Tweeting Debt

You can now follow Provanta on Twitter.

Click here to follow Provanta.

Post Settlement Verification

Since accounts are sold and outsourced to different agents to collect so often it is easy for an agent to forgot or overlook an account when they update their system. Sometimes it’s a matter of the creditor / agent just closing the account in their office.

This situation is pretty simple to correct. Our client service department will contact the current collector and inform them the account has already been settled. Agents will request settlement documentation at that time which we will provide (acceptance letter & copies of all checks cashed if available) we do this as a courtesy to our client. Technically once we inform a collector that an account has already been settled it is their responsibility to go back to the original creditor and confirm this info. Once we provide the settlement information the accounts are closed and no further collect attempts are made.

In rare situations it will take a second conversation with the collector to get the account closed and marked as settled. Our clients can also pull a credit report and dispute the account in question to ensure no further collection action is taken. The client can also file a complaint with the FTC if the agents start to harass them after collection proof is provided.

There is only 1 time that I can recall that collections efforts escalated into litigation. In that situation the client went to court, provided all settlement documentation to the judge, and the case was dismissed.

In a nutshell this is a easy problem to fix.

 

Technorati Tags: debt settlement, settlement verification, third-party collection, litigation, collector, client service

Holiday Season

The holiday season is approaching fast. During this time is it common for a client to “break” and use a credit card for a Christmas gift or to apply for one in order to purchase gifts.

Please keep in mind a creditor can tell if you have applied or used a credit by accessing a credit report. This is not something that will remain a secret and can compromise negotiations on your accounts. Please stay on track this season and stick to the rule.

If you don’t have the cash, don’t buy it.

Technorati Tags: debt settlement results, debt settlement percentages, debt settlement offers, debt negotiation process

We’re Live

Welcome. It’s an exciting time. In 15 years of serving clients in need of debt relief, and many website designs going back as far as 1994 or ‘95, I have never been so pleased.

It’s not done, but that’s part of what’s pleasing. In fact, a website should never be done. It should remain fresh, relevant, and alive to the people kind enough to browse by. So thank you for your visit.

It’s not done. It’ll never be done. But hopefully it will provide free information about debt, credit, debt help and financial good sense that will be of some benefit to you whenever you come to check on our progress towards never being done.

New Look; New Everything

This marks the beginning of an entirely new website strategy for Provanta. When you think about it, most company websites could be generated a lot faster, easier, and less costly if one were to simply scan a business card and a company brochure, and put it up there to collect dust. Not even any need to publish text, because unless there are tons of other sites linking to you, unless you publish new and fresh information regularly (daily), you’re simply going to be uncompetitive and increasingly irrelevant in a new world that’s about “what have and can you do for me lately!”

So why am I revealing our new strategy to the world, to potential competitors? Well, they’ll figure it out anyway; but more importantly, I’ll welcome this kind of competition. If they think they can match our daily relevance, freshness, and interest in a wide array of personal financial topics focussed on getting out of debt and getting on with life, then they are invited to bring it.

More — much more — later.