Debt Collecting Q & A - NSF

by Jim Finucan

Published on this site: August 29th, 2006 - See more articles from this month

Question:

I thought I'd finally collected from this one account but the check was returned, marked "NSF" (not sufficient funds). What do I do now?

Answer:

Call the debtor immediately and let him know that, depending on the amount involved, this could be a serious crime. If it is your practice to do so, inform your district attorney's office first – that will add weight to your call to the debtor. Check-Rite and similar systems place a black spot on the check writer that alert others not to accept checks.

Most of the time NSF returns are the result of a simple mistake by the person who made out the check. If you've dealt with this company in the past it shouldn't be hard to decide whether this bad check was intentional or not and that should guide your actions.

If you suspect they were trying to cheat you make sure you have all
your information on the debtor up to date before you dun for the balance or use your demands to exact payment. The debtor should feel badly about having created this situation and thus should feel somewhat obligated to correct the problem. Use the second part of the call to reconfirm the debtor's information and get any new or updated information that will help you get a good fix on his situation.

Pull out all the stops. If this doesn't bring results call the DA's office and see if anyone there has a suggestion on what step to take next. The DA may even know the debtor as someone who has pulled this kind of thing before and your situation might be the one that triggers action against the debtor. In any event don't waste any time in taking action to clean up this situation.

Jim Finucan : Fifteen-year collections pro Jim Finucan shows you how to double the money you collect from your accounts receivable. Check out his unique collections manual "Past Due." For more information visit:
http://www.tiare.com/pastdue.htm