Debt Collection Policies

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Debt Collection Policies

Having debt collection policies in place will assist a debt collection attorney when you need to hire a debt collection law firm to collect your money

Keeping copies of your customer’s checks can be very helpful to 0ur debt collection law firm after judgment is obtained. Our collection attorneys will ask our clients after a judgment is obtained if they have any information to assist our debt collection law firm garnish or attach assets.   Sometimes a debtor is unaware that once a judgment is obtained a debt collection attorney can issue a writ of garnishment and serve the writ on a bank. Our  debt collection law firm has found that many times the debtor is using the same bank account and may have some or all of the funds in the account necessary to satisfy the judgment.

Collecting your money

Guide to Internal Collection Procedures

When setting up a credit and collection policy for your company your employees should be mindful that one day your customer may stop paying their invoices and your company may have to engage a collection attorney to help your company collect your money. Our debt collection law firm has been assisting companies   with their debt collection policies and procedure. Some companies have credit applications but, surprisingly a lot of our clients learn the hard way once one of their customers stops paying. Having a credit application helps our collection attorneys not only find post judgment assets but, gives our collection lawyers   a better chance of locating the principals of a debtor corporation in the event your customer closes its doors. Our debt collection law firm will also suggest adding an attorney fee provision to the credit application, if there is not already one in place. Without that provision, in some states, you will not be able to recover the fees paid to your collection attorney from your customer.

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Our debt collection law firm uses all information available to it to determine if there is a possible successor company that may be liable for the debt. Our debt collection lawyers will also explore the possibility that there may be personal liability of an officer for transferring assets. We invite you to call our debt collection law firm to speak to one of debt collection attorneys about your credit and collection policies. Our collection lawyers will be happy to make suggestions to help tighten up the credit application so in the event it becomes necessary to start a lawsuit to recover your money, the chances for successfully recovering your company’s money will be increased

 

Post Judgment Collection Law Firm

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Post Judgment Collection

What Can Our Debt  Collection  Attorneys Do  to Collect Your Money After Judgment

After Judgment is obtained and the debtor does not voluntarily   make a payment to satisfy the judgment, there are several options to consider. If you know where the debtor has assets, writs can be issued by the Court giving the Sheriff to seize assets to satisfy or partially satisfy the Judgment. We often ask our clients to keep copies of checks of all payments they may receive from their customers. There may come the day when the customer becomes a debtor and knowing where the debtor banks may lead to successful garnishment of funds in the debtor’s bank to satisfy the judgment.

Judgment collection Law Firm Florida

Judgment collection law firm

If you are uncertain about where the debtor may have assets, the Court allows creditors to conduct post judgment discovery. You have the option of taking the debtor’s deposition or of sending post judgment interrogatories to the debtor. If the debtor fails to respond to post judgment discovery, the Court can assist the creditor in getting the debtor to comply. The debtor must turn over financial information to the creditor. Failure to do so may lead to the Court holding one of the officers of the judgment debtor entity or an individual judgment debtor in contempt of Court.

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Our firm will also use post judgment discovery to determine if money has been fraudulently transferred to a third party or to another entity that may be owned by the either the individual judgment debtor or corporate judgment debtor in an effort to conceal assets from creditors. If so, we can explore the possibility of naming these third parties in a lawsuit as defendants alleging fraudulent transfer

Collection Attorney Debt Collection Trial

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Taking the Debt Collection Case to Trial with a Collection Attorney

If the  collection case has gone as far as trial, it is important to be prepared to provide the proper witnesses and be able to produce key pieces of evidence to prove your case.   In collection cases to it is important to provide the witness who can testify that they are familiar with company’s books and records and that those records are usually kept in their custody and control. In other words, the sales representative for your company typically is not charged with the financial aspects of the company and someone who ordinarily would track the books and records of the company. Courts adhere to rules of evidence and may not allow a sales representative to testify as to the account statement or invoices. It is important that you speak with the collection attorney in advance to make sure your company will be able to produce the proper personnel at trial. If not, you may wish to discuss the possibility of settling your collection case prior to the court date.

