The Debtor form displays personal, financial and in-house management information on a debtor. Buttons on the Debtor form access various types of related information, such as contacts scheduled for the debtor, financial transactions posted, bank information and other debtor details, cosigners and attachments.

Debtor form

Collect! uses the information entered in the Debtor form:

• to help you manage your collectors' workloads
• to perform financial calculations
• to print a broad array of reports
• to keep track of all activity on each account

Information on the Debtor form can be loaded automatically for each new Debtor that you create. This speeds up data entry and minimizes errors. First, the settings and details are entered into the other areas of Collect!. Then they are readily available when each new Debtor is entered. For details, please see

- How To Enter A New Debtor
- How To Setup Debtors (Administrative concerns)

To access the Debtor form, select Browse from the top menu bar, then choose All Debtors from the submenu that appears. Select a Debtor to view the account. To enter a new account, press F3 or select the New icon from the tool bar, or from the Main Menu select Daily Administration, then New Business, then Debtors.

Name

The Name of the debtor entered as 'Last, First Middle'. Please ensure your spelling is correct.

If you type a comma in the name, Collect! will split first and last names automatically and put the result into the Contact field below. For example, JONES, SAM = Sam Jones.

If you do not place a comma between the last and first name, Collect! will assume the name is a business name.

FOR CBR: hyphenate multiple last names, e.g. 'Van-Deusen, Jack'.

FOR CBR: Please put ONE Debtor name ONLY in this field. If you have a Cosigner, use the Cosigner form.

FOR CBR: Don't include Generation titles in the name here. Use the Generation field.

This field is indexed.

Legal Entity

Choose a Legal Entity from the pick list, such as Ltd. or Inc.

This field is optional.

File

The File Number of this account is automatically created by Collect!. It looks at the highest numbered debtor and adds 1 for numbering a new debtor.

This number is used to name attachment, letter and note files in the database. Keep the file number to 8 or less digits since file names can only be up to 8 characters.

FOR CBR: the File Number must not change while the account is being reported.

This field is indexed.

You can use up to 9 digits here, but file names will be truncated when saving Attachment and Sent Letter files. If you use 9 characters, be sure that the lower 8 digits are unique, and turn off the Save Notes In Files switch in the Options, Preferences, Options, Sounds and Colors form.

Contact

This is the name of the Contact person at the address or phone number. Unless you enter a different name manually, Collect! uses the information in the Debtor Name field to construct the Contact name.

This field is optional.

Generation

Press F2 or click the arrow to pick the Generation of the Contact person. (Jr, Sr, II, III etc.)

This field is optional.

FOR CBR: If there is a Generation title for this Debtor, it MUST go here, NOT in the name field.

Address

This is the Address of the debtor, if it is known. Two lines are available. If you enter text into the first line, the Print switch (Address OK) will be set automatically. This will enable printing notices to this debtor using contact plans and action codes. When you change an existing debtor Address line, the old address line will be written automatically to the debtor's Notes.

*** IMPORTANT *** If you ever intend to report to Credit Bureaus, you must use one of the following address formats or an error will result.

FOR CBR: There are two acceptable formats:

- Format 1:

- Address = street address
- Addr1 = blank
- City = city
- State = state
- Zip = zip
- Country = country code

- Format 2:

- Address = street address
- Addr1 = suite or apartment number
- City = city
- State = state
- Zip = zip
- Country = country code

Do not include the # symbol in the apartment number. The Credit Bureau rejects addresses with the # sign.

Street Number

Optionally, you can enter the Street Number here. This provides a means of searching and/or filtering by street name.

FOR CBR: Do not use this field if you intend to report to the credit bureaus.

This field is optional.

Addr 1

This is another Address line for the debtor. Use this line to enter Suite or Apartment number if you intend to report to credit bureaus.

FOR CBR: Do not use the words "Suite", "Apt.", etc. or the '#' symbol, just enter the Number of the suite or apartment.

