In the last article I described a story my mother told me about how she was repeatedly called by a store’s collection department about a small bill that she had before it was due. The store was calling because it anticipated payment to be late, and was trying to contact her several times a day for many days beginning at eight in the morning and ending at eight thirty at night.

Well, she paid the bill before it got late, and picked up the last time a collection agent called her, which was after she had already paid her bill. Bearing in mind what I do for a living, she was nice with the debt collector but alluded to the fact that the store must really be suffering to have called her as much for a small amount that was only anticipated to be late. The collection agent was nice, and admitted that he was embarrassed to have been calling so many times.

So that brings us to the question “why?” Why are debt collectors calling so many times? There are a number of possible reasons. For one, in today’s economy, even debt collection is suffering, and debt collectors may find themselves with fewer accounts to deal with. The less debtors that a collector has to call, the more times they will most likely try to contact the debtors they do have to try to get that commission. Also, most debt collectors do not work for the original creditor. What happens is that the creditor will sell their debt for much less than was originally owed, or the creditor will hire a third party collection agency on commission, in which case the agency only gets paid when it collects.

In addition, the most obvious answer may be that many Americans used to be in a position where they could have paid off their debt, and now aren’t. When the bill collector called the first time, they would have gotten paid in the past. Whatever the reason may be, if you have a debt collector calling you constantly, keep in mind that it is not a good idea to simply ignore them. Ignoring a debt collector means negative credit scores, further collection action, or even a lawsuit. And also remember that the FDCPA prohibits third party collectors from repeatedly calling debtors, but the definition of repeatedly is if you hang up the phone, and get an immediate phone call, hang up the phone again, and get another immediate phone call. In other words, if the phone is ringing off of the hook.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles about commercial collection agencies. Unique version for reprint here: Collection Agents Calling More And More Frequently As Of Late Part Two.

This is a twenty one percent increase in land from statistics in data that was collected in 2008, and a one hundred and twenty percent increase in total properties from 2007. Additionally the report indicated that one in forty five housing units, 2.21 percent, got at least one foreclosure filing in the year of 2009, up from 2008′s 1.48 percent and 2007′s 1.03 percent.

Just in the month December, foreclosure filings were reported on 349,519 properties in December. That’s a fourteen percent jump from the previous month of November and a fifteen percent increase from 2008. Nevertheless, even though there was an increase in December, foreclosure activity in the fourth quarter of 2008 has decreased by seven percent.

Of all of the states in America, Nevada took the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate; more than ten percent of housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in 2009. This is Nevada’s third consecutive year at the top of the foreclosure list. Nevada’s foreclosure activity in the month of December increased twenty seven percent from the previous month, however it still was down by twenty two percent from December of 08.

Arizona claimed the country’s second highest state foreclosure rate in 2009 with even more than six percent of properties that received at least one foreclosure filing during 2009, and Florida was the country’s third highest foreclosure rate at 5.93 percent of its properties getting at least one foreclosure during the filing year.

This raises things to think about in the debt collection industry. Trends that have recently been noted that debtors are maxing out their credit debt and low balling their assets to receive lower payment plans. The fact that they are maxing out their credit cards to receive lower payment plans does not look promising.

Mallory McGuinness is employed by a debt collection agency. She also composes articles on business, finance, consumer spending and collection agencies. Also published at Foreclosures On The Increase.

Late Payments? Seven Years. A couple of creditors just might show mercy and will erase past credit problems if you settle your account immediately. Unfortunately, a late payment can happen whether your account is thirty days past due, all the way to 150 past due. Seven years from the first day the delinquency was reported will be the day that the information is removed from your credit report. Fortunately, these negative marks are most common and have the least effect on your credit score.

Tax Liens mean seven years of bad credit. A tax lien usually occurs when the local state or federal government claims ownership of your stuff because you haven’t paid your property or income taxes when they were due. No matter how fast you pay them, big brother is mad that you made him go out of his way to seize your property. Seven years.

If you have a tax lien against you that you continue to default on, it can remain on your credit report for 15 years. The chances of your being able to keep any money from Uncle Sam are slim to none, so might as well pay up now if you are in this position.

Foreclosures are always bad news and they will stay on your credit report for seven years. Considerably one of the most severe negative accounts you can have on your credit report, if you have a foreclosure on your record, your chances of owning another home are shot unless you plan to pay for it entirely in cash.

