Collections & Credit Risk articles from April 2008

Collections & Credit Risk archives from April 2008

A First Look at the Presidential Race.
April 1, 2008... As we edge closer to choosing the two individuals who will race to become our nations 44th chief executive, Collections & Credit Risk is taking an early look at what all of the candidates, if elected, might mean to the collection industry. ...

Florida Broker Faces Multiple Lawsuits.(Goldberg & Associates LLC)(Hudson & Keyse LLC)
April 1, 2008... There are at least three lawsuits and up to a dozen formal complaints lodged against Goldberg & Associates LLC, an investment firm in Boca Raton, Fla., regarding its purchases and resales of consumer debt portfolios. Industry insiders tell...

Industry News.
April 1, 2008... West Corp., Omaha, Neb., will acquire French global multimedia service provider Genesys Conferencing to combine with InterCall Inc., a West subsidiary. Genesys board approved the deal. The deal value, excluding transaction costs, is an...

IRS Steps Up Charity Care Reporting.
April 1, 2008... With 47 million uninsured Ameri-cans, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures, federal and state officials are questioning whether tax credits the IRS provides to nonprofit hospitals that offer charity care are proportionate to the...

Sellers and Buyers Seek Shelter: Economic pressures will again play a role in prices for bad debt this year, prompting both sellers and buyers to rethink their strategies.
April 1, 2008... Prices for freshly charged-off debt portfolios are expected to drop in 2008, continuing a decline that began in 2007 and pushing the market further from prices commanded in 2006 10% to upwards of 13.25% of unpaid balances. Sellers can...

Credit Quality Forecast.
April 1, 2008... Credit quality on consumer accounts is expected to worsen this year. In its survey on Americans finances, TransUnions TrueCredit.com found 25% of Americans missed making one or more on-time bill payments last year, with most of those...

Without a Trace: Locating debtors who do not want to be found can be done with some creative use of skip-tracing vendors and technology.
April 1, 2008... Why are some debtors hard to find? The question yields many obvious answers. Generally these debtors either cannot pay their bills or do not want to, so they make themselves scarce. Collectors need to understand why debtors are hiding in...

Playing Politics: The collections and debt industries prepare for more regulations as the presidential race unfolds.
April 1, 2008... As voters size up the leading presidential candidates, the collections industry is assessing its prospects, taking a closer look at how each candidates proposals might impact the business. Not surprisingly, the candidates have not commented...

Deceased Debt: Collecting debt from estates is a niche for a handful of agencies and law firms experienced with nuanced legal requirements in 3,000 courts across the United States.
April 1, 2008... Collecting from estates, in some ways, is akin to collecting in bankruptcy court. You file a claim. You wait. But thats where the similarities end. Bankruptcy cases are handled in 94 federal judicial districts. Probate cases are all handled...

Defining Estate Terminology.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Estate: All the assets a person possesses at the time of death - such as securities, real estate, interests in business, physical possessions and cash. The estate is distributed to heirs according to the dictates of the persons will or, if...

FAQs On Deceased Collections.(frequently asked questions)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Q: What is the typical claim-filing deadline? A: The majority of estates are opened within six months of death, and claims typically must be filed within six to 12 months after opening. Q: How much are claim filing fees? A: $5 to...

Professionalism Trumps All.
April 1, 2008... Tyrone Campbell, a 20-year industry veteran, wrote a manual on probate collections when he worked for Warren Rosenfeld, founder and CEO of The Rosenfeld Attorney Network, former vice president of NCO Financial Services Inc., past president of...

Reckless Abandonment: Lacking equity, more homeowners are electing to not pay their mortgages and simply leave their homes. Worse yet, some are staying and living rent-free. What does it mean for collections?
April 1, 2008... Home prices have plunged. Mortgage payments are set to jump. And now this: more and more homeowners are walking away from their mortgages, returning the keys to lenders rather than trying to keep up with rising payments on deteriorating assets....

The Damage Done.
April 1, 2008... The grave hit to credit scores is the most serious consequence to walking away from a mortgage. But some still believe they are better off taking that hit than throwing away money they do not expect to recover by selling their home. Funny thing...

The Credit Card Gamble.
April 1, 2008... As borrowing slows in the mortgage market, credit card borrowing is booming a dangerous trend as consumers face weak income growth. As a result, the credit card business could encounter the same problems that plague the subprime mortgage...

'Piggybacking' Under Pressure': The producer of the FICO credit score wants to stop strangers from co-signing card applications.
April 1, 2008... Fair Isaac Corp., whose FICO credit-scoring model helps lenders gauge their risks, wants organizations to stop a credit-repair bureau practice called piggybacking where individuals inflate their credit ratings by buying into strangers ratings....

Changes in the M&A Landscape: Opportunities abound for mergers and acquisitions and raising capital - despite economic and industry changes now underway.
April 1, 2008... The Financing Market continues to change, affecting mergers and acquisitions activity in the accounts receivable management (ARM) sector and every other sector. The question is: with considerable capital waiting to be deployed, are deals still...