Address OK

The Print Notice (Address OK) switch controls whether or not letters are printed to this debtor. If the box contains a check mark, letters will be printed. If it is blank, letters will NOT be printed for the debtor. Only set this switch to print (by clicking into the box to create a check mark), if you have a valid address to send notices and letters to. Collect! checks the first line of the address. If it finds an address, it will turn this switch ON automatically by entering a check mark in it.

FOR CBR: Entering the correct address status is important if you are reporting to CBR.

*** NOTE If this box is blank or you remove the check mark from the box by clicking into it, the address fields in the Debtor form change color. This is to alert the operator that there is no valid address for this debtor. This is the first step in skip tracing.

City

Enter the City Name here.

FOR CBR: truncate the rightmost positions in this field to 20 characters. Alternatively, you can use the standard 13-character U.S. Postal Service city abbreviations.

This field is indexed.

State

Enter the State Name or Code here.

FOR CBR: you must enter State Codes in this field. Refer to your CBR manual for correct State Codes.

This field is indexed.

Zip

Enter the Zip or Postal Code here.

FOR CBR: the zip or postal code must be entered and it must be correct. The zip code may be either 5 or 9 digits for U.S. zip codes, or 6 digits for Canadian postal codes.

For example: 12345-6789 or 123456789 for U.S. and X2Y 3Z4 or X2Y3Z4 for Canada.

This field is indexed.

Country

Enter the Country where the Debtor lives.

FOR CBR: The Country Code is read from the Country Code field in Credit Report Details for the debtor. Collect! uses standard two-character country abbreviations specified in the Metro 2 manual.

If you are not doing Credit Bureau Reporting, this field is optional.

This field is indexed.

SSN

Social Security Number of the Debtor.

FOR CBR: this field must be filled in. If the SSN is not known, zero - or 9 - fill all positions.

If you are NOT reporting to credit bureaus, you can use this field for other purposes.

This field is indexed.

DL

Debtor's Driver's License. You can use this field for other purposes.

This field is indexed.

DOB

Debtor's Date of Birth.

Press F2 or click on the small calendar icon. Select a Date from the calendar that is displayed. Use the arrows to scroll through years. Or type the date as MM DD YY.

FOR CBR: Date of Birth must be entered. If the month and day are not known, use 0101. The year is required.

If you are not reporting to credit bureaus, you can use this field for other purposes.

This field is indexed.

Group

The Group button allows you to group this debtor. When the Debtor is in a group, the Group field (to the right of the File field) will display a group ID number. All members in the group share the same number.

If the debtor is already grouped, the Group button will display as yellow instead of gray and the Group field will display the group's number. To view other debtors in the group, click a forward or backward arrow or press the Group button to open the Matching Accounts form.

If the debtor is not part of a group, you will be prompted to choose debtors to form a group. If the debtor is already part of a group, then the Matching Accounts form displays.

This field is indexed.

Group Member

When a debtor has been grouped, a number appears in this field and becomes the debtor's Member Number.

CBR Off

Press to choose Credit Reporting for the debtor. This pops up the Credit Report Details form which allows you to specify reporting and co-signer details and a reporting date. When Credit Bureau Reporting is enabled, this button is yellow and displays 'CBR On'.

To turn reporting off again, uncheck the 'Report to credit bureau' box in the Credit Report Details form.

Please note that your data must be entered in the correct format if you intend to report to credit bureaus. Review pop-up help for each field or Press F1 to display help for the Debtor form where you can review formats for name, address and other fields used in reporting to credit bureaus.

Please refer to the section heading Set The Account's CBR Status, at the end of this topic.

Others

Selecting this button will activate the Debtor Cosigner form where you can enter and/or view information related to the debtor's Cosigner or other persons related to this account, such as an Attorney, Employer, Bank etc.

A1

Click this button to access attachments that you classified as Type 1. If this button is yellow, you have attachments of this type.

A2

Click this button to access attachments that you classified as Type 2. If this button is yellow, you have attachments of this type.

A3

Click this button to access attachments that you classified as Type 3. If this button is yellow, you have attachments of this type.

