By JR Rooney
You should call in a credit collection agency sooner rather than later. The longer you wait to begin the collection process on past due accounts, the less of a chance you'll have at recovering your money.
The day after an account becomes overdue, you should place a polite phone call to the customer who owes you money. If that doesn't work, you may want to send a few past-due letters yourself, or you may want to go directly to a credit collection agency. Base your decision on how much money is owed to you and the history of your relationship with the customer. If it's the first time you are doing business with them, you'll want to call in a credit collection agency earlier than you would with a 10-year customer with a solid credit history.
Most companies call in a credit collection agency once a debt is 60 days to 90 days past due. If you wait much longer than 90 days to begin collecting past-due receivables, your chance of collecting drops dramatically.
If you discover that your customer has gone out of business, find out what type of business it was - a corporation, a partnership, or a proprietorship. If it was a corporation, don't bother calling for the help of a collection agency. It is doubtful that you, or any one else, will be able to squeeze the last few nickels out of that client. If the company is a partnership or a proprietorship, you may be able to get the individual owners of the company to pay you out of their own pockets.
If you try to recover a debt and cannot, consider that bad debt a tax-deductible item (Tax Code IRC 166, Reg. 1.166). You will be able to deduct the cost of the goods sold (but not paid for) as an ordinary business expense. You can't deduct any lost profits from the sale, nor can you deduct the money owed for services rendered.
By Susan Tanner
Not knowing the right methods and procedures can be a big hassle to getting the best, right, and cheapest car insurance quotes for yourself, especially if this is your first time doing so, whether for yourself or for someone else.
Call several different auto insurance companies and ask for a quote. You can find their information online or from a phone book. Make sure you know what kind of insurance you need before you call, or you won't be able to get the best quote.
You can also get instant car insurance quotes by submitting your data online. After processing your information, these companies will send you your insurance quotes to your registered e-mail address. Some will even mail the quotes to you, if you choose.
The companies will give you quotes based on what information you give them. Compare the quotes you receive decide which one fits your needs best. Keep in mind that you have a limited budget to work with and ensure that these companies understand as much.
Though the companies would always follow you but it is very important that you keep a strong follow up to the companies who you think are offering you the best quote. This is because they show more leniency and better rates to their serious customers.
Auto insurance companies will mold their plans around your needs so that you find them attractive and beneficial compared to competitors' quotes. Good policies and low rates will attract and keep loyal customers. You should have a few quotes to choose from by now, so keep in mind your income and expenses before you make any further decisions.
When you finalize your decision, let the company know. However, try a last-ditch effort to negotiate to get them to give you as much as they're willing to do. Be polite and courteous, and perhaps they will help you out with lower rates and such.
Hence in the end one has to ask for discounts before finalizing the decision. It is vastly noticed that a little haste in financial services can miss better opportunities and services that one might avail from financial organization. By following the methods step by step one makes sure that he/she got the cheap car insurance quote with better policies and attractive benefits.
By Chris Clare
At this present time to say that the mortgage market is in a certain state of turmoil would be the understatement of the year. The situation has gone from one where whoever wanted a mortgage could get one to a situation where it is only the people who can afford not to need one will be considered.
Because of the credit crisis restrictions on lending and borrowing have changed the whole lay of the land. Lending institutions are now giving far more careful consideration to whom they deem fit to lend their money to and as a result who they seem beyond consideration. Self certification is all but a thing of the past and where not long ago 100% mortgages were the norm in this present climate 80% loan to value mortgages are as far as the institutions are willing to go. And the main area that has suffered is Buy to Lets.
A considerable amount of the growth in the housing market over the last few years can be put down to buy to let. Indeed it is what has kept it buoyant. But this in turn has had a huge effect on the economy in general and the individual in particular. The crux of the problem has been that ordinary people have been having a go at the buy to let phenomenon.
Car auctions in the early part of the 1980s were deemed to be the bastion of the motor trade. Anyone that was not from the trade was seen as an outsider and indeed could quickly be spotted as a rube who was well out of his depth. But gradually the situation began to change and more and more people were trying their hand at spotting a bargain and tidying it up for a small profit. People from all sorts of backgrounds were giving it a go.
But experience (or inexperience) started to show and the so called bargains were sometimes nothing more than the proverbial pig in a poke. And the outcome was that these guys would get fleeced. It is an uncannily familiar situation to the one that people had found themselves in with regards to the buy to let market. Okay, the amounts of money that were changing hands were different but the point is that people were participating in a market in which they had no prior knowledge, and were buying houses that were way overpriced, in some cases without even seeing what they were buying.
Personally, I have bought several properties professionally over the last 10 years, most of which have been bought as buy to lets. Even with the expertise and professional knowledge I have, I would never buy a property without first seeing and inspecting it, and I know of no self respecting professional who would. It baffles me why a non professional would step into an unknown market and think they are an instant expert.
The effect of this careless disregard for common sense is that the market is now in the state that it is. And because these people borrowed money from institutions who would end up having to acknowledge the fact that they had taken on risky borrowers, the institutions in turn put severe lending restrictions in place. Even over the last few months loan to value mortgages have tumbled from 85% to 75%. And things may still get worse before they get better as house prices continue to drop.
What we are left with is a stagnant market in a state of utter chaos. What I would propose is that the lending institutions get together to create a buy to let product that would be applicable to landlords with ten or more properties. They would then already have the assurance that these landlords are in a position to honour the loans. It would also reap benefits for the public in general in that it would at least breathe some life into the bloated corpse of today's property market.
