There is a fact about commercial collections that we think only credit managers and commercial collection lawyers truly understand: collection of account begin before any materials, product or labor are supplied!
What does that really mean? When a customer wants to purchase your product on credit, that customer is probably the friendliest and most forthcoming that he will ever be. So, here’s your chance to ask for information that will help you in the collection process in the event the customer’s bill is not paid.
Complete Application: In consultation with your commercial collection attorney, prepare a comprehensive application for credit. Then, when a prospective customer asks to purchase your materials, your first step should be to require the prospective customer to completely fill-out an application.
Guaranty: Collection of accounts can be difficult–customers with assets tend to pay their bills, but those without assets are typically sent to collections. While you may be able to obtain a court judgment against this customer, the judgment will be meaningless unless you are able to find some asset of the customer against which to collect. One way to increase the odds of recovery is to obtain a personal guaranty of one or more individual(s) who is willing to guaranty the customer’s debt. A business may be collapsed or put in bankruptcy with ease, but individuals are less likely to do so. Practical Tip: Look beyond the company’s owner for a guaranty: try to get a personal guaranty from the owner’s spouse, parent or child (where assets may be hidden).
Gather Information: Both the application and the guaranty form should be used as an opportunity gather information about the debtor. Be creative, but at a minimum get such information as:
- the customer’s legal name, type of entity, and jurisdiction where formed;
- the customers, EIN, physical addresses (not just post office box), and banking information;
- the guarantor’s full legal name and any aliases; and
- the guarantor’s physical address (not post office box), and social security number, and date of birth.
Make it Legible: None of the foregoing ideas will help you at all unless it can be read. It is amazing how many times a credit application is faxed, scanned and photocopied before it makes its way onto the collection lawyer’s desk. If a social security number is not legible or a name is not clear, then that information is useless. Before processing the customer’s application, please make sure it can be clearly and easily read.
Liens: There are all types of liens available to creditors in Georgia including UCC-1’s, security agreements, collateral pledges, mechanics liens, materialmen’s liens, etc. Contact your Georgia commercial collection lawyer to understand which liens may be appropriate for your type of business.
There are a lot of other things that can be done to help in the collection process prior to extending credit. We plan to discuss more of these in future posts. In the meantime, please share with us your ideas and success (or failure) stories!