Home

This is the Home or Personal Telephone Number of the debtor. When you change an existing phone number, the old number will automatically be written to the debtor's notes.

Click the telephone icon to initiate the Phone Dialer to dial this number.

If your system is not setup for using the Phone Dialer, you will not be able to use this feature.

This field is indexed.

Home Extension

This field is used to enter an Extension to the phone number if needed. It might also be used to enter an ID number.

POE#

This is the Work or Business Telephone Number of the debtor. When you change an existing phone number, the old number will automatically be written to the debtor's notes.

Click the telephone icon to initiate the Phone Dialer to dial this number.

If your system is not setup for using the Phone Dialer, you will not be able to use this feature.

This field is indexed.

Work Extension

This field is used to enter an Extension to the phone number if needed. It might also be used to enter an ID number.

Cell

This is the Cellular or other number where you can reach the debtor.

Click the telephone icon to initiate the Phone Dialer to dial this number.

If your system is not setup for using the Phone Dialer, you will not be able to use this feature.

This field is indexed.

Cell Extension

This field may be used to enter an Extension to the phone number if needed. It might also be used to enter a Cellular ID number.

Other

Use this field for an additional Phone Number.

Click the telephone icon to initiate the Phone Dialer to dial this number.

If your system is not setup for using the Phone Dialer, you will not be able to use this feature.

This field is indexed.

Other Extension

This field may be used to enter an Extension to the phone number if needed. It might also be used to enter an ID number.

Email

This field is used to enter the debtor's Email Address. Click on the field icon to open the Send Mail form where you can compose an email and send it to this debtor.

This field is indexed.

POE

Place of employment.

User 1

This field is for your own definition and use.

User 2

This field is for your own definition and use, but it may have another function if you are reporting to credit bureaus.

If you are reporting to credit bureaus, this field may contain Original Creditor information. Please refer to Client Settings for details.

Client

Enter the Name of the Client in this field. You can pick from your list of clients by pressing the F2 key when the Client field is highlighted.

Your clients MUST be setup before you begin to enter debtors.

Acct

This is the Reference Number assigned to this debtor by the client. This is printed on statements to your clients.

This field is indexed.

Forward

Click the arrow to view clients to whom you can forward this account.

Legal

The Legal field gives you a place to put an attorney that you may want to forward this account to. Click the arrow to display a list of clients.

You will have to setup your attorney client first so that it shows up in the list of all clients. Please refer to How To Post Attorney Fees for information about setting up an attorney client.

Type

This is a free form field.

You can define your own types of debts, or use this field as a sort criteria.

You can attach a pick list to this field (as you can with most fields in Collect!). Pull down the System menu and choose Field Properties to attach a pick list.

This field is indexed.

Mode

This is a very important field. The setting you choose here affects contact management and financial calculations. Click the field or select the arrow to choose one of the following modes.

Active - activates the account.

Closed - closes the account and deletes all pending Contacts.

Precollect - treats the debtor as 'Closed' but does not delete Contacts.

Suspend - treats the debtor as 'Closed' but does not delete Contacts.

This field is indexed.

MODE AND WIP LIST

Only ACTIVE accounts appear in WIP lists.

CLOSED or SUSPENDED accounts do not show even if they have contacts scheduled for the day.

MODE AND RECALC

RECALC is not done on CLOSED accounts, but accounts with other modes are recalculated. The only exception is when a payment is posted - if the account is closed then the total is still recalculated.

Basically, if you close an account, its financial figures are frozen where they are at the time you closed the account, unless a payment is posted, at which time, and only then, a Recalc actually alters the Owing.

CLOSED MODE AND INTEREST

When you close an account with interest, Collect! posts a Total Accrued Interest transaction, Type 499, for all interest that has accrued over the time that you have been calculating interest on the account. If you should re-open the account at a future date, this record can be used to start up interest calculations again.

Collect! needs Transaction Type 499, with the correct settings, to perform the calculations. If you do not have Transaction Type 499, you can copy it from your Demonstration database or request it from Collect! Support.

