Jackson Law Firm -- The Bad Debt Collection Process

The issue is incentive. Wrestling with debtors can often be a tiresome and tedious task for you. The headache and financial burden of collecting on defaulted bills can be avoided with an effective debt collection system. We provide the muscle behind your push for payment. The process that we employ not only allows us to prosecute almost any type of debt, but also places a calculated amount of pressure on the debtor, which provides the debtor with a fair incentive to pay you.

Getting your due requires placing your debtor's back against the wall. But more than that, debt collection is about removing the aggravation of an outstanding payment from both your lives.

The most fundamental step in your collection comes before any action is ever taken. In order to most accurately represent your needs, we necessarily must know the background and circumstances surrounding the debt. These factors may affect how we approach a collection matter and should be fully disclosed before we initiate any legal action.

While law is generally stereotyped as nothing but miles of red bureaucratic red tape, we decompress the the "fluff" and follow a very simple approach to debt collection. However, as with any venture in life, along the way we will ask you to weigh the costs of proceeding with the benefits that you seek. Our simplistic, yet poignantly strategic, line of attack is efficient and cost-effective, as outlined below:
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Demand Letter. We start the ball rolling with a letter to the debtor demanding payment. Even though you may have already written many letters yourself, we have found it effective to follow up with just one more. This demand letter is essential for a few reasons: (1) it is important (not to mention kind on your part) to give the defaulter one last chance (our experience is that about 15% to 20% of the debtors will attempt to resolve the problem once they see an attorney has been retained); (2) there are rules under the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code that govern the award of attorney's fees that this letter satisfies; and (3) the letter articulates to the debtor that you are serious about the collection of your just claim.
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Plaintiff's Original Petition. We usually file the petition within 30 days of the date of the Demand Letter. The purpose of the Petition is to alert the court of the situation and formally demand the payment of all default accounts by the debtor. In many cases, the Petition is filed within 10 days of the Demand Letter. For invoices and promissory notes we always file a special type of Petition known as a "Suit on Account." This type of Petition requires the Plaintiff to swear that the account is, among other things, true, correct, due and unpaid, and requires the Defendant to answer the Petition by swearing that the account is not due. If the Defendant does not file a proper answer, then the Plaintiff can be deemed by the Court to have made out a prima fascia case and the Court is likely to enter a judgment in the matter. We always include the first round of discovery with the Petition.
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Motion For Default Judgment. Upon service of the Petition, the the debtor has until 10:00 a.m. of the next Monday after the expiration of twenty days to answer the Petition in writing. If they fail to file such an answer, then we can motion for a default judgment. The Court reviews the motion, usually grants the motion without change and enters judgment in the Plaintiff's favor. It is important to note that the Defendant is unaware you have asked the Court for judgment in this case.
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Motion for Summary Judgment. If, however, the Defendant files an answer, we usually respond with a motion for summary judgment. This motion is predicated on an affidavit from you that the account is due. The burden of proof then shifts to the debtor and they are obligated to clarify for the Judge any discrepancies with our claim(s). In most cases the Defendant cannot defend themselves and the Court awards a judgment in your favor. Note: if the Defendant can defend themselves at this point by showing the Judge that there are particular areas of the invoices that have been paid, then this is not a routine collection case and we need to carefully examine the circumstances surrounding the invoices to be certain everything is "in order."