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Archive for the ‘International Debt News’ Category
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
South African landlords who collect rent arrears have now been placed under the scope of the Debt Collectors Act, according to property management group Trafalgar.
Managing Director of Trafalgar, Andrews Schaefar, said “Landlords battling with late-paying tenants and bodies corporate struggling to retrieve levies can now welcome two recent landmark decisions by the Council for Debt Collectors that clearly rule property managers collecting arrears levies and rentals fall within the scope of the Debt Collectors Act.”
Under the new rulings, all estate agents and property managers who collect rental arrears and levies must be registered with the Council for Debt Collector. This will help regulate any unscrupulous behaviour that may have entered the South African debt collection industry.
“The move has highlighted compliance with the Council for Debt Collectors and associated legislation as being necessary for compliance and transparency,” continued Richard Schaefar.
As a direct result, this move should encourage debtors to improve their individual situation in order to avoid these enforceable penalties.
Schaefer said the Council for Debt Collectors was established to bring clarity to a previously unregulated industry following numerous public complaints laid with the department of justice against debt collectors.
“The Debt Collectors Act provides control over debt collectors and legalises the South African collection system by monitoring their conduct and professionalism and thus promoting a culture of good governance.”
Schaefer said the act worked both ways.
“Tenants who believe they are receiving unfair bias can lay a complaint with the Council and both sides will be heard before a judgment is passed.”
Mr Schaefar then added that a recent decision by the Durban High Court to exclude levies from the National Credit Act debt counselling process was also good news for estate agents and property managers.
“That decision means companies such as Trafalgar do not have to refer to debt counsellors when seeking levies due from owners – and correspondingly that errant owners cannot hide behind debt counselling as an excuse for not paying their bodies corporate levies.”
Tags: council for debt collectors, debt collectors, south africa
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
LexisNexis(R) Risk Solutions today announced the availability of LexisNexis(R) Banko(R) Events Monitoring, a new feature available with the LexisNexis(R) Receivables Management Solutions suite that automates the process of monitoring bankruptcy events and helps collections organizations improve efficiency, reduce cost and identify new sources of revenue. In preliminary customer trials, the solution is proven to save collections agencies and first-party debt collectors 50 percent or more on costs associated with manually monitoring bankruptcy events.
“In our current economic environment, bankruptcies are increasing like never before, and collections professionals need access to the most current, comprehensive data possible in order to collect on accounts and reduce loss exposure,” said Robert Fite, vice president, LexisNexis Receivables Management Solutions. “LexisNexis Banko Events Monitoring allows collections professionals to focus on the business of making decisions, increasing efficiency and profitability.”
The number of people and businesses filing for bankruptcy is increasing at a staggering pace — 1.4 million petitions were submitted in 2009, a 32 percent increase from 2008. With the number of bankruptcy cases increasing dramatically, it is vital for collections professionals to monitor bankruptcy events such as attempts to have a court forgive certain debts, to have an accurate picture of their debt portfolio. Every time they want to check status on a debtor, collections professionals must conduct manual, labor-intensive searches using PACER, the federal court case electronic access system.
Banko Events Monitoring helps debt collectors overcome this problem by automating the monitoring process of bankruptcy events. The solution works by automatically monitoring every daily court docket entry for every bankruptcy case, and then provides collections organizations with relevant information on the debtors and events they need to track. As a result, collections organizations are empowered with information they need to make better and faster decisions about debt recovery. In addition, users save costs associated with purchasing individual PACER reports, improve employee productivity, minimize the need for manual investigations, and reduce their loss exposure.
In a beta trial of Banko Events Monitoring conducted with nine clients across several industries, including a collections agency, mortgage lender and automotive lender, the solution delivered average savings of 50 percent when compared to the cost of manually searching for bankruptcy events. To cite one example, an auto loan company had historically only been able to monitor approximately 7,500 of their 43,500 active bankrupt accounts. Banko Events Monitoring enabled the company to monitor all 43,500 of their active accounts — and for less than half the cost of manually searching 17 percent of the prior caseload.
