The Barrington Financial Group, Inc.

What does it mean to be in collections. When you have an account with a company and you stop paying on that account for whatever reason, after approximately 90 to 120 days, the account goes to internal collections with that company. If the internal collection department is unable to get the account settled they eventually sell the account to an outside collection agency or assign it to a collection attorney.

If the account is sold to an outside collection agency, then you should be glad. Yes, glad! Here's why. A collection agency does not have a lot of power to collect the debt. About all they can do is write letters to you and call you on the phone in an attempt to collect the debt. I do admit, some of the letters can be very intimidating and scary. Many collectors step over the bounds of collection laws in attempting to collect the debt. They are, however, governed by The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act FDCPA. Please click on the link section of this website to read more about the FDCPA. In order for a collection agency to take the account to the next step they must turn it over to their attorney for collection through the courts. Since the passing of the new bankruptcy law several years ago, the arena has expanded in the collection industry.

Many attorneys have discovered that with the passing of this new law, consumers are no longer able to file bankruptcy as easily as they could before. Now, the consumer has to be approved by the courts before they are allowed to file a bankruptcy, and many are required to pay back a portion of the debt, depending on their income. The bottom line is thousands more attorneys are now in the collection business.