Posts tagged: debt collection

Wyoming City Is Trying To Collect

In the town of Cody, Wyoming, 219 utility accounts were sent for collection. Only four of the bills belonged to property owners. Some are suggesting that the town council should think about holding property owners responsible for utility costs that their renters left unpaid. A policy like that could have added $180,000 to the city budget during the past five years, and furthermore, other utility users are subsidizing those that don’t pay their bills.

Landlords are offering fast and obvious objection, asking the city council why it should be their responsibility to pay for a bill that someone else racked up. Another plan has been proposed though, one that would require a deposit from every person opening up a utility account.

This change in policy would involve a number of changes such as a mandate that a property owner co-sign for a renter’s account. Tenants would be billed on their own account but have an open landlord account for each property. Unpaid bills would be transferred to the landlord’s account if the tenant doesn’t pay.

Deposit requirements would go from $150 to $200, and would be necessary for all accounts, regardless of their past credit history. Property owners would be notified of delinquencies, and they would be encouraged to get in touch with the city to determine if the bill got paid before returning rental deposits. All property owners would have to keep utilities in their names.

Proponents of the plan say that it is not out of line with what other cities are doing, and it is a simpler and more cost efficient way to collect money. Collection agencies receive about one third of what they collect in the city, and 60 percent of bills that go to collection remain unpaid.

No matter what decision they arrive to, it should be quick: city officials are noting a trend towards fewer people making deposits and more accounts being sent out for collection.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery solution, a credit collection agency. Our aim is to collect as much of your cash as possible.

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categories News | Mallory Megan | datetime August 21, 2010 4:41 am | comments Comments (0)

Texas Toll Booths Shape Up And Ship Out

In Dallas, the North Texas Tollway Authority, an authority that is responsible for collecting tolls, has been scrutinized for months due to its toll collecting policy. This policy charges drivers who do not pay up at the toll booth fines of hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. Because the NTTA has been under fire in the public eye, it announced today two steps it says that will target improving customer satisfaction.

The first measure that the NTTA took was to allow all drivers to use the electronic toll collection lanes, including those who do not have one. They are able to do this without being punished with a twenty five dollar fine.

Before this measure, drivers without toll tags that utilized the electronic lanes on the Dallas North Tollway were seen at as violators and would be fined twenty five dollars for each time they passed through an electronic toll booth, rather than a cash booth after the fact.

However, after February eighth, the drivers lacking a toll tag who use the electronic lanes will be given the opportunity to pay for the tolls before being slammed with the additional twenty five dollar fine. But these toll charges will continue to be calculated at the cash rate, which is twice as high as the rates paid by toll tag consumers.

Unfortunately, the change won’t affect the NTTA’s collections policy in any other way and it will not stop consumers without toll tags who do not pay toll bills mailed to their homes from being charged twenty five dollars for every unpaid toll. This is a policy that can turn a week’s worth of tolls into a thousand dollar bill.

The NTTA’s second move was to appoint an internal auditor as a sort of mediator, which will be available to frustrated customers who have first complained their way through NTTA customer service hierarchy without a result that satisfied them. The auditor will then review the account and determine if customer service and billing reps have followed their own rules.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution, a nationwide collection agency. Looking for credit card services or skip tracing? Contact us today.

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categories News | Mallory Megan | datetime 2:58 am | comments Comments (0)

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