A collection agent is employed a collection agency and is responsible for contacting debtors on behalf of the agency’s clients. Collection agency jobs entail adhering to legal debt collection procedures while also instilling a sense of urgency in debtors to begin paying on their past-due accounts. A collection agent spends the majority of his or her day on the phone with debtors and writing letters to them.
Debtors receive form letters from collection agents. These letters usually emphasize the debtor’s obligation to pay a certain amount within a certain number of days. The letters conclude requesting that the debtor contact the collection agent as soon as possible to make payment arrangements. When collection letters are mailed, it’s common for the return address and other information on the outer envelope to be very limited. Collection agencies are required law not to mention the debt on mailing envelopes addressed to debtors.
When calling debtors on the phone, collection agents must keep the debt confidential and only speak to the debtor about it. If someone other than the debtor answers the collector’s call, the agent must leave his or her name and phone number where the debtor can reach him or her, and only say that the matter is important without specifying that it is about money owed. A collection agent may leave a message on the debtor’s answering machine if the agent’s call is answered the debtor’s answering machine “Hello, my name is Mary Smith, and I’m calling to speak with John Jones about something very important. Please call me back at 1-800-555-5555 as soon as possible, Mr. Jones.”
The phone number that a collection agent gives the debtor to call must be toll free, so that the debtor is not charged for making the call. Collection agents try everything they can within the law to persuade debtors to agree to a payment schedule when speaking with them. A collection agent is often in charge of a large number of delinquent accounts on a daily basis.
It is illegal for collection agents to threaten debtors in any way. If a debtor consistently refuses to pay, the collection agency may ask the agent to send a demand letter to the debtor. A demand letter specifies the amount and time frame within which the debtor must pay in order to avoid being sued in court.
Jobs in collections have a high rate of turnover. Due to the stress of arguing with debtors every day, a collection agent is likely to resign. Collection agents are usually evaluated and paid based on how well they generate debtor payments, so there can be a lot of pressure to get payments from debtors.