Funny Video - check it out

click here for the video

Homeowners being forced to rent apartments to live in

Some interesting statistics on Owners whose homes are in foreclosure, now renting apartments. Which means more risk to property managers, with defaults or additional fees that are noncollectable in Housing Court (E.g. in NYC). Property Managers need to look out for the bottom line and ensure that most if not all of monies due come in, that is where a successful Collection Agency needs to be brought in to manage the receivables and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.

See statistics below:

Collections & Credit Risk | Monday, June 27, 2011

Nearly half of all property managers reported an increase in rental applicants moving into apartments from foreclosed properties, according to a TransUnion survey of more than 1,100 property managers nationwide.

The credit reporting agency polled nearly 1,000 small property managers with 200 units or less and another 167 large property managers with more than 200 units.

According to the results, 47% reported a jump in rental applicants moving into apartments from foreclosed properties. More than two-thirds of managers said it is not difficult to find residents even with increases in rent.

"Finding reliable tenants at an optimal price point is paramount for this industry," says Mike Mauseth, vice president of TransUnion's rental screening business unit. "Both segments saw success with rental increases last year."

About 64% of large property managers said rental prices on their units increased from last year, as did 36% of small property managers. Still, 57% of large property managers have no difficulty finding applicants, alongside 69% of small property managers.

But finding qualified renters is often another issue. When asked to compare conditions to a year ago, 27% of managers with more than 200 properties said it was more difficult to find qualified renters.

Some 87% of managers reportedly run credit checks on prospective tenants and 76% of managers run a criminal background check, according to TransUnion. More than 89% of all survey respondents had vacancy rates of 10% or less.

A Refreshing Op-Ed on the Collection Industry

Check out this article. It is a from 2010, however it is a good eye opener and hopefully educate people on our industry.

Click here to read the article.

Common misconceptions about Collection Agencies

An interesting article, clearing up common misconceptions about Collection Agencies.

From Forbes blog:

If you ask the average person, “What does a debt collection agency do?” they would most likely respond, “They, uh…collect debts.” But ask them to elaborate a little and you might get something that starts like, “Well, first they buy a bunch of debt for pennies on the dollar, then…” This is where they start getting it wrong.

click here for the article.

Even the NY Times agrees Debt Collectors are human

This article is a refresher, after reading so many articles lambasting our industry.

Every industry has bad apples, however it is wrong to paint the entire industry as rouges.

To read the article click here