LexisNexis Banko Events Monitoring is a key component of the LexisNexis Receivables Management solutions suite that helps collections businesses minimize unnecessary operational expenses and focus their efforts on the most collectible accounts. Banko Events Monitoring is an added functionality to Banko(R), a fully customizable solution that allows businesses to search comprehensive nationwide bankruptcy databases to quickly identify new filings and recently deceased individuals.
About LexisNexis
LexisNexis(R) (www.lexisnexis.com) is a leading global provider of information and services solutions, including its flagship Web-based Lexis(R) and Nexis(R) research services, to a wide range of professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic markets. A member of Reed Elsevier [NYSE:ENL; NYSE:RUK] (www.reedelsevier.com), LexisNexis serves customers in 100 countries with 15,000 employees worldwide.
About LexisNexis Risk Solutions
LexisNexis(R) Risk Solutions is the leader in providing essential information that helps advance industry and society. Building on the legacy of proven LexisNexis(R) services from the past 30 years, our cutting-edge technology, unique data and advanced scoring analytics provide total solutions that address evolving client needs in the risk sector while upholding high standards of security and privacy. LexisNexis Risk Solutions serves commercial organizations and government agencies and is comprised of several affiliated corporations, each offering premier customer-focused solutions. For more information, visit risk.lexisnexis.com.
SOURCE: LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Tags: banruptcy, debt collection solutions, lexis nexis
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
LEAD GENERATOR
Description
We are an ambitious and fast growing National Credit Management company. We currently have a requirement for a dynamic and assertive sales individual for the purpose of lead generation.
Key duties will include:
- Direct contact with new & existing clients.
- Lead generation via tele-sales campaigns.
- Generation of appointments for field sales representatives.
- Dealing with inbound and outbound telephone enquiries.
- Professional with excellent telephone manner.
- Superb communication skills and have a great attention to detail.
- Work in accordance with all relevant legislation.
Candidates must be well organised and commercially astute. Contribute to the development of the organization by working in accordance with company policies and procedures. Candidates will be required to identify and attend relevant training as required, undergo regular supervision and annual appraisal.
This vacancy is due to the substantial growth of our organisation. To be successful in your application you must be able to demonstrate a proven track record in sales, lead generation and client management. This is a wonderful opportunity for the right candidate to join an already established and successful company.
Knowledge of ACT software or the Debt Collection industry a distinct advantage but not essential.
This position has a fantastic basic salary and commission structure.
How to apply
You can apply for this job by sending a CV/written application to Phil Glaiser at Federal Management Ltd, Federal House, 1C Maple Court Maple View, Skelmesdale, Lancashire, WN8 9TG or to pg@federalmanagement.co.uk.
Tags: Debt Collection Jobs, federal management, Sales, Telesales
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
For the second time in less than a year, the New Jersey Assembly will consider legislation concerning the debt collection bill.
It is being argued that revising the Fair Debt Collections Act would help eliminate harassing, intimidating and abusive debt collection practices and it would also give those being chased a way to dispute and validate debt information to ensure its accuracy.
The legislation was scheduled to be voted upon on Monday but no longer appeared on the Assembly’s legislative agenda late Sunday night, would enhance additional federal protections and limit collectors’ ability to contact a debtor at work — except under certain circumstances — or at “any time and place” known to be inconvenient.
Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Paulsboro, said “We’re doing nothing here to relieve a consumer of a rightful debt, but this is a fairness bill that’s needed more than ever to ensure consumers aren’t harassed by unscrupulous debt collectors.” Mr Burzichelli is sponsoring the move alongside fellow Assemblymen Matthew W. Milam, D-Cape May Court House, Wayne P. DeAngelo, D-Hamilton and Paul Moriarty, D-Turnersville.
Mr Moriarty said “Just because someone is in debt does not mean they forfeit their rights to be treated fairly. Debt collectors may have a responsibility to get consumers to make good on what they owe, but they also have an obligation to treat consumers with respect and within the law.”
If approved the amended bill would prohibit, with limited exceptions, a debt collector from communicating with a debtor:
- earlier than 8 a.m. and later than 9 p.m.
- at the debtor’s place of employment, although the collector may send a single letter or make one phone call per month to a debtor’s place of employment if the debt collector hasn’t been able to contact the debtor at home.
