small value debt collection

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bigcity

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#101826 9-May-2012 18:44

In short someone owes me $135

I have exhausted all attempts to re-collect this money myself

Basically I have now written it off and am offering the debt to anyone who wants to collect it. I don't want the money or a percentage of it, if you collect it, it is yours to keep. Why? To make sure they pay and don't get away with it.

Does anyone know any debt collection companies that would be interested or would anyone be interested themselves?

Advice on who can collect it is welcome.

If you are serious about collecting it (as in you are / were a debt collector yourself) pm me and I will release the details.

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#622452 9-May-2012 19:26

have a look here http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/382668/?s=d1d9b84f7ceaf12dd361bb7d14460f81

aarom-afk from gpforums is a debt collector, he may or may not be interested.

You can lodge with baycorp, there is no "minimum amount" as such, but $50 is the generally accepted bottom end. Ofcourse, they add fees etc, and if you are just an individual / small business who is likely to have very few bad debts, then it may not be a goer.

When you say you have exhausted all efforts - Are you in contact with the debtor, do they acknowldege the debt but are unable to pay or is it a dispute of some-sort. If they acknowledge it, but are unable to pay, can you compromise, 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. or perhaps a $5er every week or 2 over a short period.

If they have buggered off and need skip-tracing, then it may be too much effort for someone

I like it that you don't want to let them away with it though

Zeon

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#622459 9-May-2012 19:30

+1 for Aaron-afk on gpforums.

whats the situation?

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Kyanar

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#622472 9-May-2012 19:49

Bear in mind some of the rules - you will lose cash if you send to Baycorp as the fees will come out of the amount that they recover, not be added on to it. The exception is if you have a signed contract with the debtor which includes a clause regarding debt collection costs.

FYI watch out following the advice offered by aaron-afk on GPforums. In that thread, the first page alone lists no less than three breaches of the Fair Trading Act, Credit Reporting Privacy Code, and Privacy Act.

mattwnz

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#622477 9-May-2012 20:02

Kyanar: Bear in mind some of the rules - you will lose cash if you send to Baycorp as the fees will come out of the amount that they recover, not be added on to it. The exception is if you have a signed contract with the debtor which includes a clause regarding debt collection costs.

FYI watch out following the advice offered by aaron-afk on GPforums.? In that thread, the first page alone lists no less than three breaches of the Fair Trading Act, Credit Reporting Privacy Code, and Privacy Act.

Most contracts will have a clause for recovery of collection costs, and if they don't it should be something that you add. Non payers are a huge problem and cause companies problems down the chain.

Kyanar

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#622483 9-May-2012 20:10

mattwnz:
Most contracts will have a clause for recovery of collection costs, and if they don't it should be something that you add. Non payers are a huge problem and cause companies problems down the chain.

Correct, but there likely isn't a contract in the case of a private debt between two people. You'll likely have trouble getting legitimate debt collectors to take on that sort of debt too, you'll likely have to resort to "Thug Collectors".

mattwnz

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#622500 9-May-2012 20:33

Kyanar:
mattwnz:
Most contracts will have a clause for recovery of collection costs, and if they don't it should be something that you add. Non payers are a huge problem and cause companies problems down the chain.

Correct, but there likely isn't a contract in the case of a private debt between two people.? You'll likely have trouble getting legitimate debt collectors to take on that sort of debt too, you'll likely have to resort to "Thug Collectors".

That is true. In that sort of case, I would use a escrow service.

qwerty7

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#622501 9-May-2012 20:35

the situation is identical to the one in that link

however it is not worth it to me to take it through the court

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networkn

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#622543 9-May-2012 21:38

I have $250 that an ex employee owes me I'd be keen to recover some but ultimately make his life as miserable as possible doing it. I considered calling his family :)

Kyanar

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#622557 9-May-2012 21:56

networkn: I have $250 that an ex employee owes me I'd be keen to recover some but ultimately make his life as miserable as possible doing it. I considered calling his family :)

That would be harassment, which would give said ex-employee a cause of action against you.

networkn

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#622561 9-May-2012 21:58

I am not sure how calling his parents to ask his whereabouts as he owes me money is harassment?

Kyanar

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#622579 9-May-2012 22:17

networkn: I am not sure how calling his parents to ask his whereabouts as he owes me money is harassment?

You specifically said "make his life miserable doing it". That would land you in court - as a defendant. Calling to ask where they are would be OK, but if they tell you not to call again you would be stuffed as calling again would be categorised as harassment.

Also, you can't tell them he owes you money. That violates the Credit Reporting Privacy Code.

bigcity

11 posts

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#622589 9-May-2012 22:37

Kyanar:
networkn: I am not sure how calling his parents to ask his whereabouts as he owes me money is harassment?

You specifically said "make his life miserable doing it". That would land you in court - as a defendant. Calling to ask where they are would be OK, but if they tell you not to call again you would be stuffed as calling again would be categorised as harassment.

Also, you can't tell them he owes you money. That violates the Credit Reporting Privacy Code.

It is some of this sh*t that makes it too easy for them to get away.

Zeon

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#622606 9-May-2012 23:32

Credit laws are way too one sided for the borrower in this country. Look at what happened to the finance companies, largely as a result of this.

Back in the day they used to throw people in prison for this stuff, now the biggest fraudsters get home detention....

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Kyanar

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#622660 10-May-2012 08:47

While I agree in part, part of the reason that laws were changed to be as one sided as they are now is because of debt collectors engaging in downright dirty tactics which under the old laws were considered acceptable. In networkn's case above for example, debt collectors would have called the debtors family virtually daily bugging them - the reality is that they have nothing to do with the debt, and certainly are under no legal obligation to tolerate you harassing them. And the reason you can't disclose someone's debt as a way to embarrass them into paying is because there are repercussions on more than just their financial status to do so.

We actually have while relatively one-sided, fairly balanced laws compared to the United States or United Kingdom. In the US for example, calling a person who owes you money after they tell you that you aren't to call them would result in a $10,000 fine (which does get given to the debtor) and the court writes off the debt. Compared to theirs, our laws are positively off the scales in favour of the credit.

bigcity

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#622685 10-May-2012 09:23

do you have any examples of dirty tactics used?

i can understand calling the family being harrasment to an extent especially if the family are not in contact with them or don't know who they are

as for disclosing someones debt i think that is stupid and 'tough ****'

as for that us law you mentioned, well that is just ridiculous. You could move there and get rich just by screwing people?

don't f with people if you don't want to be f'd with yourself.

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