Collection Letters Key Terms

Some key terms for collection letters

When it's time to get serious about getting payments a company needs to stay afloat, collections letters are a critical part of the process. These letters can inform those who owe about what is going with their debts, without a lot of in-house time and labor. Collection letters are often used in conjunction with other strategies. Knowing about some of the key terms around using collection letters will help a manager learn how to structure a comprehensive debt collection process.

Sample collection letter or template

A collection letter sample or template is a basic collection letter document that users can customize for specific use. These will generally have an open name field for sending to more than one party.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or FDCPA governs how parties can collect debts from other parties. This set of regulations is designed to protect the debtor, and those looking to collect money should know all about it.
Federal Trade Commission website.

Past due accounts

Past due accounts are simply records of money that has not been paid as scheduled by some outside party. Past due accounts will often be the tools managers use to collect debt. They may be held on a spreadsheet, database or other software.

Mail merge or mail merger

A mail merge or mail merger program is when a user takes a certain collection of data and puts it into mailable form through a piece of software. The original software and the mailing program "merge" the info.
Indiana University site.

Final demand letter

The final demand letter is a formal debt collection letter that lays out all of the ps and qs of what is being requested to make things easier if the matter has to go to court.

Delinquent debt

Delinquent debt is the general term for debts that have "aged" past when they would be considered on time, such as within a 30 day period. Collections managers work with delinquent debts in different ways according to their age and status. These are often kept in the record with modern technologies that can "sort" debts to help collections parties optimize their efforts to get payments.

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