Charged

This is the date the debt was originally incurred by the debtor.

FOR CBR: This date is used for calculating Date of Last Consumer Payment and must be entered.

If you do not enter a Delinquency Date, Collect! automatically uses the Charged Date. For credit grantors, a switch in the Credit Bureau Setup form, 'Report charged date', allows the Charged Date to be used instead of the Debtor's Listed Date as the 'Date Opened' for CBR reporting purposes.

This date is also used when applying an age-based commission rate plan to the account. In that case, both Listed and Charged dates are required to calculate the account age.

Delnqnt

This is the date the account went Delinquent. This is usually the date the account went 31 days past due.

Enter this date manually if you are a collection agency. Or, the date can be filled in automatically by Collect! as '31 days prior to the Listed Date' by turning on the 'Delinquent 31 days prior to listing' switch in the Client Settings form.

FOR CBR: This is the 'Date of Occurrence'. If you do not enter a Delinquency Date, Collect! automatically uses the Charged Date.

Please see Delinquency Date For Credit Grantor and Set The Account's CBR Status at the end of this topic.

This date affects a person's credit rating, so use it carefully.

If you are a Credit Grantor, please refer to the section heading Delinquency Date For Credit Grantor at the end of this topic.

Listed

This is the Date the debtor was Listed with your agency. This is automatically filled in when you create a new debtor.

This field is used in numerous reports and is important to accurately keep track of your accounts.

FOR CBR: When reporting to credit bureaus, this date is used for 'Date Opened'.

For credit grantors, a switch in the Credit Bureau Setup form, 'Report charged date', allows the Charged Date to be used instead of the Debtor's Listed Date as the 'Date Opened' for CBR reporting purposes.

This field is indexed.

Payment

This is the Date of the Last Payment made by the debtor. Collect! automatically changes that date whenever a transaction is posted for the debtor.

FOR CBR: When reporting to credit bureaus, this date is used as the Date of the Last Consumer Payment.

If the debtor has made a payment to the agency, the Payment Date is used instead of the Charged Date above.

You can inhibit Collect! from automatically altering the date with a switch in the Options menu, Preferences, Plans and Reference Tables, Payment Posting Options form.

If you turn off this switch and don't intend to do Credit Bureau Reporting, you can use this field for anything you want.

Worked

This is the Date the debtor was Last Worked by an operator. The date is filled in, or updated, automatically only when an operator is physically working the account by doing one of the actions listed below.

1. An operator creates or modifies the notes on the account.

2. An operator runs a contact plan on the account.

The Worked Date is not updated by any other method. You can not edit this field. It is used in numerous reports and is important to accurately keep track of your accounts.

When the Worked Date is the current date, this field turns red to alert the operator that this account has already been worked today.

Promise

When a debtor has made a promise to pay, this field shows the date that the promise is due. If the date is not displayed, try pressing the Recalc button.

If there is more than one promise recorded for this debtor, the date of the earliest unmet promise is displayed here.

Promises can be entered into Collect! by creating a Promise Contact or by creating a Transaction with no Posted Date. In either case, Collect! will automatically display the earliest due date of the debtor's promises in this field IF "Automatically manage promises" is switched ON in the Payment Posting Options form.

When a promise becomes Past Due, this field is displayed in red unless the "Report as credit grantor" switch is ON in the Credit Bureau Setup form. In that case, only, past due promises are considered delinquent and the date is displayed in the Delnqnt field on the Debtor form.

You can open the Payment Posting Options form through the Options menu, Preferences, Plans and Reference Tables.

Next

This is the Next Payment Date field. The debtor's Next field appears on the Debtor screen under certain conditions.

The 'Report as credit grantor' switch must be turned ON in the Credit Bureau Setup form to activate the Next payment date calculations. This will cause the Next field to be displayed instead of the Promise field in the Debtor form (below the Worked field.)

The debtor Next Payment Date field is used in interest modes. When there is an amount in the Payment Amount field in the Interest Detail form, this amount is used to determine the Next Payment Date.

