Tag Archives: Debt collection industry

What our clients say about FIRMS.

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At FIRMS we take great pride in our customer satisfaction.  We originally got started in the debt collection industry because we knew that FIRMS would make an impact on the debt collection industry in a very crucial way.  We knew we would work harder and smarter than any one of our competitors.  

Let me ask you a question.  How is your current debt collection company working for you?  Are they available for you when you need them?  Do you they have a high-quality customer website for you to get up to date and real time account information?  Do they notify you when you an account has been paid?  Do they customize their services to fit your company’s needs and wants?  I would imagine most of your answers were no.  That’s because FIRMS has created something unique; a debt collection company that cares.

We hear two simple words time and time again from our customers.  Those two words are “Thank You.”  Our clients constantly contact us to say thank you for all the hard work we do for them.  We hear about how impressed they are at our customer service, our technology that makes their lives easier, and our rate of return.  We have always believed that it is better to attract bee’s with honey and we consider our impeccable customer service and business savvy to be that honey.

So stop worrying about the issues you’re having with your current debt collection company.  Don’t worry about if the accounts will get paid, if your business will be able to afford to stay open, or whether or not your current provider is practicing poor business and collection techniques in your name.  Give FIRMS a call today and let us show you how a debt collection company can really work for your business.

 

When and How to Hire a Debt Collection Company

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At FIRMS we realize that some of our potential clients have never worked with a debt collection company before.  We have found a very insightful and helpful article written by Credit.com that will help guide you through the process and some tips to consider when making your choice.

When to hire a collection agency

Most companies send accounts to a collection agency when they are between 90 and 120 days past due. If you wait longer than that, you’re far less likely to recover the debt. The more time that passes, the lower the chances. Generally, it’s time to start thinking about hiring a collection agency if:

  • New customers do not respond to your first attempt to collect the debt. When you do not have a history of transactions with the customer, there’s a greater chance they will refuse to pay or never intended to.
  • You’ve agreed to a payment plan, but the customer does not follow through. Customers who still won’t pay after you’ve agreed to meet them halfway with a payment plan are unlikely to change their minds.
  • A customer completely denies responsibility for the debt. Without a collection agency, these debts are rarely recovered.
  • The customer makes unfounded complaints about your business, product or service as an excuse not to pay. Most of the time, these complaints are just an excuse to get out of paying the debt.
  • The customer is going through a serious personal situation such as a divorce. Often, one spouse blames the other for the debt. A collection agency will be able to get to the bottom of who’s responsible.
  • The customer has a long history of being financially irresponsible.

Deciding when to hire a collection agency is a personal choice, of course. But once it becomes clear you’ve exhausted all your options and aren’t getting anywhere, the debt is better left in the hands of a professional agency. It is better to recover some portion of the debt than none of it.

Choosing a collection agency

There are more than 5,000 collection agencies in the United States alone, and not all are alike — far from it, in fact. Some handle consumer accounts, while others specialize in business-to-business (B2B) collections. The biggest firms often handle both. Some collection agencies specialize in certain industries such as medical, insurance, utilities, credit cards, mortgages or auto loans, while others work for a number of industries. There are agencies that cater specifically to small businesses and those that cater to large corporations. Some agencies are local or statewide in focus, while others are national firms.

Generally, it is important to hire a collection agency that has an established track record of successful collections in your industry. The agency needs to be familiar with the terminology in your industry, and the rules or regulations set forth by state or federal agencies governing your industry, if applicable. If you’re in the medical field, for example, the agency needs to be well versed in insurance requirements and medical terms. If you have consumer debt, find an agency that specializes in consumer debt.

It is always important to focus and choose a debt collection company that will work best with your company.  And guess what?  FIRMS is that debt collection company that will work best with you!

We hope to hear from you soon!

 

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Helping People To Get Results.

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Helping People To Get Results.

The world of business and sales has continually developed over the years and successful companies have gone from trying to aggressively sell their products and services to potential customers to realizing and understanding that it is far more important to help their customers find a solution to their problems.  In the world of business we are realizing that it is far more important to help your customer find a solution, to help them through a difficult process in order to earn their business and also earn a customer for life.

FIRMS is a debt collection company that specializes in helping our customer work through difficult situations.  This is our area of expertise in the debt and financial world.  Whether it be helping local companies collect on outstanding debts, helping the customer we call to collect from in assisting them through difficult work related issues such as helping to build their resume or sending it out to assist them in finding new employment, or through this blog in helping you learn about the ins and outs of the financial world and how you can better manage and handle your money.

