LEARN COLLECT EXCEL Presented by Mary R Baron. LEARN COLLECT EXCEL QUOTE “AN UNCOLLECTED FINE IS AN UNTAUGHT LESSON IN ACCOUNTABILITY” Chief Justice Frank.

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Presented by

Mary R Baron

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QUOTE

“AN UNCOLLECTED FINE IS AN UNTAUGHT LESSON IN ACCOUNTABILITY” Chief Justice Frank X Gordon, Arizona Supreme Court

“A FINE IS A COURT ORDER; A SENTENCE THAT SHOULD BE COMPLIED WITHIN A TIMELY MANNER THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE CONVENIENT TO THE DEFENDANT” Chief Justice Sonny Hornby of the Alabama Supreme Court

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FOUNDATION

• Leadership• Mission• Philosophy• Policy• Procedure• Budget

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GETTING STARTED

• Has Anyone Attempted Collecting a Debt?• Commitment from the Organization • Where Do Fines/Fees Fit into a Government

System• Collections in a Government Entity• Who Benefits From these Collection Efforts?

ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL COLLECTIONS PROGRAM

• Leadership and Commitment• Goals• Information and Communication• Collections Procedures• Administrative Staff Involvement• Education and Training• Accountability• Inventory Control

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TERMINOLOGY

• Audits• County Administrator• Clerk of the Court• Collections Unit• Comprehensive set of policies and procedures• Participation into a State Tax/Lottery

Interception Program• Restitution Owed to a Victim• Skip Tracing• Collections Database • Collectors Work lists

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AUDIT RESULT

Centralize Court Collections Departments

• Appoint Project Manager• Select two task force teams• Seek legal advice• Use the audit results to build the

program• Establish policy and procedures• Review accounts receivable records • Determine what departments and

accounts to import for collections• Be realistic in goals that can be reached• Determine range and age of accounts to

import

IDENTIFY RESPONSIBILITES

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• Can you add additional collection fees?

• Are there ordinances that allow this?

• Will the organization/county/city benefit?

RESEARCH ORDINANCES AND POLICIES

COLLECTIONS SOFTWAREDATABASE

• What do you want from a collections program

• Contact your procurement office to set processes in place i.e., a Request for Proposals to software company for collection database

• Revenue Results• In-house software program• Excel spreadsheets• Microsoft Outlook

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• How many• What is your volume of accounts• How to keep staff and avoid turnovers• Motivation• Professionalism• Productivity

Establish rule for account distributionEstablish rule for outbound callEstablish rule for accounts

HIRE EXPERIENCED COLLECTORS

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Compliance of Court Orders

Intermingled Entities

Clerk of the Court

Judges

Taxpayer

Parole

Probation

Defendants

Superior Court

Department ofCorrections

Justice Court

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1. Forms should be available to ensure the court has all the demographic information2. Defendant understands the debt3. Court should set up a payment plan not to exceed one year4. Court should collect a sizeable payment for the first installment and then smaller thereafter5. Court should advise the defendant of consequences of noncompliance

with the plan6. If payment is defaulted, court will call the defendant at work/home7. Court should participate in a State Tax/Lottery Interception program8. Court should establish written procedures outlining acceptable payment methods, including:

cashpersonal checkscredit cards (in person or by phone)money orderswage garnishment

BEST PRACTICES FOR COLLECTIONS

If a defendant cannot pay on the day of sentencing:

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How does a Tax Interception Program assist Collections and the Taxpayer?

• Victims are compensated

• Reduction of court-ordered financial obligation

• Address updates

• Ability to set future Payment installments

change of addresschange of addresschange of addresschange of address

avoid paying debtsavoid paying debts

toolstools

asset searchesasset searches

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SKIP TRACING TOOLS

• SSN Trace• Full Credit Bureau• Phone book listing• Criss-Cross Directories• Voter Registration• Real Property records• Business license• Civil Records• Criminal Records• Marriage Records• Vehicle Registration• State Vital Statistics

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TIPS FOR FINDING DEBTORS

• Don’t lie when asking who you are looking for• Make note of all the information gathered from

a credit report i.e., age, martial status, employment

• Utilize public records• Obituaries• When calling individuals leave basic messages,

i.,e., name, phone number and a reference number (not the account number)

• Collections and skip tracing are two different skills (taken from a January 2008 issue of Collections and Credit)

• Skip tracing is a specialty that takes TIME and PATIENCE

Education and Training

• Training is a key to ensuring the policy, procedures and processes are implemented

• Collections staff must be trained with their software program and feel comfortable with their processes

• Outside departments must be trained in what the new responsibilities of this unit are and how it may effect the organization

ACCOUNTABILITY

• Quarterly meetings

• Statistical reports outlining revenue increases

• Constant review to revise and enhance existing protocol

INVENTORY CONTROL

• Internal write-off policy with a clear definition of write-off and waive, vacate and set-aside

• Based on the Accounts Receivable reports and write-off policy, accounts are reviewed yearly to determine write-off status

• Once reviewed and per policy, list is submitted to Presiding Judge or Board of Supervisors for an order to write-off

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SUCCESS MEASURES

• Increase in monthly payments• Increase in overall revenue• Control of accounts and realistic figures to

collect• Reputation of the program and consistent

interdepartmental interaction• Great Customer Service

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SUMMARY

• Successful collections is essential to the Court or government organization

• To build a collections program takes an proactive approach

• It is important to the court or organization to work with defendants/debtors/customers to comply with court orders or debts

• Increases revenue for the organization• Reduces debt• Benefits the taxpayer

WHERE TO GET ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

National Center for State Courts

Supreme Court

State Statutes

Local ordinances/rules