Collection Lawyer Stephen Gebeloff

Collection Attorney  Stephen B.  Gebeloff

It is important to tell your collection attorney about third parties who may have knowledge about the case. Those parties may be subpoenaed to appear for deposition prior to trial to ascertain their knowledge about the case and or to provide relevant documents. If necessary these same parties may be subpoenaed to appear at trial to testify.

Besides witnesses, it is important to provide your collection lawyer with all the documents surrounding the case, including, but not limited to, contracts, statements, invoices, emails or any other documentation from any third party or the debtor relating to the case. Working with your collection attorney, together you will decide which documents will be offered to the court as evidence.

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During the collection trial both your company and the debtor will be able to offer witnesses and other evidence for the court to consider. After all the evidence has been presented the Court will make a decision. If all goes well a Judgment will be awarded to your company. Unfortunately, obtaining a judgment does not obligate a debtor to pay the judgment. However, using a collection law firm to enforce the judgment will be the best way to ensure that if there are assets available to satisfy the judgment either through the debtor’s voluntary payment(s) or seizing assets using writs of execution your company will recover some or all of the Judgment.

Florida Debt Collection Law Firm Collecting Commercial Collection Accounts

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 COMMERCIAL COLLECTION LAW FIRM

Our Florida collection attorneys will assist your company collect past due commercial accounts

Florida collection agencies have been collecting commercial debt in Florida for many years. When your company choices to engage a Florida collection agency it has become apparent that your customer who is located in Florida has stopped paying invoices in a timely fashion. Florida collection agencies typically hire debt collectors to make collection calls from their Florida collection agency.   Florida collection agencies then will send a series of collection letters to the debtor located in Florida.

Florida Collection Attorney Gebeloff

Florida Collection Attorney Gebeloff

Our Florida commercial debt collection law firm has been receiving debt collection cases from Florida commercial collection agencies when the Florida collection agency has been unsuccessful in collecting on the past due date. In that instance the Florida commercial collection agencies are obliged to increase the contingent collection rate that they charge so that they may then forward the debt collection matter to our Florida commercial debt collection law firm for further handling. Florida collection agencies are not licensed to practice law.

Our Florida commercial collection law firm just like a Florida collection agency will send our collection letters and place collection calls. The huge difference is the customer is now receiving a collection letter from a Florida collection attorney. Collection phone calls are made by a Florida debt collection law firm. There is a greater sense of urgency for your customer to make payment to your company when demand for payment is coming from a Commercial Collection firm rather than a Florida collection agency. Lastly, there is no middleman. Our firm will charge a flat contingent fee on collection. Again Florida collection agencies raise your company’s contingent collection rate upon collection when they forward the claim to a debt collection lawyer.

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Please contact our Florida debt collection law firm and speak to one of our debt collection professionals. We would be happy to discuss a debt collection strategy that is best suited to help your company recover money that is justly owed.

 

Debt Collection Lawsuit

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Debt Collection Lawsuit

Collection Attorneys Litigate Debt Collection Cases

When a debt collection law suit is filed your customer now knows this is their final chance to make payment arrangements. There are no guarantees that your company will get paid. However, the clock is now ticking for your customer. Our debt collection law firm calls your customer a debtor. Going forward we will refer to your customer as a debtor and we are pretty sure by the time you have had to sue your customer, you are also calling the customer a debtor.   There are several scenarios that may play out when a law suit is filed and we will discuss those below.

After a law suit is filed a summons is issued and either a private process server or a sheriff attempts to serve the debtor. If the debtor is served, the debtor has a certain amount of days to file a responsive pleading to the law suit. If the debtor does not respond, a default is entered by the clerk of court. After default is entered you typically be able to submit your proof of the debt to the court and request that a default judgment be entered against the debtor for the amount of the debt. The court typically will allow you to recover prejudgment interest and your court filing fees. Your reasonable legal fees will be allowed in some states only if there is a written contract or statute that allows for attorneys’ fees. Some states do not have this requirement and will also allow you to add attorneys’ fees to the judgment.