By Rem
The term 'real estate short sale' is being bandied about more and more as of late. Anyone who has read newspapers or watched TV has probably come across some sort of stories about the declining real estate market leading banks to consider real estate short sales as an alternative to foreclosure. Real estate prices have dropped dramatically, and the sell time has risen as well. Detroit is one such example of this. Declining real estate markets are the primary reason for the rise in short sale real estate opportunities.
Banks undergo a real estate short sale when they let a property be sold for an amount of money that is less than what it is worth. The following two conditions must be met in order for the bank to approve such a deal. Foremost, you will need to have a market value that is in such bad shape that the sale price of the property cannot cover the balance on the mortgage. The second condition is kind of obvious, but it dictates that the owners will be unable to continue making mortgage payments on the property.
For example, a property that was purchased five years ago with an adjustable rate mortgage for 217,000 dollars. Let's say that two years after purchasing the property the owners took out an additional 10,000 dollars second mortgage, which means that today the owners owe 227,000 dollars on the property.
In a five year time span, the amount the mortgages would have been paid is negligible. Let's also believe that the property is in a part of the country where the market values have fallen to 215,000 dollars for similar properties, and that the adjustable mortgage interest rate has risen from seven to eleven percent. Additionally, we end up with a real estate short sale situation once one of the owners has lost their job.
In avoiding time delays and expenses, the bank will probably decide to go with a short sale. The reason for this is that the banks believe it is better to get the property off their books and accept a smaller amount of money they are guaranteed to get than to accept an unknown amount in the future. This is generally how a real estate short sale works, though there are other complications that can arise from having owners and lenders not agreeing to the terms of the sale.
A real estate short sale is an unpleasant experience for an owner, but it is not the worst thing in the world. The methods may not be flawless, but it will beat having a foreclosure on the credit report. On the other hand, a truly savvy investor can take advantage of these short sales for excellent buying opportunities.
By William Blake
In the world of taxes, tax credits help taxpayers to lower their tax bill. One such credit is the Earned Income Credit, or EIC. This credit was instituted as a way to help low income wage earners to rise above their circumstances.
The earned income credit began in 1975. The idea was that the poor were just getting poorer with the taxes they were paying on top of a low income job. The credit gives back to taxpayers a good portion of the money that they paid in taxes throughout the year. In that way, families could keep more of what they earned.
As time has passed, the amount that the earned income credit returns to individuals has gone up. Supporters of the EIC assert that the earned income credit does more for low income workers than simply increasing the minimum wage would. This is because people who are awarded the EIC use the money they get back to make purchases that boost their local economy.
There are three types of EIC eligible incomes. The first is money that is earned at a job. This money would include any wages earned by means of tips. If you are given a bonus by your employer, it can also be counted towards the earned income credit.
Self-employed earnings are also eligible for the earned income credit. If you own your own business but the money you earn with it is not enough to sufficiently care for your family, you may be able to receive the EIC. Any and everything your business earns can be counted.
Any money earned by one of your dependents can also be used to obtain the EIC. For example, the money that your teenage son or daughter makes while working summers or before and after school can be counted by you in order to get the earned income credit. This is true even if they have not earned enough to have to file for taxes themselves. The combined total of your income and your children's will be used to determine your EIC.
The money that your investments earn for you is counted as income by the IRS, as is money you collect because of unemployment. These sources of income may reduce your chances of getting the earned income credit. For example, if your investments earn you more than $2,800 in one year, you are disqualified from the EIC.
Sadly, many tax filers are not even aware that they qualify for the earned income credit. Many people think they don't qualify or just are not aware of the EIC. Some people do not earn enough to have to file their taxes, but still qualify for the EIC. Be sure to check into the EIC so that you don't miss out on this opportunity.
About the Author:
Tire of struggling to keep up with your credit card debt? Get some simple
credit card tips on the Debtopedia website. Visit http://www.debtopedia.com for a free copy of my "Secrets Of Credit Card Debt" report.
By Louis Soul
There is no doubt that over the past years credit cards have become more important to people. Aside from being an effective way of obtaining credit, credit cards also make it easier for people to spend their money the right way.
One of the most popular brand names of credit cards in the market today is the Chase credit card. The Chase credit card is no different to other well known credit cards and like them accepted around the world. Other cards that are offered include auto cards, students and also travel.
So there are a number of reasons to have a Chase credit card all of which will be of great benefit to the user over time. Probably the most used feature is its online capabilities used by workers and other people that have little time to go out shopping. Using the web site, secure of course means that managing your finances is only a few mouse clicks away.
For some people, the ease with which they can go online to manage their account is the only excuse they need to own a Chase credit card. If you are looking to save money then Chase offers waived membership fees along with other introductory deals including low APR's.
There is more than one type of Chase credit card and loyal customers can expect to be rewarded when they use the card. For those that don't fly but still want rewards then they can have a version of the Chase card that will award you points when you spend any money. These points will then enable you to purchase from a Chase credit card catalogue and they will have your chosen item shipped to right next to your doorstep! There are holidays, plus other well sought after rewards and all at no charge to you.
There is bound to be a reward just for you including trips if that is what you like. It is the customer service that makes most people stay with or leave a company and Chase credit cards are no different. For me, it is that knowledge that if I need someone to help me, there is always someone there at any time no matter where I am. Having your card stolen or even lost for example can create a trying time until a new one is delivered safely to you which is the great benefit of the customer service facility at Chase.
If you are thinking about transferring your balance then this is the way to do it with a guaranteed six month zero percent interest rate which also incorporates current purchase balances as well. A no annual charge policy and if you pay your bill in full, there will not be any other interest charges to pay. Having a Chase credit card also allows the holder to earn cash rewards on purchases. If you are considering transferring your account or balance, it is easy over the internet with the secure server.