Collect more with expert Atlanta debt collection services.
To maximize recovery in one of the top Fortune 500 hubs in the U.S., it’s important to have experienced professionals on your side. Cedar Financial offers:
Whether your claim is consumer or commercial, large or small, we get you paid. Our People-First Approach is proven to get results while preserving your relationships.
See why Fortune 500 companies trust us with their accounts in Atlanta.
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Collecting debts in the United States can be tricky for creditors unfamiliar with its strict federal and varied state collection laws.
In addition to the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Georgia state has enacted the Georgia Industrial Loan Act (ILA), offering additional protections for consumers with loans or advances of money of $3,000 or less in collections.
Under this law:
To protect your reputation, it’s important to hire only a trusted Georgia debt collection agency to recover your funds in Atlanta.
Cedar Financial is licensed and accredited in all 50 U.S. states, including Atlanta. We constantly review the latest state and federal regulations to ensure compliance while recovering more for your business.
Request a quote today.
In addition to adhering to the FDCPA, Georgia ILA and Dodd-Frank Act, creditors and collection agencies doing business in Atlanta must adhere to Georgia’s Fair Business Practices Act (FBPA) statute preventing Unfair, Deceptive and Abusive Practices (UDAP).
The FBPA allows debtors to recover actual damages, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, and three times the amount of the actual damages as punishment for an intentional violation.
A member of ACA International, the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Cedar Financial adheres to some of the highest compliance standards in the industry so you can rest easy.
Contact us to learn how our compliance policies work to safeguard your business.
Georgia has some of the highest levels of consumer debt in the country, topping lists for student loan, auto loan and credit card balances. As a result, creditors may find it harder to collect consumer balances in Atlanta.
According to the Federal Reserve 2019, Georgia ranks higher in student loan debt per capita than any other state, and third highest for auto loan debt. Atlanta also ranked 13th in the top U.S. cities with the most credit card debt in 2017, with an average credit card balance of $6,907.
Cedar Financial patiently guides consumers to financial security with debt counseling, payment plans and affordable solutions for those in genuine hardship. From Atlanta medical debt collection services to student debt collection services, we are sensitive to the unique needs of your debtor.
To learn how Putting People First can help you achieve better collections success in Atlanta, read our blog post.
While every effort is made to resolve accounts amicably, what happens when a firmer approach is needed? Here’s what you need to know about the legal process in Atlanta.
Each county in Georgia has a Magistrate, or small claims court, and a Superior court. For counties with over 100,000 people, there is also a State court. Lawsuits must be filed in the county of the defendant.
While it is cheaper to file a claim in the Magistrate court, there is a claim limit of $15,000 (including interest, fees and costs) and the court is not bound by Georgia’s Civil Practice Act, meaning there are limited pretrial motions and discovery opportunities. For this reason, most debt collection lawsuits are filed in Superior or State Court.
To file a debt collection lawsuit in Atlanta, the creditor or debt collector files a Complaint/Petition with the Fulton County Clerk of Court, then serves the defendant with the Complaint and Summons. While complaints are usually served through the Sheriff or Marshal Department, you can also pay a certified process server to serve the defendant.
Once served, the defendant has 30 days to file an answer before they are in default. After 45 days with no response, the plaintiff may request a default judgment.
If your debtor won’t pay, Cedar Financial offers access to vetted local debt collection law firms in Atlanta to pursue your claim in court. We manage your claim from start to finish, including skip tracing, asset location, filing a lawsuit, obtaining a judgment and enforcement, ensuring the best outcome for your case.
Request a quote or visit our debt collection attorneys page to learn more.
Once a judgment is obtained, the judgment creditor may choose to conduct a post-judgment asset deposition to locate assets to attach to satisfy the judgment.
If the debtor does not pay, the judgment creditor must record a Fieri Facias (FiFA) in each county where the debtor has assets to enforce the judgment.
There are several ways to enforce a judgment in Atlanta, including:
When you hire Cedar Financial to pursue your Atlanta legal collections claim, we don’t stop at obtaining a judgment – our legal team will follow through with enforcement actions for the best chance of payment post-litigation.
In Georgia, judgments expire after seven years. However, the judgment creditor may renew the judgment within three years after the expiration date for another seven-year period. There is no limit on the number of times the judgment may be renewed, so long as the renewal is submitted on time.
Cedar Financial’s expert in-house legal collections team carefully monitors every account from start to finish. If it takes longer to collect on your judgment, we will periodically review the debtor’s assets, credit, and overall ability to pay and keep track of renewals so your judgment doesn’t expire.
Contact us today to see how we can help you collect on your judgment.
Open Invoices
| Unpaid Invoice Interest Rate | 7% |
|---|---|
| Can Collection Fees be added? | Yes, if included in contract. |
| Statute of Limitations/Prescription | Verbal agreement: four years. Written agreement: six years. |
Judgments
| Post Judgment Interest Rate | Rate of prime plus 3% at the time of entry. |
|---|---|
| Judgment Expiration | Seven years. Five years for foreign judgments. |
| Can judgment be renewed? | Yes. |
We offer on-the-ground representatives in Atlanta who understand the debt collection practices that work to support full recovery of your funds.
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We are licensed and accredited to collect your debts in Atlanta. With over 30 years of debt collection experience, we adhere to all local, state and federal laws, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDPCA) and Georgia debt collection regulations, using a fair, but firm approach for faster recovery of your funds.
For pre-legal services, we work on a “no collection – no fee” basis, so you will only pay when your funds are recovered. For legal services, we offer low-cost options.
We have no minimum value or volume that is required to place accounts.
We service consumer and commercial debts, large or small, across many industries.
It varies. Factors such as the age of the account and the type of debt being collected must be taken into account, along with the specific circumstances of the claim. Because we know timely results are important to you, we guarantee an update on your claim within 30 days.
Once we receive your accounts and the proper documents to validate the claim, our representatives will begin by skip tracing the accounts to locate the debtor. We will then immediately start working the account via phone and mail and issue a written demand notice allowing 30 days for debt validation as required by the FDCPA.
The statute of limitations in Atlanta is four years for verbal agreements and six years for written agreements.
If your debtor is unresponsive to letters and phone calls, we provide on-the-ground field services for investigation, skip tracing, in-person visits at your debtor’s residence, asset searches, and more.
Yes, we must be able to validate the debt before we can begin the collection process. Validation documents include, but are not limited to, contractual agreements between you and the consumer, a bill or invoices for exchanged goods or services or legal court judgment documents.
Yes. In the event all amicable efforts are exhausted, our in-house legal team will conduct a thorough review of the file to determine collectability in litigation. If the file qualifies and you approve, we will work with the local attorney in Atlanta to file suit and pursue the claim, including asset location, arbitration, trial representation, obtainment of a judgment and post-judgment enforcement.
Yes, if they are included in the contract signed by the debtor.
* The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.