- if the debt collector knows the debtor is represented by an attorney and can readily ascertain that attorney’s name and address.
If found to be abusing these rules, the offenders could be fined upto $10,000 for a first offence and then up to $20,000 for each subsequent offence. Violations could also result in cease and desist orders issued by the state Attorney General’s office and the awarding of treble damages, attorneys’ fees and legal costs to the injured party.
When originally looked at in July of 2009 Assembly members overwhelmingly approved the measure but it died when the state Senate failed to act on it before the last legislative session ended in January. If it’s passed again, the debt collection bill would go back to the senate for its consideration.
Tags: assembly, debt collection, fair debt collections act, new jersey
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Across the UAE, lenders are hiring international debt collection agencies to hunt down customers who owe them money as they attempt to recoup huge losses incurred when thousands of expats skipped the country without clearing their debts, Emirates Business reported on Tuesday.
In one example cited by the UAE daily Dubai-based mortgage lender Tamweel has hired a debt collection company to pursue a customer in India and is threatening to take legal action in India and the UAE if the customer does not pay up.
“If the customer chooses not to cooperate, then, under the legal framework, we reserve the right to recover our dues,” Tamweel was quoted as saying in a statement.
Banks and mortgage providers in the UAE have seen the amount bad loans on their books soar over the past 18 months amid the economic downturn.
They went on a lending binge during the boom years, but when the global financial crisis hit many expatriates who lost their jobs returned home without paying their debts.
Banks are increasingly turning to the courts to recoup losses with Barclays recently winning a landmark court case in Dubai allowing the British bank to repossess properties of customers who had defaulted on mortgage payments.
UAE bank provisions more than doubled to $2.57 billion in the first nine months of 2009, compared to the year-earlier period, and likely ended the year near the $4 billion mark, according to the Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz).
Provisions as a percent of UAE banks’ total loans likely reached 1.72 percent by the end of 2009, up from 1.13 percent in the first nine months of the year, Markaz said.
Tags: dubai, economic downturn, international debt collection, UAE
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
The US debt collection industry is wired as the implementation of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act moves closer. Many debt collectors are expecting large changes as of Feb. 22, when many provisions of the Act take effect, with the primary focus now on adapting to what is soon to be a new landscape – without experiencing a drop in revenue. That could be challenging.
What the CARD Act does is to limit the amount of credit that is available to a consumer after they havetravelled down all other avenues. As a result, the credit crackdown is directly impacting the debt recovery industry.
With the main focus of the CARD Act being to rein in credit card practices and limiting fees, a wide range of card issuers and banks have looked to change their business model to compensate by actively reducing risk. They are tightening credit lines, dropping or restricting some borrowers and marketing less aggressively.
The credit-limit reductions by many of the banks will have two major impacts: reduce the average balance size of accounts placed for collection; and remove some liquidity from the market, making it more difficult to collect.
These changes are running headlong into the consumer behavior of the past several years, when many people typically spent their savings and maxed out home equity and personal loans. For many consumers, credit cards are the only short-term credit available.
But the CARD Act includes one very significant and far-reaching change for consumers: they can no longer pay off a credit card debt using another card.
Tags: CARD act, credit card fees, us debt collection
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
A recent survey has revealed that businesses around the world have an increased likelihood of outsourcing their debt collection requirements in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis.
The figures, recently released as results from the Global Collections Review which surveyed over 3500 companies across four continents, revealed that when it came down to international business to business debts, along with domestic trade debts, companies were often outsourcing their debt recovery as a means to expedite the process.
“Of all countries surveyed, Belgium and the Netherlands stand out with the highest percentage of companies increasing their use of outsourced collections services (44 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively). Amongst eight different criteria for selecting a collections agency, businesses across all countries deemed the success rate of collections efforts to be most important, followed by price, global expertise, local knowledge and easy access to up-to-date information,” the survey revealed.
The review itself gives more than useful insight into the attitude of businesses towards debt collection and shows that despite the expected similarities such as how businesses assess success rates or intimate knowledge of in-country and global collections landscapes, the survey also revealed many geographic and cultural variations.