A lot of people may visit this blog produced by FIRMS and wonder why we write about topics like saving and paying off debt or managing your monthly finances through a budget.  For FIRMS we care about our customers, we care about anyone needing help or advice and education on managing their finances.  We care about local communities, we care about helping more Americans get out of debt and save for their families and their own lives.

FIRMS is a rare breed in the world of debt collection companies for one simple reason; we care about the customers and people we deal with every day.  You will never catch FIRMS focused on the almighty dollar, you will never find FIRMS only interested in collecting from individuals in any way possible.  You will always find FIRMS caring for our customers and helping people find positive solutions.

 

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FIRMS, FDCPA Compliant

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FIRMS

We have talked about this topic before but we feel it is important to remind you about some of the great practices FIRMS has set in place as a premier debt collection agency that sets us apart from other debt collection companies in the industry.

First and foremost FIRMS is a staunch follower of the rules and regulations set in place with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect from you.  FIRMS prides itself in being not only a follower of these practices but also in providing friendly, supportive, and knowledgeable support to our customers and to the individuals we are collecting from.

A quick Google search will show you a complete list of practices that all debt collection companies MUST comply with and there is a comprehensive list of actions that debt collection businesses may never use.  Among this list are rules such as not being allowed to contact a person outside the hours of 8:00AM and 9:00PM, submitting false information to an individual’s credit report, calling repeatedly with intent to annoy or harass, increasing the amount of money owed on the debt, and using harsh or abusive language.  

You know what strikes me most about the few items listed in the paragraph above?  This list was obviously created because at some point a debt collection company used these tactics to collect money from someone.  See, at FIRMS we find this kind of behavior and these actions to be repulsive for a debt collection agency.  We work hard to insure that we treat everyone we contact with most respect and we have policies and practices in place to assist anyone that may need help.  As most of you already know, if FIRMS calls a family to collect on a debt and that person is out of a job, FIRMS will assist them in building a resume and sending that out to help them find work!

FIRMS is changing the way the world views the debt collection industry one customer at a time and we are excited to be on the cutting edge of progressive debt collection companies that are focused on making the lives of those businesses and people we interact with better and better.

Give FIRMS a call today and let us show you how we can help your business collect on those outstanding debts today!

 

  • FIRMS.

Let’s Talk Money Management

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Let’s talk about money management.  A lot of people have heard of a celebrity named Dave Ramsey.  Dave is a financial adviser, radios show host, and acclaimed author.  Dave’s book, “The Total Money Makeover” helps people learn the ins and outs of debt and how to get out of debt and stay out of debt.  In fact, Dave’s number one goal is for people to live debt free.

One of the principles Dave uses in his strategy is to get people to use envelopes to help manage their money.  Envelopes? you ask.  Yes, envelopes.  Dave has a strategy in which you set a monthly budget.  Let’s say your food, rent, gas, utilities, and some extra spending money.  Dave’s strategy says once you have been paid from your employer that you should immediately withdraw the cash you need for expenses.  If you’re rent is $700 a month you would get your paycheck, take out $700 in cash, and place it in an envelope you have tapped to your wall marked “rent”.  Now that the money is set aside for rent you need to do the exact same thing for your food, utilities, phone bill, etc.  The second you get your paycheck, take out the cash and place it in your envelopes and DON’T TOUCH THE MONEY!

When you need to go to the grocery store, go to your food envelope.  When you have to pay rent, go to your rent envelope.  Anything you have left over from your paycheck that didn’t go into your envelopes should go into a savings account or into paying off debt.  Don’t go out and buy the latest video game with the extra money, but PAY OFF DEBT!

This method is effective IF you stay focused.  You have to already have budget in place and have planned out your finances in order for this system to work.  If your food budget is $400 a month and you only take out $200 for your food envelope the process is pointless.

at FIRMS we believe that the first step to paying off debt is setting an honest budget and sticking to it.  Don’t do anything halfway, go all out and get focused on setting your budget and taking back control of your finances.  

As a premiere debt collection agency FIRMS is always here to help you manage your money and pay off your debts through our blogs.  Do you have any specific questions on money management or debt?  Comment below and we will be glad to respond!

 

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The Need For Cash

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There are thousands of blogs, articles, books, and workshops floating around in the world that are all circulated around the same topic; how to get out of debt.

There are differing opinions and views about how to get out of debt, stay out of debt, and better manage your personal finances.  Among the vast majority of those views is the same principle; track your spending.

We live in a world where money is electronic.  today we have credit and debit cards, papal accounts, apple pay, Samsung pay, and Bit Coins.  Money has become numbers on a screen and has lost it’s reality as total value.  Studies show it is easier to spend more money with electronically than it is when you have the cold, hard cash in your hand.