Next Payment Date is calculated as follows:

If the debtor is neither delinquent nor overpaid -- based on the figure in the Payment Amount field -- then the next date is the date the next scheduled payment is due, based on the interest settings in the Interest Detail form. For example, if it is early September, and the account is paid up, then the next payment date could be September 31 or some such date in the near future.

If the debtor is delinquent, then the Next date shows the last date when the debtor should have made a payment. For example if it is September, and no payment has been received for the July 31 payment, then the next date would show July 31 in red to indicate delinquency.

If the debtor has overpaid, then the Next date rolls forward into the future to reflect the number of monthly payment periods that have actually been covered in the overpayment amount.

Closed

This field shows the Date When the Account was Closed. It is only visible when an account is closed.

FOR CBR: This date is used for 'Closed Date'.

This field is indexed.

Client Number

This is the Client Number assigned by Collect! You can change client number sequencing in the ' Company Details' form. You cannot edit this field in the Debtor form, but it will change automatically if you change the client's number in the Client form.

You must setup clients before you begin to enter Debtor information.

Operator

This is the ID of the Operator Assigned to this Account.

Press F2 when this field has focus or click the arrow to pick from a list of available Operators.

It is important to fill in this field since Contact Scheduling often relies on this ID.

This field is indexed.

Sales

This is the ID Code of the Salesperson assigned to this Account.

Press F2 when this field has focus or click the arrow to pick from a list of available Operators.

When payments are posted, this ID is used to determine collector's commission.

This field is indexed.

Status

This is the Status of the Account. Press F2 or click the arrow to pick from a list of Debtor Status codes. You can create your own account status codes.

This field is indexed.

Rate

This is the current Commission Rate for payments made by the debtor. If a commission rate is entered in your Client Settings, the Rate field will be filled automatically when you choose a client or enter a new debtor for a client. You can override the setting by entering a rate that applies only to this debtor.

Information is not entered in this field directly. The Rate field displays information taken from the Commission and Charges form. Click into this field or start typing to pop up the Commission and Charges form where you can enter a enter a new commission rate, or rate plan, and other commission details for this account.

Any transactions that you post for this debtor load the settings from the Commission and Charges form.

Principal

This is the amount of the Original Debt, or the sum of all transactions posted to the Principal account. (This means Principal is dotted in the transaction 'Account' column.) Information is not entered in this field directly. The Principal field displays information taken from the Principal Detail form. Click into this field, or start typing, to pop up the Principal Detail form where you can enter a Principal Amount or view the Principal Paid To Date and other details for this account. Please press F1 when the Principal Detail form is displayed, for help about the fields and buttons on this form.

When the debtor has a judgement, the Principal field will be "overlaid" by the Judgement field which will be shown in color. In this case, the Owing field will be calculated based on the Judgement Principal and Judgement Interest, rather than the Original Principal and Interest.

You can also set the debtor's currency here, if you have the 'Multi Currency' switched ON in the Company Details form.

If you are a Credit Grantor, you can choose to display 30/60/90 fields on the Debtor form by switching ON 'Show 30/60/90' in the Principal Detail form.

For revolving compound interest accounts or preamortized loan accounts, please access the help available through the Interest Detail form. This form will pop up when you click or press F2 in the Interest field.

Judgement

When a judgement has been awarded, this field will display the amount of the judgement. This field "overlays" the Principal field. To view the amount of the Original Principal, click in the field to bring up the Principal Detail form.

All transactions posted prior to the Judgement Date are ignored.

Interest

This field displays the Total Interest for this account. This is the sum of Original Interest and all Accrued Interest on this account. Information is not entered in this field directly. The Interest field displays information taken from the Interest Detail form. Click into this field or start typing to pop up the Interest Detail form where you can set and view all interest details for this account.

If you want interest to be calculated for a given debtor, you must enter an interest rate for the account in the Interest Detail form. For revolving compound interest accounts or preamortized loan accounts, please press F1 to access help when you are viewing the Interest Detail form.

