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| Home » What We Do and What We Charge » Our Process |
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We follow a proven process that has resulted in a 90% success rate for our clients. As soon as you put us on the case, we will contact the responsible party and tell them what's coming:
Initial contact – our collection staff informs the debtor that we are representing you, and that we are seeking immediate payment of your unpaid bill. The debtor is informed, sometimes through certified demand notice, of the legal process that will follow if payment is not received within the next 72 hours.
Often this first notice is enough. Most of the time, debtors just need to be reminded of the law and of your ability to seek legal recourse if the debt it not satisfied. Our collection professionals make clear very early in the process, their knowledge of the law and your intention to pursue until the debt it satisfied - one way or the other.
Mechanic's Lien - If payment is not forthcoming immediately, we proceed to file a mechanic's lien against the project or premises, if this is possible. (Please see FAQ's on Liens.) This act places everyone on notice of your unpaid bill and is a good start to the process of getting paid.
Please be advised, however, there are strict deadlines as to when you can file a lien. In New York State, you have only eight months from the last date you performed services on the project to file a lien. On single family homes, you have only four months from the last date you performed services. DON'T WAIT, ACT NOW!
 "Persistence can grind an iron beam down into a needle." (Chinese proverb)
The success of our team is the talent and persistence of our collection staff and legal experts. Once we take your case, we are relentless in pursuing your collection. By letting the debtors know we are not going away any time soon, often times debtors make payment just so that we will "go away."
If the case requires, we will send our own private investigator to the business location to determine reasons for lack of payment and/or gather evidence for the case.
 Negotiate - In most cases, our persistence pays off by getting the debtor to the negotiating table. Although we will do everything possible to get you paid in full, we are experienced enough to know that often times negotiation is required as a condition of getting paid. Understanding this reality, we make an honest assessment of your case based on all the information we have gathered during the investigation. Our goal is always to get you the most money possible under the circumstances. If our investigation shows that the debt-holder is really unable to pay, we will negotiate terms for a payment schedule and/or reduced payment. In all cases, however, the final decision is yours not ours.
Some collection agencies will lead you to believe that 100% recovery is always possible. This simply is not true and gives you, the creditor, a false sense of what you can expect to recover. From the first contact, we will always deal honestly with you and give you our realistic assesment of the case and our expectations for recovery. As our testimonials show, we continue this policy throughout the process, working with our clients as our partners. Remember, when you get paid, we get paid. The more you get paid, the more we get paid. (Please see our testimonials.)
 Lawsuit - Our goal is to get you paid in full as fast as possible and avoid having to go to court. Contrary to what many believe, going to court sometimes assures you not getting paid in full what you are owed. Court usually works in favor of the debtor as the drawn out court process buys the debtor time. Additionally, you will have to pay court costs as well as court attorney fees (either percentage or hourly). These costs may or may not be able to be recovered by the court's ruling and are directly deducted off of your bill.
For these reasons, we honestly do prefer to keep our clients out of court. But that does NOT mean we are afraid to take this step, if that is what is necessary to get the job done. From the first contact, our collection specialists let the debtors know that we can and WILL go to court if they do not respond satisfactorily. We are proud of our 90% success rate, and we achieve this only because we use all of the tools available to us in the recovery of your debt, including prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law.
Call U.S. Asset Recovery at 914-968-0045 to learn more or get started.
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