In Dallas, the North Texas Tollway Authority, an entity responsible for collecting tolls, has been scrutinized for months over its toll collecting policy. This policy charges drivers who do not pay up at the toll booth fines of hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. Because the NTTA has been under fire in the public eye, it announced today two steps it says that will target improving customer satisfaction.

The first part of the plan that the NTTA took was to permit all drivers to utilize the electronic toll collection lanes, including those who do not have one. They can do this without being punished with a twenty five dollar fine.

Before this measure, drivers without toll tags that utilized the electronic lanes on the Dallas North Tollway were seen at as violators and would be fined twenty five dollars for each time they passed through an electronic toll booth, rather than a cash booth after the fact.

But after February eighth, the drivers who don’t have a toll tag who use the electronic lanes will be given the chance to pay off the tolls before being hit with the additional twenty five dollar fine. But these toll charges will continue to be calculated at the cash rate, which is twice as high as the rates paid by toll tag consumers.

Unfortunately, the change won’t affect the NTTA’s collections policy in any other way and it will not stop consumers without toll tags who do not pay toll bills mailed to their homes from being charged twenty five dollars for every unpaid toll. This is a policy that can turn a week’s worth of tolls into a thousand dollar bill.

The NTTA’s second move was to appoint an internal auditor as a sort of mediator, which will be available to frustrated customers who have already complained their way through NTTA customer service hierarchy without a result that was satisfactory. The auditor will then review the account and decide if customer service and billing reps have followed their own rules.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution, a national collection agency. Looking for credit card services or skip tracing? Contact us today. This article, Texas Toll Booths Shape Up And Ship Out is available for free reprint.

More than 200 Scranton taxpayers might have been mailed a letter from a collection agency they didn’t deserve. The notices are for unpaid garbage fines that might have actually been paid. According to officials, the garbage bill itself for 2009 could be to blame for more than 200 collection notices that were sent to city taxpayers in error last week.

They believe the issue may have been the way that the bills were folded into the envelopes. The bill is mailed along with a perforated line above a bar code that identifies the customer, but because a crease created by the folding of the envelope, a second line under the bar code was formed, causing people to pull the bill off without the bar code.

Bills without a bar code would cause a bank not to register the payment. The mailing house that Scranton hired to stuff the envelopes was blamed. If the bill was mailed to the bank, it would be the pay stub in their payment that goes directly into a lock box. Then the stubs are scanned and the bar code is read. After that the bank sends the town a list of those who had come through based on the bar code readings.

Representatives from the collections company who sent out the letters say that they are taking every dispute from people who may have paid very seriously. Company protocol permits consumers to dispute a notice within 30 days of getting a collections letter. Additionally, representatives claimed that no bill will be collected while they are still sorting out the issue.

The agency will look into each claim from those who alleged they had paid the bill and gotten the notice. Those that they think have paid will be absolved from their debt and will no longer get collections notices and will not be pursued by the collection company.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a bill collection agency. Looking for collection debt? Contact a debt collector. Unique version for reprint here: Scranton Taxpayers May Have Received Collection Letters That They Might Not Have Deserved.

Although we are dealing with the dismal circumstance of the recession, one good piece of news is that Americans as consumers are projected to be more savvy and conscientious. What this means is that as consumers, we will only borrow what we can find the money for, save cash, and pay off credit card debt at the end of each month. This exciting new trend could also mean that as consumers, our credit scores will flourish, reaching what they industry refers to as super prime, the top score that is achievable.

The following are some tips to help you improve your credit situation.

STUDENT LOANS. As most former college grads struggle with exorbitant student loan payments, it is possible to reduce your monthly bill and with time, have the federal Income Based Repayment Program extend you their forgiveness on your debt. But don’t get too excited yet. The all powerful credit scores do not just reflect our ability to pay bills on time, they dictate how we will go about our lives. If there is an unscrupulous mark on our credit reports, like a thirty day late payment, all of the years you spent paying your bills on time can fly out the window.

Credit scores have been the star of the show during the recession, as consumers and debtors attempt to pay up their mortgage payments and revolve debt. A number of people- even those who have had long time high credit ratings, have complained that their scores have fallen as credit card companies close inactive cards and cut limits.

