A new ACA Sigma 6 seminar Dec. 11 explores collecting probate accounts, communicating with consumers represented by attorneys and more.
11/16/2018 9:00
Even in the most basic circumstances, the debt collection process can be challenging. Add layers of complexity to an account—such as bankruptcy, probate or attorney representation—and things get even tougher.
Next month, Porter Morgan III, vice president and general counsel for Morgan Financial Group, and Karen Scheibe Eliason, vice president and senior counsel for ACA International, will present a new Sigma 6 online seminar exploring specialty collection issues.
Collector magazine spoke with them about how to handle potential collection traps as well as gaps in training when it comes to some of these unique circumstances.
Here is an excerpt from the interview:
Q. Collecting probate debt can be extremely delicate. What are some challenges agencies and attorneys face?
Morgan: One of the main challenges in handling probate accounts is that most agencies and attorneys do not specialize in probates or handle probate accounts on a regular basis. They don’t have the volume of probate accounts to where their attorneys and staff are regularly familiar with how to handle them.
Another challenge is that many probate accounts come with unique circumstances. You have more variables with outcomes than you do with normal collection accounts.
That’s why it’s important for companies to have policies and procedures that are detailed but also explain the “why” part of handling an account, to help aid staff who may not have the experience they would for normal collection accounts.
Q. What should agencies keep in mind when sending letters for accounts in probate?
Morgan: It is essential to remember that the FDCPA and state laws for collection still apply to deceased accounts. A first letter with the initial disclosures and mini-Miranda should be sent to the individual identified as responsible for the estate, most commonly the personal representative, and handling of the assigned account. And as a collections best practice, it does not hurt to include the mini-Miranda on all letters sent for probate accounts.
One other note would be to make sure any letters that are sent out to family members or other third parties do not mislead those parties into believing they are personally responsible for the debt when they are not.
Both the Federal Trade Commission and Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection have mentioned their concerns about this practice in publications.
Read more about the upcoming Sigma 6 seminar in the November issue of Collector magazine.
Morgan and Scheibe Eliason will discuss these collection issues in greater detail in their Sigma 6 session, “Navigating Specialty Consumer Collection Traps and Gaps: Handling Accounts When Consumers are Represented by Counsel, in Bankruptcy or Estates/Probate” Dec. 11. Registration is available online here.
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