The survey looked at the impact of the recent economic woes had on outsourcing debt collection needs, and also gave some insight into the factors that companies consider when they are looking for a debt collection agency, as well as those that might discourage a business from outsourcing their collections. For example, one note of interest showed a difference in opinion when considering the importance of the relationship with the debtor in appointing a collections supplier.
Another finding was the additional services in collection agency’s portfolio, which proved universally to be the least important factor in the selection of a debt collections service provider.
The survey was conducted among 3,538 businesses across 20 countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong and the USA
Tags: business to business, debt collection, Global Collections Review, outsourcing
Posted in Debt News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Monday, January 18th, 2010
As Irish banks look to debt recovery methods, the number of companies that passed into receivership more than doubled in 2009.
In a recent release of figures by the InsolvencyJournal.ie it was revealed that there was an increase of 118% in the amount of receiverships and the total number of insolvencies increased by a whopping 82% to 1,406.
The InsolvencyJournal.ie is run by accountancy firm Kavanagh Fennell who claimed that a decline in the amount of receiverships issued by Creditors in December could be interpreted as the Irish banks are “boxing clever” before the establishment of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). The number of receiverships – the process whereby a secured creditor applies to the court to have a receiver appointed to sell the company’s assets so they can recover their money – peaked at 21 in August. But just seven receivers were appointed in December, compared to 10 in the same month in 2008.
“It could be partly the time of year, but there is a ‘let Nama happen’ feeling as well. Let some of the debts get into Nama and see what happens, that’s the thinking,” Mr Fennell said.
InsolvencyJournal.ie was launched in February of 2009 by Kavanagh Fennell in an attempt to track the rapidly increasing amount of company failures in Ireland.
However, although total insolvencies rocketed as Ireland’s recession deepened, a breakdown of the different types of insolvencies reveals other changes in corporate recovery practices occurred throughout the year.
The number of examinerships, the process whereby court protection is obtained to assist the survival of a company, declined from 62 cases in 2008 to 37 in 2009.
The drop is partially explained by the granting of court protection to 13 companies in the Thomas Read group in 2008, inflating that year’s figures.
But Mr Fennell said it was clear that the High Courts had also sought more realistic bids for survival from companies and that companies had also become “more wary of the process” following rulings made in relation to developer Liam Carroll’s Zoe group.
During 2009, both the High Court and the Supreme Court refused to grant protection to six companies in the Zoe Group. The courts ruled that the companies’ chances of survival were “significantly improbable”.
A Supreme Court ruling is pending on whether a survival plan for three companies in the Fleming building group can go ahead. The survival scheme was approved in the High Court in November, but ACC Bank, which opposed the scheme, has appealed the decision, arguing that it prejudices the bank’s ability to recover some €22 million owed to it by the group.
Mr Fennell said examinerships could “come back into play” in sectors such as retail next year, but that there would “definitely be fewer” such rescue bids in the construction sector.
“It’s great legislation for the right companies,” Mr Fennell said of the examinership process.
InsolvencyJournal.ie’s figures show that creditors’ voluntary liquidations, whereby a liquidator is appointed to the company by the creditors of the insolvent company, was the most common type of insolvency in 2009, as in previous years, accounting for 1,139 of the cases.
Tags: insolvencyjournal.ie, Irish Debt Recovery, NAMA, Receiverships
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Ontario Systems, a provider of accounts receivable and revenue cycle management solutions for collection and health care industries, announces the introduction of Collect Savvy, a new software solution designed for better debt collection management.
With a focus on reducing and controlling costs while making collections more strategic, Collect Savvy provides collection agencies the flexibility and intelligence needed to make agile decisions in an ever-changing industry.
With the incorporation of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform into Ontario Systems’ software suite early this year, Collect Savvy users will improve their overall cash flow and realize cost reductions and operational efficiencies. In addition, because of the wide familiarity with Microsoft products, training and implementation become faster and easier. Aiding in the transition to Collect Savvy, the software also offers a Migration Navigator feature, which enables users of previous Ontario software versions like FACS, Artiva, or competitive software the ability of migrating to Collect Savvy with minimal effort or downtime.