When the debtor has a Judgement, the Principal field label changes to "Judgement" and the field is displayed in color. Also, the Interest field displays only Judgement Interest. The amount displayed in the Owing field is calculated based on the Judgement Principal and Judgement Interest, rather than the Original Principal and Interest.

Fees

This field is a summary of all Fee transactions belonging to this debtor. Information is not entered in this field directly. The Fees field displays information taken from the Fees and Charges form.

Click into this field or start typing to pop up the Fees and Charges form where you can view Total Fees and Fees Paid To Date on this account. There you can also Add Commission to the debtor 's Owing, assign fixed fees to both the client and the debtor and view the Total Commissions earned to date on this account.

Paid

The Amount Paid by the debtor. This can be a negative number if there are charges incurred on the account. Information is not entered in this field directly. The Paid field displays information tallied from Payment transactions posted for this account. Click into this field or start typing to pop up the list of transactions. You can view transactions already posted or post a new transaction by selecting the New button at the bottom of the displayed list.

Adj

This field is the Sum of All Adjustment transactions belonging to this debtor. Information is not entered in this field directly. The Adj field displays information tallied from Adjustment transactions posted for this account. Click into this field or start typing to pop up the list of transactions. You can view transactions already posted or post a new transaction by selecting the New button at the bottom of the displayed list.

30 Days

This is the amount outstanding from the last statement.

This field is only visible if the Show 30/60/90 switch is ON (checked) in the Principal Detail form.

This field is useful if you are a Credit Grantor.

60 Days

This is the amount outstanding from between 30 and 60 days.

This field is only visible if the Show 30/60/90 switch is ON (checked) in the Principal Detail form.

This field is useful if you are a Credit Grantor.

90 Days

This field displays amounts owing longer than 60 days.

This field is only visible if the Show 30/60/90 switch is ON (checked) in the Principal Detail form.

This field is useful if you are a Credit Grantor.

Over 90

This field displays amounts owing longer than 90 days.

This field is only visible if the Show 30/60/90 switch is ON (checked) in the Principal Detail form.

This field is useful if you are a Credit Grantor.

Owing

This is the total amount Owing, the remaining balance outstanding on this account. Information is not entered in this field directly. The Owing field displays an amount tallied from Original Principal and Interest, plus charges and interest accrued, minus debtor payments. This is dependent on whether the debtor has a judgement. If a judgement is recorded, then the Judgement Principal and Judgement Interest are used instead of the original values.

Click into this field to open the Debtor Financial Summary This form shows all the financial details for the debtor's account, including total charges, total payments and total owing amounts for principal, interest and fees. Overpayments and adjustments are displayed. For interest and loan accounts, any amounts needed to bring the account to current are also shown.

Summary

This is a single Note Line to Summarize the account status and add any pertinent vital information.

Last Action

This field is a Shortcut to Activating a Contact Plan. If you know the code of the Contact Plan you wish to run on this debtor, you can type it here. This field is located to the left of the Record Navigation i.e. [<<] button on the Debtor form.

Typing the code here will not execute the plan unless you press ENTER to leave the field.

Action

The Action field lets you pick a Contact Plan for this debtor. You can create a Schedule of Contacts -- phone calls, letters, note entries, status changes and file review activities. When you build a schedule it is based on today's date.

Invoke a Contact Plan by typing the plan's short code in the debtor's Action field, or press F2 to pick from a list. The system prompts you for any required details and schedules the plan for you. To make your tasks even easier you may set up a batch process to apply a contact plan to a large number of accounts in seconds.

Contacts

Select this button to activate the Contact form. This is a list, displaying all contacts made for this debtor, where you can select contacts or create new ones.

Finance

Select this button to activate the Transaction form. If this debtor has transactions, a list will be displayed. There you can select an existing Transaction or create a new one. This links to any payments, promises or other related transactions regarding this debtor.

You must setup transaction types before you can post transactions.

Detail

Selecting this button will activate the Debtor Detail form where you can enter information about bank accounts as well as other details.

Attachment

Select this button to create or view Attachments to this debtor. If this button displays yellow, the debtor has attachments. Check the A1, A2 and A3 buttons to access attachments that you classified as Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3.

