Frequently Asked Questions

As a debt buyer in search of a collection agency to represent your recovery needs, we suspect that many of you have many of these same questions:

Q: If I place accounts with you, how long will they stay before being closed back? 

A: Upon receipt of the portfolio you will receive an Email confirmation from us indicating the number of accounts that we received from you. The Email will also indicate the face value of those accounts, and the date we received them. From that point on the account is considered placed with us for collections. Very early on we will identify a number of accounts that will be deemed "uncollectible." Within six month we will recommend that these uncollectible accounts (the non-performing portion of the portfolio) be re-sold. The accounts that are identified as still being collectible will remain with us for another six months, at which time you are free to pull the remaining non-performing accounts for re-sale, or re-placement with another agency. The performing portion (those who are paying, or have agreed to pay) will stay with us until the account is satisfied, or determined to be uncollectible.

Q: What kind of reports will we receive?

A: In addition to the Email Confirmation, you will receive several monthly reports from us. These reports will normally be generated to you by the 5th working day of each month. The reports include a Status report, a Payment report, a Liquidation report, and an invoice.

Q: How will revenue that is collected by Locate Services be generated to me?

A: Your "remit" check will also be sent to you by the 5th business day of each month and will normally be attached to your invoice. There is a 30-day hold on all remits, so each month you will receive your remit from the previous month along with your current month's reports. You will continue to receive remits until there are no more accounts performing in that portfolio.

Q: What kind of liquidations can we expect to see?

A: Again, nearly impossible to answer, however we feel strongly that we can achieve a 30% annualized return on most portfolios. 

Q: How do you handle skip tracing?

A: We have several levels to our skip tracing. We have a great process, but really it hinges on working accounts case-by-case. We feel strongly that older debt has already been skip traced in mass. These skips are where a good collector will discover a good flow of revenue. Our skip tracing process is slow and methodical.but very effective!!! A portfolio with an abnormally high volume of skips will slow down early liquidations, but you will often see higher overall liquidations over the life of the placement.

Q: What associations do you belong to?

A: We are currently members of the American Collector's Association (ACA) and the Ohio Collector's Association.

Q: How long will it take you to get going if we decide to use your services?

A: Not long at all. We will send a collection agreement for you to sign and return with the setup fee. Once we have you set up (which shouldn't take more than 1 day) you can send us an Excel spreadsheet with your accounts on them, we will load them and start working them right away.

Q: Will you have particular collectors assigned to our accounts, or will your entire staff work my files?

A: That depends on the regularity of your placements. If you place accounts in regular timely intervals, you may have staff that becomes completely dedicated to your files. If you buy portfolios sporadically, than most likely your accounts will be randomly dispersed between the entire staff.

Q: How are accounts that require legal action handled?

A: We have clients that want to approve each and every file that goes to legal, and we have clients who have simply said "treat them as your own." We qualify every account for suit, which means the debtor must have something to go after once a judgment has been secured, otherwise it's more often just a waste of money. It's hard enough to get the ones with verified employment or assets to pay, let alone the ones who have nothing. It will be up to you which way you want it to be done.

Q: How is revenue that the law office recovers sent to me?

A: The law office will maintain its relationship directly with us. From time-to-time they may need a signature from you, but most often they will work directly with us. You will be responsible for the court costs, attorney fees, etc which is why you may want to approve each legal. This will be reflected in your monthly invoice. Some states may only require $50.00 to sue.some may require $450.00 to sue. The law office will also be paid a commission rate of 33.34% of the recovered revenue. Locate Services will still be paid their normal collection rate on the remit from the law office. It is ill-advised to pursue small balance accounts in this manner.

Q: What law office do you use?

A: It depends on the state in which the debtor resides.

Q: Do you offer a manner in which we can review our accounts from time to time?

A: You may purchase our investor's version of the collection software. With this, you will be given the capabilites to review your accounts any time you want to. You can also come to Ohio and sign on to one of our terminals. 

Q: What is the best kind of debt to buy?

A: Impossible to answer. Each portfolio displays vital characteristics about the potential liquidity of the portfolio. No two portfolios are alike, and they must all be reviewed, analyzed, interpreted, and even segmented to fit your model of collections.