Tracking your spending starts with using cash and leaving your debit card at home.  Let’s say you’re going out to a local electronics store to buy a new television.  You have a budget in mind of $300.  You have done your research at home, you know exactly which model you want to buy and so you go out with the exact amount the television will cost in cash.  You get to the store and begin walking around looking at all of the bigger, brighter, and more defined televisions.  Suddenly the great model you found for $300 seems too small or too dim.  What are you going to do?  If you’re smart, you’ll buy your television for the $300 you planned and you’ll be happy because a $300 television is an upgrade from what you own now.  Maybe you will leave the store without a television and you’ll go home and save for a week or two until you can afford the nicer model.  Now, let’s pretend you are not that smart, which we all know you are.  But let’s say you forgot to leave your credit card at home and guess what?  You have $500 available on that card!  That means you can take your cash and your credit card and buy an $800 television!  Sadly, this is what most of us do on a daily basis.  Maybe we our budget says we have $5 to spend on lunch.  You decide to go to Panera bread for lunch and notice there’s a great lunch special for $10 and it looks delicious.  You have your debit card in hand and decide to double your budget for lunch that day.  Guess what, chances are you’re going to do the same thing 3 days out of the week, spend more money than you budgeted because you decided to leave home with your debit card.

See, this is where tracking your spending and paying with cash will benefit you.  If you track your spending you can see those patterns developing over time and see how much you actually spend over budget each week because of using your credit or debit card instead of sticking to your budget and paying with cash.

FIRMS is an odd debt collection agency.  Why is FIRMS different than most debt collections companies?  Because we don’t want you to go into debt, we want to help you get out of and stay out of debt.

We hope this helps,

 

  • FIRMS

 

When A Debt Collection Company Is Wrong

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When A Debt Collection Company Is Wrong

Today we are going to tell you a little story about John who recently had an interesting and frustrating experience with a debt collection agency.  John’s story may be unique and not every reader will be able to relate, however the principles are true and worthy of giving your attention to.

John Smith got a call one day from a debt collection company stating that John had a past due amount he owed to a local cable provider.  John was confused as to how he could have such a bill.  John had recently moved into his childhood home and had never had any sort of account with the cable company in question.  The debt collection agency didn’t want to hear any excuses from John and called him a liar and stated that he owed them $175.

John hung up the phone with the company and after a couple of days he forgot about the situation.  

Two months later John went online to check his credit report and found that there was a negative claim on his account that shouldn’t be there.  After some investigating John realized it was that mysterious cable company bill.  John called the debt collection company and tried to find out more information.  It turned out that John’s grandfather had opened the account and the final bill was never paid after his grandfather had passed away years ago.  The issue was that John shared the same name of his grandfather and now john was living in his grandfather’s old house, so there was virtually no way to distinguish between John and his grandfather.

John talked to every manager at the debt collection agency he could find but no one was willing to help him. He finally called the cable company and went through their channels to try and find someone that could help.  The cable company wanted John to submit a death certificate for his grandfather proving John was telling the truth!  After more and more digging and talking to more and more managers, John finally asked the manager to check when the account was opened.  They found it had been opened in 1995 when John would have only been 7 years old.  The manager apologized for the mistake and immediately removed everything from their system.  John’s credit still took a minor hit but that will soon recover.

The point of this story is that you should never allow a debt collection agency to push you around or harass you.  If there has been a mistake on your credit report you need to spend some time and dig to find out what the mistake is so you can correct the issue and fix the situation.  Most debt collection agencies will not assist you and most companies will not immediately correct the issue unless they have proof.  You have to work to prove that their reporting is inaccurate.  So don’t get upset if something is wrong on your credit report. Just work a little bit harder and find the mistake and then contact the company with the correct information!

Remember, with FIRMS we are here to help you with any financial or debt related questions you might have!  Don’t hesitate to contact and let us know how FIRMS can help you!

 

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FIRMS – Changing the Debt Collection Industry

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There was a national article written sometime in 2008 that got a lot of attention for the debt collection industry, a lot of negative attention.  In the article you can read the story of a journalist out of Buffalo New York who went undercover at one of the nation’s largest debt collection agencies.  The article details all of the horrid practices that the debt collection industry is known for.  Harassing customers, making up titles for themselves, in the article the story talks about one employee who masked himself as a “fraud investigator” to make the person he was collecting debt from become scared and hopefully make them settle their debts immediately.  Whatever the practices, the fact remains the industry has some bad eggs out there hurting the people they are collecting from and the businesses they are trying to help grow.

