The Truth of Credit

photo by FatMandy

Boy, November and December were some really tough months; I have not seen back to back months like this, ever. People are harder than ever to get on the phone and it seems as if the Federal Trade Commission is getting tougher on protecting consumers. I’m so looking forward to 2009, mainly, because the 1st Quarter is almost always the most profitable every collector. The combination of tax returns and New Year’s resolutions equal money in the bank. Here is how my day went this Wednesday, January 7th 2009.

Total Calls = 175
Total Contacts = 4

Dead Dude in Cali - This debtor has been dead for about a month. However, the executor of his estate is very interested in settling his account. Either out of principle or because the guy has valuable assets. This is pretty straightforward, I offered to settle his $1,513 bill for $1,101.64. The executor refused to do a Telecheck but will be sending the check (which I hate). Turned out to be a good deal for me nonetheless.

College Kid from Ohio – I never can understand college kids. They work so hard to get themselves off to a great start in life but for whatever reason their credit is the least of their worries. Anyway, after a month of persistent calling I get this kid on the phone. He starts out by informing me that he has done numerous studies on “Credit Card Cartels.” So I instantly know where this conversation is going. Long story short, he thinks he can pay when he wants and nothing I can say is going to change his mind. If he picks up the phone again I’ll be surprised.

Sister helping brother in North Carolina – I got the debtor on the phone but right away I could tell he was a “little slow” if you catch my drift. He does have enough presence of mind to give me permission to speak with his sister, who I found out later takes care of all his bills. All in all, she is going to pay the bill but only in payments which to me is a win because my conversation with the debtor is going nowhere. The bill is $1,289.12 so I broke the payments into $107.42 over 12 months, interest free.

Father helping Son in NJ – The debtor in this case has been in the hospital for 2 months with kidney failure from some supplements he was taking. Turns out he was an up and coming bodybuilder. Obviously, the debtor himself was not in a good position financially so the father was willing to help. After looking over the credit bureau report, it became obvious he had issues well in advance of his health issues. The father in this case was a pretty shrewd negotiator and wanted to not only settle but to make payments on a settlement. Seeing as this would likely be the only chance I was going to get for payment, I went with it. The debt was $1,749. 57, we settled for $ 1,208.03 with payments of $302.01 for 4 months.

It was a decent day, but as you can see, the balances that I’m collecting on are getting smaller. Not sure if that is just because of the accounts available or because even the people with small balances are having a tough time.