Small Business Loans

In parts one and two in this set of articles on the very basics of debt collection, I wrote about the differences between an in house collector and a third party debt collector. I wrote about the different types of ways that debt collectors will locate the debtors, and described a number of statements that the debt collector must say before they can proceed in their attempt to collect debt from you.

Bill collectors refer to these legal guidelines as a “mini Miranda.” If a bill collector doesn’t share this information with you, he or she is violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If questioned, the debt collector is obligated to tell you her name, the name, address and fax number of her agency, and what creditor she is calling on behalf of.

If it is necessary to do so the debt collector will go over the terms of sale with you, or credit contracts. Bear in mind that your conversation will probably be recorded, and a good debt collector is a sneaky one. They will most likely use their listening skills to try to determine the cause of the delinquency.

Despite what you may have heard from anecdotal stories, or the sensational stories you have heard on the news, most debt collectors are empathetic people, working to make a buck like you. Even if your debt collector is calling aggressively, it is never a good idea to ignore their calls. A debt collector will have the authority to offer a repayment plan, or some other type of help to make it easier for you to pay off of your debt.

At times, they are capable of finding solutions to your financial problems. After all, they work with people like you every day. They can even offer you some helpful advice or they might be able to refer you to some helpful debt counselors. Unfortunately, it has been said that all stereotypes have some truth in them, and there will be an occasional debt collector who may use strong arm or even illegal tactics to collect a debt. If something doesn’t sit right with you, consult the FDCPA, and call your local attorney general’s office to report the incident.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on medical collection agencies. Also published at The Very Basics Of Debt Collection Part Three.

In my first article in my series on mutual funds, I didn’t even get the opportunity to get to the subject of mutual funds! I very briefly covered securities, which we said is something that represents money. We looked at two types of securities, stocks and bonds. We spoke about stock markets and bonds markets, and how if you wanted to invest in or sell stocks and bonds you are going to need the help of a dealer or broker.

Now let us talk about mutual funds. A mutual fund essentially pools money from a bunch of different investors and invests in different types of securities. Mutual funds will have a fund manager that buys and sells the fund’s investments. Under United States law, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Internal Revenue Service tell mutual funds that mostly all of their net income that they bring in must be distributed to its investors at least once a year.

Mutual funds are structured as trusts or corporations, and the phrase mutual fund is another term for what the SEC sees as an open end investment company. All being open ended means is that at the end of every day, the fund will issue new shares to investors looking to buy into the fund, and the fund has to buy back shares from investors redeeming their shares.

Most mutual funds are monitored by trustees or a board of directors who make sure that the fund is being taken of care correctly and that it is being managed in the best interests of the fund’s investors.

Mutual funds have to be registered with the SEC and they have to give interested investors something called a prospectus that contains information about the fund, the securities it invests in and the fund manager. To Be Continued In Part Three

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on commercial collection agencies. Also published at Mutual Funds 101 Part Two.