Collection Inspections
Posted on | November 1, 2007 | No Comments
I just got back from driving by a house that was on my route this morning. I have inspected the house month after month for a while now and this morning I just got a feeling that the place may be vacant. The utilities are always on and a Cadillac is on the side of the house. It obviously does not run. It has not moved from the original spot. What got me so curious was that the yard has never been cleaned up and the trash pile in the middle of the yard is still there. I decided this morning that I would drive by late at night to take a look.
Well, it’s occupied. There were two more cars in the yard, tv going, lights on. Looks like the trash pile and the Cadillac will remain too.
With daylight ending earlier now, I am usually out the door as early as possible so I can take advantage of the daylight hours we do have. The inspections have slowed considerably as is usual for the 1st of the month. Luckily my property preservation jobs have been steady. I did my last grass cut for the season yesterday. Grass cut season ends October 31st in Alabama. Thats the HUD rules. I will be cutting the grass in my yard probably until February.
Today I did an initial secure after running just a few inspections. Fourteen was all. Then just to make sure I wasn’t around the house too much, I was sent out to do an insurance loss inspection at 3pm and “you might as well get these done while you are in the area”. So there was nine more “in the area”.
I am trying to take advantage of the longer evening hours now. I am actually putting in several hours a day on the manual and the web sites. Here’s some of the stuff from tonight’s update:
Collection Inspections are seldom called that anymore. The stricter Fair Debt Collection Laws and other factors have just about ended the debt collector of old. Now we have face-to-face interviews, contact inspections, and so on. You should never be asked to collect money or payments. Also, you should not be asked to ask personal questions about income and payments. If you encounter these requests, you need to back off and consult with your legal advisor.
(I learned tonight that advisor and adviser or both acceptable)
The collection related inspections we do now usually require that the field rep leave a letter or an envelope. Leave it only with the person on your paperwork – not the spouse or child or anyone else. Your ideal situation is for there to be no one home at all in which case you just leave the envelope or notice between the door and door frame. Take a photo of what you leave.
Never leave anything in or on a mailbox. Never tape or staple the notice to anything. Do not even use a push pin. Some people will use any of these to claim you damaged their property.
I’m going to run for now and do a little more work on the manual. I’m taking tomorrow off and sleeping late so I’ll probably be up late too. See ya.
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