Selecting a Debt Collection Agency Service in Michigan

There are many choices when searching for debt collection agency services in Michigan. With so many options, how does one pick the right vendor for you and your business? Before this article considers the various points when searching for a suitable debt collection agency in Michigan, we should clarify that we are referencing business-to-business or b2b credit transactions only. Your business is owed money to another company, and you recognize that the vendor you select must be an expert in this field.

Firms that provide commercial debt collection agency services in Michigan are not required to be licensed. Still, we suggest otherwise. State law requires a licensed agency to maintain a separate clients trust account for clients’ money. The manager must pass a state-mandated examination to qualify for the license. In this article, we stress the word “should” because all the attributes mentioned above are surprisingly not necessary when providing commercial debt collection agency services in Michigan. While not required when running a commercial agency, would you not take more comfort knowing your vendor had the added protections of a licensed agency?

A commercial agreement often contains language that makes the business principal (owner) liable. Clauses that contain personal guarantees, create a joint and several liabilities, or a co-customer agreement, are very common. If the corporate customer (your client) goes out of business, the commercial collection agency service can pursue the business owner for the company’s debt. While there has always been a clear distinction between consumer and commercial transactions, those lines are becoming increasingly blurred through the efforts of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Hiring a licensed commercial collection agency services provider in Michigan will ensure you have one more layer of protection against risk to your business.

Additionally, the commercial collection service provider you choose should have access to Michigan’s Secretary of State’s website and be able to search property deeds in all counties across the state. Access to public and paid databases lets your vendor quickly assess your debt recovery potential.

While you may have a favorite commercial collection agency outside of Michigan, a resident Michigan agency will have established relationships with local credit managers, industry groups, and business connections that enable them to investigate your past-due customer and get quick resolution of your receivable. This depth of knowledge of your customer and local market conditions can often help you avoid an unnecessary lawsuit that out-of-state commercial collection agency service providers frequently recommend.

Finally, once you have narrowed down your choices of Michigan-based commercial collection agencies, we recommend selecting the agency that employs collection agents with the Certified Commercial Collector designation awarded by the International Association of Commercial Collectors, an industry-recognized certification program. These professional negotiators maintain standard educational requirements and are considered the elite of their profession.