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A collection agency is a business that pursues payments on debts owed by individuals or businesses. Most collection agencies operate as agents of creditors and collect debts for a fee or percentage of the total amount owed. more...

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Some agencies, sometimes referred to as "debt buyers", also purchase debts from creditors for a fraction of the value of the debt and pursue the debtor for the full balance. Creditors typically send debts to a collection agency in order to remove them from their accounts receivable records; the difference between the amount collected and the full value of the debt is then written off as a loss.

In many countries, collection agencies are governed by laws that prohibit certain abusive practices. Failure to adhere to such laws may result in lawsuits or government regulatory actions.

First Party Agencies

Some agencies are departments or subsidiaries of the company that owns the original debt. First party agencies typically get involved earlier in the debt collection process and have a greater incentive to try to maintain a constructive customer relationship. Because they are a part of the original creditor, first party agencies are not subject to some of the laws which govern collection agencies.

These agencies are called "first party" because they are part of the first party to the contract (i.e. the creditor). The second party is the consumer (or debtor).

Typically most creditors will retain accounts with first party agencies for a period of around 6 months before the debt is written off and passed to a Third Party Agency (See Below).

Third Party Agencies

The term collection agency is usually applied to third-party agencies, called such because they were not a party to the original contract. The creditor assigns accounts directly to such an agency on a contingency-fee basis, which usually initially costs nothing to the creditor or merchant, except for the cost of communications. This however is dependent on the individual service level agreement (SLA) that exists between the creditor and the collection agency. The agency will then take a percentage of the debt that is successfully collected; sometimes known in the industry as the "Pot Fee" or potential fee upon successful collection. This does not necessarily have to be upon collection of the full balance and very often this fee is paid by the creditor if they cancel collection efforts before the debt is collected. The collection agency makes money only if money is collected from the debtor (often known as a "No Collection - No Fee" basis). Depending on the type of debt the fee ranges from 10% to 50%(though more typically the fee is 15% to 35%).

Read more at Wikipedia.org