Credit Cards - Smart Uses

Credit cards get a bad rap for high interest, low payments that never bring down your balance and the destruction of credit ratings when they are maxed out, but there's actually smart uses for plastic!

1.  Online Purchases

The big deal here is protection.  If your purchase goes south, you are able to reverse the transaction, and you may be eligible for better warranties and return policies.

2.  Expensive Purchases.

There is often zero interest incentives for large purchases, IF you have a credit card with the store brand.  These are opportunities often not made available to those without a credit card.

3. Renting a vehicle.

For most rental agencies, you can't rent, at all, without a credit card.

4.  Travel expenses.

Again this is a matter of protection.  If your card is lost or stolen your credit card account can have a freeze put on it, and most cards can be quickly replaced in 24 hours.

5.  Hotel  accommodations

Like renting a car, often you cannot get hotel reservations without a credit card.

Use credit wisely.


Have a great weekend, from your Florida Debt Collection Attorneys, Marcadis Singer, PA.

Marcadis Singer, PA

Florida Collection Attorney

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

New Clients 

Ext. 247 Gil Singer

Ext. 240 Ralph Marcadis

Existing Client Client Liaison

Ext. 242

To Pay a Claim

Ext.  245

Look for Complaints, Welcome Them.

Huh?  How counter-intuitive is that??

Well, consumer complaints are an almost inevitable part of the debt collection industry in Florida.

The question is would you rather that those complaints come to you, or would you rather handle the debtor dispute in-house, BEFORE it gets to the CFPB, or the Better Business Bureau, or worse the state attorney general?

Your door should be open to hearing debtor complaints, and your team should be active in acting on them.

Take care of consumer complaints before they damage your reputation, before you open yourself to law suits.  Since consumer complaints are an inevitable part of our industry, be sure you are well equipped to not just deal with them, but to draw them into your organization before they escalate.

As always, if the process of debt collection in Florida becomes too large, and its time to call in an attorney, look to the debt collection lawyers in Florida, Marcadis Singer, PA.

Marcadis Singer, PA

5104 South Westshore Blvd.

Tampa, Florida 33611

info @ marcadislaw.com

(888) 547-1881

(813) 288-1881

New Clients 

Ext. 247 Gil Singer

Ext. 240 Ralph Marcadis

Existing Client Client Liason

Ext. 242

To Pay a Claim

Ext.  245

6 Sure Fire Ways To Get Upside Down in Debt! - (Con't.)

4. Ignore your credit report and credit score.

Ignoring your credit report is the same thing as saying that you totally trust the folks issuing your credit -  what the heck, let them run the show  -  they certainly have your best interests in mind!  WRONG!

Here's the truth of the matter.   The FTC believes that over 25% of all credit reports contain errors... that's 1 in 4.  Gather 4 friends together.. one of you has an error on their credit report.

Not only do things go wrong, but sometimes there are way past due bills you have legitimately forgotten about, maybe someone gets ahold of your credit card... Not knowing your credit value puts you at a huge disadvantage.

A very rational strategy is to get your free credit report - you are entitled by law to a free report every year.

Take a look at it, and dispute any mistakes.  Then one by one, find the items on that report that hurt you the most and go to work on them.  What you will find is that as your credit score improves, you will be able to negotiate for cheaper credit.   Move your score in the right direction, and next thing you know, you get offered a cheaper credit card.  Pay off the expensive card, and use the cheap card, and instantly you have saved money!   Hold off on major purchases like a house or a car until your score is stronger, and save more money over a long period of time.

Of course, if you don't know what your credit looks like, you are flying blind - and are easy prey to predatory lenders... Get your free credit report - its easy.  Manage your credit and start having more money available to you at the end of ever month.

6 Sure Fire Ways To Get Upside Down in Debt! - (Con't.)

3. Overspend or simply spend spending future earnings that haven't been banked yet.

That contract is going to come in next month with a big fat commission, so I can afford to buy the television today... right?

One of life's little realities are that the money doesn't always come, or come when you expect it, but the credit card bill is always on time.

Another trap is that the money comes, but before the credit card bill arrives, and gets spent on a celebratory trip, and then the credit card comes, and there's no extra money to pay it.

One of the best strategies is to spend when the money gets there, don't spend ahead.

Zen and Debt Collection

I was reading a fairly lightweight  article on the web regarding the current state of Debt Collection Practices in the US, and was struck by their statement

"Debt collection leaders need to become more aggressive when it comes to policy making, employee training, records governance and general customer relationship management." 

There is, of course, a large dividing line between a debt collection agency, an in-house debt collection department, and a debt collection attorney.  We all fall under the broad heading of "Debt Collection Leaders".

With the news lately awash of instances of unscrupulous fake collectors trying to cash in on Christmas Money, the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishing tumultuous results on customer complaints about the debt collection industry, I am given pause to the statement in MircoBilt.

• Policy Making
• Employee Training
• Records Governance
• Customer Relationship Management.

These are the hallmarks of our law practice, focussed predominantly on debt collection.  As Attorney's we are held to a much higher standard, and we are very proud of how hard we work to help our client's internal receivable management processes.  We are quite proud of the level of internal training we provide our Florida Debt Collection Attorneys.  And holding the debtor along with our client with the utmost of respect is a cornerstone of our practice.

The bottom line is that there have always been those who would borrow with no intention of paying.  We consider that theft.  We also consider that these are the minority of debt collection cases.  Most often, the hardships of the economic downturn have simply put the squeeze on many individuals and businesses.

What is equally obvious, is our economy will not recover if our businesses cannot grow because they are saddled with the debt from advancing goods and services to their customers.   As debt collection attorneys, it is our job to reconcile these issues, and get the money to the businesses that are owed, while doing our best to preserve the dignity of the debtor that has run into hard times.   The rebound of our economy, depends on practices like ours, to continue to feed the economic engine that grows our business world.

It is an honor to serve our clients through:

• Policy Making
• Employee Training
• Records Governance
• Customer Relations Management.

Marcadis Singer PA
Debt Collection Attorneys for the state of Florida.

Business to Business Debt Collection Trends

From Second Quarter 2013 to Third Quarter 2013, the quantity of commercial debt collection accounts increased by roughly 14.5%, for members of the Commercial Collect Agency Association of the Commercial Law League of America.   Samplings from the CCAA are likely to be a good bell weather for the collection industry in general.

The dollar value of the commercial debt placed for collection, however, even with the increase in the number of accounts, decreased by .7%.   Taking the increase in quantity, and decrease in value,  CCAA members report that a typical account revenue to the firm decreased by around 14%.

A great synopsis of the CCAA survey can be found on the Inside ARM Website.

http://www.insidearm.com/daily/commercial-b2b-receivables/commercial-debt-collection/commercial-debt-collection-placements-increase-in-q3-but-still-down-significantly-in-2013/

Marcadis Singer PA, debt collection attorneys in Florida, are proud to be a part of the Commercial Collection Agency Association.  This affiliation is a voluntary one, and reflects how our values as a Legal Firm focussed on debt collection are in synch with the values of the CCAA.

The Commercial Collection Agency Association (CCAA) is an association of commercial collection agencies that have been CERTIFIED by the Commercial Law League of America. They represent the leaders in the commercial collection or business to business collection industry, handling about sixty-five percent of the commercial accounts placed for collection. The Commercial Law League of America is the nation’s oldest creditors’ rights organization, founded in 1895.

Thanks to all the members that contributed to this survey.