Print

Select this button to view a list of reports available for printing that relate to debtors.

You must setup your reports and letters before you begin to enter debtor information.

Recalc

Press this button to Recalculate and Update any fields containing financial information relating to this debtor.

Please see information above on the Mode field as Mode determines whether or not Collect! recalculates totals.

Notes

Notes allow you to type free form text. Today's date and the current time are inserted automatically on the first line of text that you type.

Users with Read Only Rights will be able to enter new notes but may not delete existing ones.

OK

Select this button to save any changes you have made and return you to the previous form.

<<

Select this button to take you to the previous debtor in the database.

>>

Select this button to take you to the next debtor in the database.

Credit Bureau Reporting

You will notice that some fields have a FOR CBR note attached to them. Information in these fields must be entered in a particular way if you ever intend to report this debtor to credit bureaus. These fields have additional information outlining the proper formats required.

Delinquency Date For Credit Grantor

When you have switched ON 'Report as credit grantor' in the Company Details form, an unmet promise will show up as delinquent in the Delnqnt field.

You must also switch ON 'Calculate delinquency date' in the Interest Detail form. This field is only visible when you are in Credit Grantor mode.

If you are a Credit Grantor, a number of things affect the Delinquency Date based on your settings.

The Delinquency Date is normally set to 31 days after the promise date. Thus, if you set a promise contact on the account and no payment is received, when 31 days have lapsed, the Delinquency Date will be set to the promise date plus 31 days.

Promise contacts contain a dollar Amount, and the promise is only satisfied when the full Amount has been paid. This is stored in the Payment Amount field in the Interest Detail form enabling Collect! to manage payments, underpayments and overpayments. Please see Promise Contact Topics.

In the Credit Bureau Setup form, you can switch ON 'No posted date mods delinquency'. When this is switched ON, Collect! uses the Payment Date of the promise transaction as the ' Delinquency Date ' for the account, rather than allowing the default 31 day delay in determining delinquency.

Set The Account's CBR Status

Set the account's CBR status by clicking the CBR Off/On button in the Debtor form. This displays the Credit Report Details form where you can check 'Report to credit bureau' to activate Credit Bureau Reporting for this debtor.

If you do not fill in a Delinquency Date, the credit reporting function will use the Charged date, also known as the 'Date of Last Service' or 'Service Date' and will issue warnings to you.

You MUST provide a Delinquency Date for all accounts reported to credit bureaus. The Delinquency Date appears on the Debtor form and is defined as the date of the first delinquency that led to the derogatory status being reported.

The date an account is charged off or placed for collection, is NOT the Delinquency Date. The Delinquency Date should be the date the account became 31 days past due.

The date of delinquency is necessary to purge accounts from the bureau databases in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

To automatically set Delinquency Date, create a Promise type contact. The Due Date of the promise contact is the Promise Date on the Debtor form. If the promise date is 31 days or more overdue, the delinquency date is calculated as promise date plus 31 days.

Control Files

Control files allow you to attach a script to any field or form in the Collect! system. The script can do logical processing and then it can write the result onto the screen or into the database. For instance, it can automatically choose values for certain fields.

Pick Lists

Pick lists show predefined options for any field. A field that has a pick list attached to it is recognizable by the arrow on the right end of the field. You can edit and add pick lists to virtually any field in the system.

Calendar

The Calendar pop up lets you easily choose a date. A field that requires a date is recognizable by the tiny Calendar icon on the right end of the field. Click on the icon to open the Calendar.

Dial Phone

You can dial phone numbers directly from Collect! if your computer is set up for it. A field that requires a phone number is recognizable by the tiny telephone icon on the right end of the field. Click on the icon to start the phone-dialing procedure. This only works if you have Auto Dial installed.

See Also

- Debtor Basics - Introduction/Accessing
- Introduction To Debtor Information
- Debtor Notes
- Debtor Detail
- Attachment
- How To Enter A New Debtor
- How To Setup Debtors