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Best Debt Reduction Service
There was a time when incurring debts was looked down as one of the worst crimes ever. People were punished for not repaying within the stipulated time. Charles Dickens' s father spent months in a debtor's prison because he was unable to pay off his...
Debt Reduction Program To Become Debt Free
Designing a debt reduction program can be the best way to
solving your financial crisis when you are in a lot of debt.
Debt and the interest rates attached to each debt makes the
balance increase at fast rate.
This is especially true when...
Living on the Cheap to Pay Down Your Debts
Having trouble with your credit card debts? Need to pay them down, and quick? Look for ways to cut your expenses - the quickest way to paying down your debts is by getting rid of all your costs. There are a number of ways to do this, and you can...
Say "Bah, Humbug!" To Holiday Debt: Avoid the "Holiday Hangover"
Ah, the holiday season! Turkey and dressing, pumpkin pie, office
parties, jingle bells, and lots and lots of eggnog make the
season a delight. But all fun and reindeer games aside, you have
to be careful to make sure you don't wind up as poor as...
Secrets To Why Debt Reduction Is So Vital For Your Financial Health
Why debt reduction is vital for your financial health
Living with debt is never a good idea if you want to make long-term financial plans. Every cent you use to service debt is money that could have been invested in your future. Investment is...
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Legal Debt Collection For Local Businesses
If a customer owes your local business money, it's hard not to feel angry, like you want to do anything possible to get your money back. But the days of going all out to collect on a debt over.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, designed to protect consumers from harassment or intimidation, sets firm limits on what you can do to collect a debt from a consumer. The federal debt collections law even prohibits practices that were once standard, and that you might not consider harassment at all.
Besides, as a local business, you have an even more powerful reason to be especially careful about legal debt collection issues. You have something much more valuable at stake than a lawsuit: your business's reputation in the community.
Legal Debt Collection Best Practices
There are plenty of articles on the web that lay out in plain English what the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act says you can and cannot do. For instance, this article: [link to small business debt collection law cheat sheet] Just to give you some idea of the law's requirements, here are some of the biggest:
1. No telling any third party about the debt (except collection bureaus, collection agencies, or the debtor's attorney).
2. No calling on the telephone 9 pm - 8 am, or calling repeatedly in a way that is annoying.
3. No postcards or envelopes that mention the debt.
4. No threats to take actions you cannot or will not really take, such as seizing property, in the case of an unsecured debt.
5. No misrepresenting yourself (e.g., "Hi! This is the
Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. May I speak to John?").
6. No paying down the debt with payments the customer has directed be applied to other debts
Tips and Tricks for Legal Debt Collections
With all these limits on what you can do to collect a debt, what can you do legally?
1. Speak with the debtor personally on the telephone; most likely he or she wants to pay but is in over his or her head. Begin by asking what circumstance has kept him or her from paying. Offer to set up a repayment plan.
2. You should both send letters and make telephone calls. Many people will only respond to one or the other.
3. Document every part of the collections process. Take notes for each call and keep a copy of each letter. If the debt does ever go to court, you will have proof you acted legally.
4. Look into reporting the debt to credit bureaus. If you can, and are willing to do it, you can tell the debtor that not paying will impact his credit rating.
5. Best tip of all: hand over the job to a dedicated collection agency. Small business debt collection services start at as little as $20 per debt.
The fight to get paid is a fight no business should have to involve itself in. Unfortunately, debt collections are a part of business. Just make sure that for your local business debt collection law is followed to the letter, or legal proceedings may become part of your business, too.
About the Author
Joel Walsh has written more tips on debt collection law: debt collection law
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| Welcome to the web site of Debt Relief International. |
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| Debt relief steps, your free guide to debt help. |
| Articles on debt relief, and credit management and repair. |
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| Factsheet - Debt Relief Under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries ... |
| The HIPC Initiative is a comprehensive approach to debt reduction for heavily indebted poor countries pursuing IMF- and World Bank-supported adjustment and ... |
| www.imf.org |
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| Special report: debt relief | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited |
| February 6: A year ago the Guardian set out to track the west's promises of action for Africa on aid, trade, health and debt relief. As G8 finance ministers ... |
| www.guardian.co.uk |
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| Economic Policy and Debt |
| May 2006, IMF And World Bank Support Cameroon’s Completion Point Under The Enhanced HIPC Initiative And The IMF Immediately Grants 100 Percent Debt Relief ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
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| Economic Policy and Debt - The Enhanced HIPC Initiative |
| The Initiative’s debt-burden thresholds were adjusted downward, which enabled a broader group of countries to qualify for larger volumes of debt relief. ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
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| Debt relief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Debt Analyzer, Debt Reduction Software, Home Page |
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| Debt Relief - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum |
| Aid Inflows, Debt Relief Yet to Translate into Reduced Poverty (March 20, 2006) ... Fearing that the IMF could tie debt relief to economic benchmarks, ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
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| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy |
| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy. The Debt Relief Page Has Been Moved to: ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
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| BBC NEWS | Business | Q&A: African debt relief |
| BBC News looks at the progress of international debt reduction efforts, and the sticking points which continue to hamper the process. |
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| Debt Relief Australia - Start Reducing Debt Today! |
| Debt Relief offers Australians in debt assistance with finding the most appropriate debt relief solution. |
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| Debt Consolidation Australia, Debt Relief & Bankruptcy Information |
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| Oxfam - Debt and Aid - Debt Relief for Nicaragua: breaking out of ... |
| Oxfam policy paper on relationship between international debt servicing and poverty. Linked to table of contents and also zipped for download. |
| www.oxfam.org.uk |
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| What debt relief means for Africa | csmonitor.com |
| This weekend's $40 billion debt cancellation deal could spark major improvements in the lives of the world's poorest people. |
| www.csmonitor.com |
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