Other significant features include:
Best Data – ensures users have most accurate and effective demographic information available
Data Services Waterfall – allows users to control what data sources they use when they pull them
Matching – lets agencies take advantage of data services they have already purchased and share the data across accounts
Business Intelligence – provides detailed reporting capabilities with logical, real-time dashboards that highlight key performance indicators
SmartTouch Financial – gives users automated period-end processing to handle report balancing, payment records and the seamlessly send client statements electronically.
“With declining margins and decreasing liquidation, combined with ever-changing technology and regulations, collection agencies are looking for a way to keep pace in a brutal market,” says Tony Reisz, CEO, Ontario Systems. “Collect Savvy not only offers users improved collections, but the intelligent tools it takes to make better business decisions. The software enables agencies to become smarter, more agile, and more profitable, all with no money spent in up-front capital expense.”
“After using FACS for nearly twenty years, our agency has been blown away with the features and functionality of Collect Savvy – it’s basically night and day as far as ease-of-use,” says Nate Olson, vice president of Operations, Illinois Collection Service, a customer who has been testing Collect Savvy through Ontario’s Technology Adoption Program (TAP) the last three months.
Tags: debt collection software, Ontario Systems, Savvy
Posted in Debt News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Collect America finds opportunity in recession, but needed to integrate debt collection applications on top of Oracle Fusion middleware.
Recessions are down times for most businesses, but for a few, they represent opportunity. Jennifer Briscoe, CTO of Collect America, a broker of unpaid debt, says her firm has had its hands full as the recession wears on.
Collect America acquires and analyzes unpaid debt of different types, then resells it to debt collection agencies, along with software services that will help the agencies realize their collection goals. Business has been brisk.
“We are as counter-cyclical as you can get,” said Briscoe in a recent interview during a visit to San Francisco. It was already a well established broker of credit card debt when the recession hit. “We wanted to move into cell phone, auto loan and health care debt,” said Briscoe. Its analysis services and hosted software services would work for those other types of debt, and there was plenty of uncollected debt available for a company that wished to be aggressive in the debt business.
Collect America had deferred expanding into different forms of debt until it had rebuilt its core Asset Recovery Manager application on top of Oracle Fusion middleware. Before the reconstruction, it had been too difficult to tie the debt databases, reporting services and asset management systems for many kinds of debt into the core system. “Fusion is the backbone of Asset Recovery Manager,” she said.
Collection agencies independent of Collect America buy chunks of debt from the firm and use its hosted Asset Recovery Manager system to notify the debt holders by letter that the debt must be paid. It also gives them an option of paying at a Web site before a debt collector calls. For many people, “speaking to a debt collector can be an unpleasant experience,” and the mere threat is sufficient to motivate payment, she noted.
By diversifying in this recession, Collect America has been able to do a more efficient analysis of the assets it’s acquired. For example, if one Social Security number shows up in a number of delinquent accounts, say one debtor owes on his health care, credit cards, student loan and utilities as well as a boat, then a debt recovery agency can see what they’re up against if they try to go after all the accounts separately. The Collect America analysis consults credit reports and turns up debtors who have declared bankruptcy versus those who have not.
Its analysis also advises collections agents on how to steer clear of violating consumer protection laws. With health care debt, many health care vendors are usually involved in one account and, by law, health plan debtors may be contacted only once a day by a collections agent. But a debtor with delinquent payments on a Chase credit card as well as a Visa credit card may be contacted about each account once a day.
With Fusion under girding Collect America’s business processes, it became easier to alter business processes as economic conditions change. The middleware includes Business Process Management for modeling and implementing changes to existing business processes.
One of the things that changes during a recession is the unemployment rate. Far from helping the debt collection business,” a rising unemployment rate reaches a tipping point” where it gets more and more expensive to collect unpaid debt.
That’s because the network of friends and family that chime in to help a lone debtor tends to get overwhelmed as more and more people get laid off. When unemployment reaches a certain height, Collect America changes its business processes and slows the buying of debtor credit reports because it already knows how steep the uphill battle has become. When this interview occurred in October, Briscoe declined to say whether a national unemployment rate that was hovering around 10% was at the tipping point. But it seemed clear it was getting close.
Tags: collect america, debt broker, debt collection software, oracle
Posted in Debt News, International Debt News | No Comments »
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