Debt Recovery Firm

Collection Law Firm

If the debtor is a corporation or limited liability company most states will not allow the debtor to represent itself. The fact that the debtor has to retain an attorney adds pressure on the debtor to settle with your company before spending money on an attorney to defend a lawsuit for payment on a debt that is justly owed to your company.   If the issue for not paying is the debtor’s cash flow, our debt recovery law firm has found that this is the time that the debtor will finally come forward with a repayment plan. Some debtors look to negotiate and will offer a percentage of the debt in a lump sum payment, other debtor will offer to pay the debt off in installments. Our clients our in the driver’s seat and can make a business decision on what payment arrangement they would be willing to accept or even to accept a payment arrangement at all. What is important for our clients to understand is that sometimes it’s best to allow for a payment plan as the debtor will voluntarily pay money. Payment plans are typically reduced to writing and filed with the court. If a debtor misses a payment, our client would be entitled to enter judgment for the full amount sought in the complaint, less any previous payments made and paid on the account by the debtor.

 

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If the debtor does retain an attorney it may be the debtor has multiple creditors and is trying to stay afloat by filing an answer to the complaint and delaying the inevitable entry of judgment down the road   and then work out a payment plan at a later date. Other times, the debtor may have some legitimate reason for not pay some or all of the money our client claims is due. At this point in time, the claim becomes contested and like all other civil litigation cases discovery may be warranted. Each side has the right to conduct discovery, propound interrogatories, and request to produce documents and/or take depositions. The case most likely will be scheduled for mediation prior to trial. Mediation is the time in the case where the parties can set their own course and take the decision making out of the hands of the judge and jury. We encourage our clients to keep an open mind at mediation and strive to reach an amicable resolution to their debt collection case. If the case is not resolved at mediation, the case will proceed to trial.

Third Party Collection Agency

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THIRD PARTY COLLECTIONS

COLLECTION AGENCY OR COLLECTION LAW FIRM

When your internal collection efforts have failed, it is time to consider turning the account over to either a collection agency or collection law firm. Your company has to consider whether they want to pursue hard or soft collections.

Soft collections is used when client relationships want to be maintained. Your customer is sent gentle demand letters and telephone calls are made to try and work with your customer to determine the root cause of the delinquency and then to try and establish creative solutions to recover your money in both an amicable and most expeditious way possible. The goal is not to alienate your customer with the hopes that once your customer’s account is brought current the business relationship can continue.

Hard collections are employed when it is apparent that your customer has no intention of or does not have the resources to pay for the services you have provided or for the goods that you have sold and delivered. The telephone calls are made and demand letters are written in a manner to make it clear to our customer that if payment arrangements are not made immediately, litigation may be started to recover your money.

Debt Collection Agency

Debt Collection Law Firm

A collection agency may be considered where balances on accounts are too small to consider filing a lawsuit. In this instance, the debt collection agency can continue to make collection calls and send letters. They can be a valuable resource for a company that has multiple small balance past due accounts. However, collection agencies have their limitations in that they are not attorneys and can only go so far in demanding payment. If litigation is required the collection agency has to outsource the account to a collection attorney and your company will end up paying a higher contingent fee as the collection agency typically charges a higher rate once an account is sent to an attorney.

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A   debt collection law firm can perform the same debt recovery services as collection agency and more. The law firm is equipped to make telephone demands and send collection letters. The collection law firm can also utilize soft collections or hard collections as necessary. Importantly, the debt collection law firm gives your customer a stronger sense of urgency to resolve the outstanding debt. Further a collection attorney is able to file a lawsuit, levy on assets and garnish bank accounts if necessary to collect your money. A lawyer can give provide you with legal advice and opinions on the best course of action to take an alternative theories in which it may be possible to impose personal liability on officers of the company for the debt even if there are no personal guarantees on the account.