Regardless of these facts, experts allege that consumers should not focus on their scores, they should hone in on the information that is contained in the report. According to one analyst, “the score is merely a reflection of what is in the report.”

Of all of the information contained in your credit report is the history of your bills. Have they been paid? Everybody may nag you about this, but it is worth repeating. Pay your bills on time every month! Did you know that thirty five percent of your FICO credit score is tied to that payment history?

Rapid Recovery Solution is a medical debt collection. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

Exactly who is trying to get me to pay up? The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was unleashed in the 1970s and provided many protections for consumers. There are strict rules and regulations that a debt collector must abide by, and if any of these regulations are violated, there is a good chance that you could sue that agency. But what about that friend of yours who owes you five bucks? Do you have to grant them thirty days to refute the claim? Clearly, you do not.

The point is that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is applicable to debt collectors, and only debt collectors. Consider Morency v. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corp, a district court case in Illinois from 1999. In an attempt to collect debt, a hospital mailed out pre-collection notices, which is a no-no for third party collectors. But the court ruled that the hospital was only a creditor, not a collection agency, so the FDCPA did not apply to it.

Courts take many factors into consideration to figure out whether the creditor should be deemed the actual debt collector. A collection agency’s participation in the actual debt collection would have to be minute. Is the collection agency a mere mailing service? Do the letters state if the debtor does not pay the debt will be referred for collection? Is the collection agency paid only for sending letters, rather than commission?

If the collection agency does not receive any payments or forwards payments to the creditor, that’s always suspicious. If a debtor fails to respond to the letter and the collection agency has no further contact with the debtor, or if it does not receive the files of the debtors, they probably aren’t going to be considered debt collection agencies.

The lesson you should walk away with is that it is important that you know who you are paying your money to. It’s always wise to be vigilant when it comes to your finances.

Rapid Recovery Solution is a third party debt collection company. lawyer based and equipped with skiptracing tools. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

Once you’ve decided on delegating your delinquent accounts to a collection agency, the next question is how to find the best one. In today’s current economy there are so many different kinds it can be confusing. Following are suggestions for finding the best collection agency to suit your needs.

The first question out of your mouth when interviewing a collection agency should be how they structure their fees. While some of them charge monthly fees, there are many who take a percentage of any recovered money. This costs you less cash outlay, obviously, and it also means they’re guaranteeing their ability to perform for you, so this is the kind of agency you want.

Some agencies belong to professional collection associations, while others do not. There are two such groups in the US, the Commercial Law League of America and the American Collectors Association. It’s preferable to hire a member firm for collections because they take their professional standing seriously.

For example, both organizations require perfectly professional conduct from their members. Not only do they conform to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, they are committed to training courses for members to teach the latest collection techniques.

In addition, collection agencies that belong to professional organizations are more likely to do their own work rather than outsourcing it. This is important because you want accountability regarding your accounts. If you don’t know the people who are actually performing the collections you can’t really keep an eye on them.

You also want to pick an agency that uses private investigators or does investigations themselves with skip trace software. (A skip trace is a search for a person based on their previous known addresses.) Collections efforts can’t be successful when you can’t locate the debtor. This is a practice that all good collection agencies follow these days so make sure the one you choose does as well.

Another criteria for picking a collection agency is whether or not they do their own collections or send out files to other agencies. Those who send out files to other agencies often use offshore call centers, which are mentally easier to dismiss to debtors. In addition, whether or not the contracted third parties are offshore, you have no control over their professionalism. For this reason, you should pick an agency that does all their own collections work and you won’t be sorry.

The final thing you should check on when hiring a collection agency is what their business hours are. This may seem like a small thing but with national collections, time zones can be a problem, and with local collections, you still want people working outside of normal business hours. Consumer debtors are more likely to answer the phone before 9 am or after 5 pm, because they’re more likely to be home, and also because they believe collections calls are less likely at those times. A collection agency which spreads out its work hours is beneficial to you.

David P. Montana has thirty years experience as an industry expert, business advisor and published author in collection agencies services. David provides more beneficial tools and resources about nationwide debt collection agencies services.