Defaulting on student loans is never a good idea! Although before the administration of George W. student loans were typically forgiven if they were declared during a bankruptcy hearing, times have changed so it’s mandatory to take these things seriously. Defaulting on a student loan happens after 270 days of nonpayment. And before the loan is defaulted, you can be sure you will receive a number of late payment fees.

The big one is bankruptcy. Bankruptcy will stay on your report for ten years, and rather than give a creditor your report, you might as well say “I am fiscally irresponsible and will be so for the next ten years.” So you might end up living with that nosy mother in law mentioned in article 1 after all if you do not keep track of your finances.

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As house prices diminish and with interest-only mortgages on the decline, more homeowners actually owe more on their mortgages than what their house is worth. It doubtlessly has occurred to many homeowners that this makes sense, as many are defaulting on mortgage payments as we speak.

Here’s a quick breakdown to explain the situation. You buy a house for $400,000 that is now worth only $300,000. Thanks to an interest-only mortgage, you still are in arrears for $400,000. If you eliminated this off of your balance sheet, your net worth will increase by $100,000. You’d still need a place to live, but from this point you could purchase a more affordable house or rent for a bit of time.

There is one giant drawback to abandoning your house. If you do, you will annihilate your credit rating, making it difficult or even impossible to rent an apartment, get a new mortgage, and even a job. There is a major drawback to abandoning your responsibilities. If you walk away, you will trash your credit rating, making it harder or impossible to rent an apartment, qualify for a new mortgage, and perhaps get a job.

New laws are out now to assist families facing foreclosure, which will encourage people to pick options other than abandonment.

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There are a few things that companies should look for when making a choice for the right Business Collection agency. These include:

Price. Not all Collection companies will charge the same rate or the same way. Almost all Collection agencies do, however, set their rates based on a percentage of the total amount of the monies to be collected. For example, a collection agency may charge ten percent of the total collection amount to the business that hires it. Some collection agencies also charge only once funds have been collected, while other collection agencies charge an upfront fee for their services.

Reliability. Not all Collection agencies are clones of each other when it comes to reliability and effectiveness. One of the preferred ways to conclude how dependable a Collection agency is likely to be is to complete a simple background check on the agency through the world wide web or search with the Better Business Bureau. Also, many Collection agencies will offer references or have a list of clients that they have provided services for that new clients may check before hiring the agency.

Contracts. Some Collection firms offer contract work or retainers for their clients. In such a case, the agency may work a set number of hours each month for a set fee. Businesses need to be sure that they require a Collection agency’s services before they sign a long-term contract or retainer contract so that they can be sure that they get what they pay for.

Methods. It is important to ensure that a Collection agency is able to use a variety of methods when contacting non-payees. For example, Collection agencies should not only be able to approach a non-payee diplomatically through letter writing and phone calls, but the Collection agency should also be able to use legal courses of action, if necessary. May Collection agencies are part of law firms, which enables them to file legal cases easily and quickly, if necessary.

Mallory McGuinness works for a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. She also does stories on business, finance, the credit industry and collections agencies.

Capital One offered to give consumers one dollar of new credit if they agreed to transfer the whole balance of a charged off account to the new credit card. This meant that Capital One could re-age debts to get around the statute of limitations, which would start anew.

According to the lawsuit, Capital One issued cards with limits as low as 200 dollars for low-income consumers with credit histories that were poor. The cards carried membership fees of up to 59 dollars per year. Usually, the annual fees were billed on the consumer’s second monthly statement, leaving the consumer with just 141 dollars of credit when they thought they had 200 dollars. Then, if the consumer mistakenly exceeded the limit, they could face over the limit fees of up to 29 dollars.

In the past few months, McGraw’s office has targeted debt collection agencies in part of an effort to protect West Virginia’s debtors. In November his office took two payday lending firms and four collection agencies to court.

As members of the debt collection industry, we often scratch our heads and wonder why, in a suffering economy where debt is running rampant, we cannot retrieve the money that consumers owe. Experts allege that with unemployment rates running so high, it is impossible for consumers to repay their debts. But bad business practices are not going to help the situation either. It may be a knee jerk reaction to try to con consumers out of money, but it is just that. A knee jerk reaction.

Mallory Megan works for a debt collection company. She also writes storieson bankruptcy, business, finance, and debt collection. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service