consumer alleged a violation of § 807 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), asserting the failure to include the required license number in the validation notice was a false and misleading representation. The court initially entered default judgment in favor of the consumer, but requested an inquest on damages. A United States Magistrate recommended the consumer's requests for costs and damages under the FDCPA be denied and to dismiss the complaint. The consumer filed an objection to the magistrate's report and recommendation alleging the debt collector purposefully withheld its license number so that consumers would be unable to register complaints of the debt collector's actions with the New York City licensing authority.

The district court adopted the magistrate's opinion. While the debt collector could be in violation of local law for failure to provide the required license number in the validation letter, the court agreed a violation of local law is not in itself a violation of the FDCPA. The consumer did not identify any reasoning that the debt collector's failure to include their assigned license number in the validation notice constitutes a false and misleading representation under the FDCPA. Further, as the validation notice provided the debt collector's name, address and contact phone number, a violation of § 807 could not be established because a consumer could still contact the city's licensing authority to file a complaint with the provided information.

Accordingly, the court denied the consumer's request for costs and damages and dismissed the consumer's complaint.

This article originally appeared in ACA International's The Paper newsletter from their Asset Buyers Division.

This information is not to be construed as legal advice. Legal advice must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. Every effort has been made to assure that this information is up–to–date as of the date of publication. It is not intended to be a full and exhaustive explanation of the law in any area. This information is not intended as legal advice and may not be used as legal advice. It should not be used to replace the advice of your own legal counsel.

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If you haven’t heard, a winner was announced in the insideARM.com collector story contest. Irene H. who works for ARSI in Kansas wrote about helping a young couple achieve their goals through budgeting.

Congratulations to Irene. She exemplifies what’s great about our industry and should be commended for her efforts. Two things caught my attention from her entry and both are worthy of noting. First, she went beyond the call of duty as a bill collector – not once but twice – to help this couple get their financial lives in order by helping them prepare a realistic budget. Not to make light of Irene’s efforts, but I have visited hundreds of collection agencies and know from first-hand experience that this type of effort is demonstrated on a daily basis within agencies of all sizes and specialties. It is a shame this point is lost on too many reporters, the Attorneys General, and consumers who fear the debt collector because of the negative hype associated with their efforts.

Second, the last line of her entry reads “I'm very proud of what I do.” Awesome! Although Irene is now Vice President of Collections at ARSI, that sums up the feelings of most career collectors that I have spoken to who understand the power of their position and sleep well knowing they made a positive impact in someone’s life.

Recovery managers, collection managers, and other executives of ARM companies, here’s your call to action:  call a meeting, send an email to your collectors (or however you communicate these days) and tell everyone about Irene. Hold your own contest and display the winner in your entrance way. In other words, take some time to celebrate accomplishment in your workplace. Then go the extra step and send your stories into insideARM.com and flood their inbox so they are encouraged to run the contest again and again and again. Good things will happen.

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Chicago –  Tech Lock, Inc. announces the release of its SMB IT Managed Services program. Specifically geared for small and medium sized companies in the ARM industry, the SMB IT Managed Services program helps companies focus on their core business while Tech Lock takes care of the underlying infrastructure or implementation of new initiatives.

Organizations can achieve measurable cost savings and improved efficiency by taking advantage of Tech Lock’s SMB IT Managed Services. Finding IT talent is hard enough - and keeping them can, at times, be even harder. Tech Lock staff provides multiple skill sets and certifications; including Microsoft, VMware and Cisco, that are at or below the cost of a traditional full time employee (FTE).  The Tech Lock staff has spent over 20 years implementing, enhancing and supporting the IT infrastructure needs to enhance the profitability and operation initiatives of ARM companies. 

SMB IT Managed Services are customized to the needs of the organization. Unlike many managed services companies Tech Lock provides its clients with value added services such as system architecture and planning, allowing them to make the proper investments today that will continue to provide benefit to the organization down the road. While Tech Lock is not a hardware or software reseller, our knowledge of how to get clients the best pricing possible (such as through direct vendor pricing) enhances our ROI and establishes us as a trusted advisor to our clients.

"Tech Lock's SMB IT Managed Services provides ARM companies a unique dual service, combining technical and implementation services with security consulting. These fast-moving, agile organizations can focus on their core business while we provide secure IT infrastructure support and troubleshooting assistance," says Todd Langusch, Tech Lock’s chief executive officer. Langusch also is an ACA certified instructor.

One of Tech Lock's clients, West Monroe, Louisiana-based Coast Professional, Inc., ranked #1 over the first 4 months of the recent Department of Education 2009 Task Order (“Dept. of ED Releases Important Collection Performance Report”). Coast's CEO, Brian Davis, attributes part of their success to Tech Lock's managed services team. "Tech Lock became the source of consistency in our highly critical Department of Education FISMA compliance initiative. Their encyclopedic knowledge of security and compliance requirements combined with their IT solutions expertise became the key advantage as we went through a complete systems overhaul and obtained our Authority To Operate (ATO). Tech Lock was our IT staff during this period. Tech Lock’s staff was knowledgeable, creative, and easy to work with and helped save us an additional 20% on infrastructure purchases."

For additional information on Tech Lock's SMB IT Managed Services, contact Todd Langusch at langusch@techlockinc.com or visit www.techlockinc.com.

About Tech Lock
Tech Lock is focused on serving the ARM industry, including credit grantors, collection agencies, debt buyers, service organizations, healthcare providers and more. Its IT professionals all possess Fortune 100 and ARM industry experience. This makes Tech Lock uniquely skilled in serving the ARM industry as it relates to information technology, data security and regulatory compliance. Tech Lock is a service disabled veteran owned small business, For more information, visit www.techlockinc.com.

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Earlier this week insideARM.com ran an article about how consumer revolving debt (predominantly credit card debt) has declined over the past 18 months (by approximately $123 billion), and how the volume of charged off credit card accounts outsourced for collection and/or sold to ARM companies has grown substantially during this same period of time ("$123 billion in 19 Months: Credit Card Debt's Amazing Plummet," May 11). While these trends are alarming, there is another trend unfolding which is causing some owners and executives of ARM companies that specialize in the credit card sector even greater concern.

Credit card issuers have begun to experience a decline in their delinquent and charged-off credit card volumes available for outsourcing to collection agency vendors or for sale.  This decline is attributed to the reduction in credit card originations, which depending on the issuer have decreased as much as 75 percent since 2008. Some of these issuers have started to contact their collection agency vendors to discuss current or future placement volume reductions, typically at the first party, fresh and prime stages of delinquency. In situations where business volume reductions have not yet been formally announced, recovery managers are telling their agency vendors that they should focus on being ranked #1 or #2 on their batch track performance results in order to avoid losing future business.  However, even this high ranking is no assurance of retention, particularly in the first party market where internal operations are winning out over external agencies in some instances. 

We believe this trend is going to continue to get worse before it gets better, and collection agencies will need to maintain their competitive and financial performance without any assurance that placement volumes will continue if they do.  Also critical is that agencies must stay out of the headlines and the firing line of the state Attorneys General.

There is a positive point to note.  Top performing ARM companies will survive and thrive as they gain more market share and enjoy higher barriers to entry created through increased regulation and certification. Underperforming ARM companies will most likely lose market share as they fail to compete effectively with the market leaders.

For those of you planning to attend the ACA annual conference in July, I will be sharing updated liquidation and portfolio pricing results during my presentation on the credit card sector, and will also address these and other market trends in further detail.

Mark Russell manages M&A transactions for Kaulkin Ginsberg. To confidentially discuss your business interests, please contact Mark Russell at 240-499-3804, or by email.

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