Collections & Credit Risk articles from November 2008

Collections & Credit Risk archives from November 2008

Extra! Extra!(Editor's Note)
November 1, 2008... Byline: Darren Waggoner, Editor Times are bleak. Yeah, I know, "stop the presses," right? Everywhere you turn, every headline you read, seemingly every conversation you have with a co-worker, friend or man-on-the-street begins and ends...

Home(work) for Collectors; A push to hire home-based collectors is showing promise. How can collection agencies find a successful model while learning to trust their employees?(Call Centers)
November 1, 2008... Byline: Darren Waggoner Mike Hash, a lead collector at Global Integrity LLC, an Atlanta-based commercial collection agency, commutes roughly 30 steps to work each morning. Hash works out of his suburban Chicago home. A telecommuter for...

Telecommuting 101.(Call Centers)
November 1, 2008... Byline: Darren Waggoner Creditors and collection agencies can approach telecommuting either by recruiting home-based workers themselves, by allowing existing staff to work from home or by outsourcing projects to agencies that specialize in...

Stolen Identity Lost Profits; Identity theft may be on the decline, but it still can be costly for collection agencies.(CCR Exclusive)
November 1, 2008... Byline: Bill Grabarek The Term "identity theft" quickly brings to mind the hassles victims endure to clear their names, contest fraudulent charges to their credit cards and repair any damage to their credit rating. But the costs linked to...

House Calls; Collection agencies and lenders are rebuilding how they approach mortgage placements in lieu of the housing market debacle and a flood of bad debt.(Cover Story)
November 1, 2008... As the federal government steps in with a $700 billion rescue plan for the ailing credit markets to stem a spiraling financial crisis, collection executives and risk managers are still puzzling out how to collect the mortgages on their books....

The Trouble With Securitizations; Credit card issuers are facing threats that could crack one of the industry's bedrocks: the market for asset-backed securities.(Risk Management)
November 1, 2008... Byline: Kate Fitzgerald As the U.S. economic downturn lingers, the one-two punch of rising credit card charge-offs and delinquencies, plus pending regulations, could lead issuers to rethink their reliance on asset-backed securitizations....

Risk Exposure: A Delicate Balance.(Risk Management)
November 1, 2008... Byline: Kate Fitzgerald To improve the marketability of securitized loans, most card issuers are working to offset their overall risk exposure, analysts say. Capital One Financial Corp., for example, added more aggressive new pricing...

Smarter Strategies.(Column)
November 1, 2008... Byline: James Taylor Collection departments often are regarded as the poor stepchildren with regards to analytic and software technology. They may use automated dialers and have data systems tightly integrated with phone systems but the...

Risk Management Unplugged; Collection industry leaders break down what credit and collection executives need to know about risk in the current economic climate.(Roundtable)
November 1, 2008... Risk management has become increasingly strategic. Few would argue the importance of controlling risk within lines of business but the ability to take an integrated, enterprise-wide approach to risk has become a requirement. Risk...

Stats.(forecasting model of business )
November 1, 2008... The continued increase in the mortgage delinquency rate in the second quarter was not surprising as the period showed not only a substantial increase in the nation's unemployment rate and unprecedented gas prices, but also a continued decline...

Q: With the bailout/rescue of financial institutions approved by the federal government, what will the plan mean for the collection and/or debt-buying industries?(Letters)
November 1, 2008... Maximizing the present value of mortgage portfolios would be a massive undertaking. My sense is that given the tightness of the credit markets, selling foreclosed homes with attached financing would be a good option. This is because leaving...

Q: The credit crunch has challenged lenders, collection agencies and debt buyers - forcing changes in risk management and collection strategies. How has your company handled these challenges? What do you expect in the next 12 months?(Letters)
November 1, 2008... Both delinquencies and bankruptcy volumes are growing fast, which puts pressure to increase head counts while most banks face increasing budgetary pressures and can't increase head counts. So one creative solution to consider is to outsource...

Collection Industry Appears to be Under States' Scrutiny.(News & Analysis)
November 1, 2008... Collection industry news in recent months is looking akin to the police blotter section of the newspaper. Though only some admit it, many states appear to have set their sights on debt collections given the number of settlements recently...

Industry News.(News & Analysis)
November 1, 2008... Medical-Dental-Hospital Business Associates, an Elmhurst, Ill.-based health care-focused collection association, developed a certification program tailored for health care collection agency clients. The program focuses on providing education...

Bureaus Must Clean Files, Court Rules.(News & Analysis)
November 1, 2008... With credit tightening across the board and consumers scrambling to boost their credit scores, a recent court ruling could help ensure those scores are reliable. Millions of individuals have found that while their old debts might have been...

Credit Climate Could Delay Card Rules.(News & Analysis)
November 1, 2008... If tight credit conditions linger in the fourth quarter as expected, the Federal Reserve's proposed new rules for credit card issuers could be delayed, says Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. "If the Fed sees that it...

Closing a Loophole.(News & Analysis)(The Exempt Income Protection Act )(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... New York Gov. David A. Paterson signed legislation in late September to block exempt funds in a consumer's bank account from being frozen by legal action taken by collection agencies and credit card companies. Advocates of the bill say it...

Market Madness; Volatile markets are forging new trends in mergers and acquisitions of Accounts Receivable Management firms.(Guest Column)
November 1, 2008... Byline: Brian Greenberg, Milestone Advisors Those involved in the accounts Receivable Management (ARM) industry hold an interesting vantage point on the credit crunch. We see who's paying, who's not, who can't and who won't. As a...