Collection Agency

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 Retail Collection Agencies  Regulated by the FDCPA

A collection agency is employed to collect debts either on commercial debt collection or retail debt collection accounts. When collecting debts from consumers or individuals who owe money from transactions that are not related to a commercial transaction, the account is considered a retail debt collection account. The collection agency is regulated by the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act). The collection agency is prohibited from employing debt collection tactics that may mislead or be overly aggressive. There are many prohibitions detailed in the act and collection agencies should be very careful when attempting collection of consumer accounts. There are law firms that their entire law practice concentrates on suing collection agencies that violate the act.

Commercial Collection Agencies

Commercial collection agencies that only collect on commercial collection accounts are not bound by the FDCPA. Our debt collection law firm mainly collects on commercial collection accounts as we do not want to subject our debt recovery from to the rigors of the FDCPA. We perform the same services as a commercial collection agency and more. Just like a commercial collection agency our law firm will send out collection demand letters demanding payment for your company’s money. Our debt collection attorneys will also make telephone calls just like a commercial collection agency to attempt to collect money and to determine the nature of the dispute, if any.

Florida Collection Agency

Florida Collection Agency

A commercial collection agency is not a collection law firm. Collection agencies are not licensed to practice law. A collection agency cannot file a lawsuit to collect your money. The collection agency has to send your debt collection account to a collection law firm. In most cases, the collection agency will be obligated to charge a higher contingent fee rate   to act as an intermediary between the collection attorney and the client. If your company knows form the outset that the account is going to be difficult to collect or require litigation, rather than placing the account with a collection agency, retaining a commercial collection law firm with experienced debt collection attorneys and paralegals.

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Feel free to contact one of our debt collection lawyers or paralegals to discuss your company’s debt collection needs.

Collection Agency or Collection Law Firm

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 Debt Collection Agency or

 Debt Collection Law Firm

When your internal collection efforts have failed, it is time to consider turning the account over to either a collection agency or collection law firm. Your company has to consider whether they want to pursue hard or soft collections.

Soft collections is used when client relationships want to be maintained. Your customer is sent gentle demand letters and telephone calls are made to try and work with your customer to determine the root cause of the delinquency and then to try and establish creative solutions to recover your money in both an amicable and most expeditious way possible. The goal is not to alienate your customer with the hopes that once your customer’s account is brought current the business relationship can continue.

Hard collections are employed when it is apparent that your customer has no intention of or does not have the resources to pay for the services you have provided or for the goods that you have sold and delivered. The telephone calls are made and demand letters are written in a manner to make it clear to our customer that if payment arrangements are not made immediately, litigation may be started to recover your money.

Using a Collection Agency

A collection agency may be considered where balances on accounts are too small to consider filing a lawsuit. In this instance, the debt collection agency can continue to make collection calls and send letters. They can be a valuable resource for a company that has multiple small balance past due accounts. However, collection agencies have their limitations in that they are not attorneys and can only go so far in demanding payment. If litigation is required the collection agency has to outsource the account to a collection attorney and your company will end up paying a higher contingent fee as the collection agency typically charges a higher rate once an account is sent to an attorney.

Debt Collection Agency

Debt Collection Law Firm

A   debt collection law firm can perform the same debt recovery services as collection agency and more. The law firm is equipped to make telephone demands and send collection letters. The collection law firm can also utilize soft collections or hard collections as necessary. Importantly, the debt collection law firm gives your customer a stronger sense of urgency to resolve the outstanding debt. Further a collection attorney is able to file a lawsuit, levy on assets and garnish bank accounts if necessary to collect your money. A lawyer can give provide you with legal advice and opinions onthe best course of action to take an alternative theories in which it may be possible to impose personal liability on officers of the company for the debt even if there are no personal guarantees on the account.