This is one of the main reasons we started FIRMS in the first place.  We wanted to help businesses grow and collect on those outstanding debts but we also wanted to help those average Americans who’d gotten a little behind on their bills or lost their job, we wanted to make sure we were holding true to the best business practices possible.

I cannot begin to tell you how many customers we have that tell us how easy the process is when they are receiving calls from FIRMS.  We make sure that our call specialists are trained to be polite and friendly when contacting individuals who have fallen behind on their bills. We ensure our customers, the local veterinarians or the local optometrist that are working hard to keep their doors open, that we will help them collect on debt and maintain a positive image for their company.

At the end of the day, FIRMS is not just collecting debt from ordinary people, we are making a difference in local communities.  FIRMS is helping solidify the good customer service practices of local businesses we are helping to collect on those outstanding debts.

Contact FIRMS today and let us show you how we can help your business collect and how we can do so with the best practices around!

 

Characteristics of Debt-Free people

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    Let’s talk about goals.  But first we need to get real with ourselves.  

Let’s assume you have personal debt.  According to credit.com 80% of Americans are currently in debt of some sort whether it be student loans, credit cards, car loans, or home loans.  My question for you is this; how does it feel?  Do you like having those debts?  Does it feel good to make payments month after month with those interest rates adding to the amount of money you owe?  I will take a stab in the dark and say your answer is no, you do not like paying those bills every month.  Wouldn’t it be nice to not have those payments?  The average American carries over $15,000 in credit card debt alone!  Imagine not having that account any longer.  What could you do with that money?

    I am writing this post at 8:25PM on Wednesday January 13th.  I have been told that tonight at 10:59PM the Powerball lottery numbers will be chosen and someone, or a number of people, will win over ONE BILLION DOLLARS!  I am sure a lot of you are dreaming about what you could do with that much money, and I am sure that in your top ten list of what you would use the money for paying off debt is not listed.  Whether you win the Powerball lottery or not, I want to provide you with a strategy that will help you pay off your outstanding debts.  The following is a list of some characteristics of debt-free people.

  1. They are wise.  Debt-free people are not as concerned with their FICO score as they are with their net worth.  While you are focusing on paying off your debt you should consider debt as being a very bad thing.  Do not go into debt while you are trying to pay off debt.  It is not wise and debt-free people are wise.
  2. They are patient.  Debt-free people are focused and secure in their goals and their strategy and they do not fly by the seat of their pants.  They wait patiently for their opportunity.  You should not go into debt to buy Powerball tickets hoping to pay off your debts!
  3. They are not materialistic.  You do not need the latest iPhone, especially if it will cost you paying off your credit card debt.  You do not need to go spend $200 at the bar or at the newest restaurant in town.  Never allow your need for materialism to get in the way of you being debt-free.      
  4. They are willing to make sacrifices.  You may need to sacrifice your morning Starbucks and make coffee at home in order to pay off a credit card earlier.  You could save $250 a month by simply making coffee at home rather than buying your morning cup of joe at a local coffee or donut shop.

Set goals, make a vision board.  Determine what you are going to spend all your money on when you are debt-free.  Plan that dream vacation you will be able to afford when you don’t have all of those monthly debt payments to worry about and then stick to the principles above to get yourself out of debt and on your way to financial freedom!

    At FIRMS we are dedicated to making America a better place by helping businesses stay open by assisting them in collecting debts owed to their business and helping the average American in debt by giving them useful tips and information to become debt-free.

 

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FIRMS Goal for 2016

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    Today is the end of a year, 2015, and what a great year it was!  Tomorrow is a new beginning, a new start, a new opportunity for individuals and businesses to grow and to change and to reach the goals and accomplish those tasks that have been on the to-do list for awhile.

At FIRMS we take great pride in being one of the premier debt collection companies in the industry.  Our focus has always been and will continue to be helping doctors office, small businesses, and any other company stay open and profitable by helping to collect on outstanding debts.  FIRMS is very unique and vastly different from other debt collections agencies because we are not just focused on collecting money but on making sure we change the debt collection game in the process.

We have written before about some of the ways FIRMS is unique.  Whether it be our focus on making the account management fast and simple for office managers, or our dedication to helping those individuals we contact to collect from by writing their resume and helping them find work when they are unemployed, or it could be our wanting to change the debt collection industry by offering our clients complete transparency when it comes to the collection process and account updates.

FIRMS is making 2016 a year of growth and change.  We are more committed than ever to help our clients collect on those outstanding debts and to help local communities by collecting in a friendly, uplifting, and effective process.

If you have been reading and are curious as to how FIRMS can help your business, now is the time to contact our offices.  Don’t put off for tomorrow what you should be doing today.

We wish you a very happy New Year and look forward to working with you!
     – FIRMS