Debt Recovery: Finding a Partner to Fit Your Needs

The time may come when you’ll need to collect resident-owned balances and decrease bad debt. And, if it does, you’ll need a partner you can trust to help you recover lost rent while managing your reputation. We’ve designed a comprehensive guide to help you evaluate recovery solutions for Multifamily Housing. So, when you need to find the right debt recovery partner, you’ll know exactly what to look for.

Ensure your reputation remains intact

It’s never been more important to have the right debt recovery program, so it’s important to identify a partner that understands your unique challenges. That’s why you need a debt recovery partner who’s focused on delivering high recovery rates without risking your reputation.

Choose a partner that specializes in Multifamily Housing

A single-source provider that has expertise in Multifamily Housing can offer you targeted knowledge and expertise to maximize your debt recovery efforts. Plus, working with a dedicated provider reduces risk that could arise when you partner with several smaller providers.

Keep compliance and monitoring guidelines top of mind

The Multifamily Housing industry is regulated by complex federal, state, city, and municipal housing-related entities. And, since the industry is constantly evolving, it’s crucial to make debt recovery compliance a top priority. When you have debt specialists who work exclusively in Multifamily Housing, you can trust that their legal and compliance expertise can protect you against risk and litigation. Marketplaces or smaller agencies may not have the same extensive industry knowledge.

Find a company with the right size and scale

You need a partner that can manage your debt recovery effectively and achieve a high recovery rate—without leaving you vulnerable to litigation or PR headaches.

Smaller-scale companies:

• May lack the ability to manage your accounts quickly
• Could take a one-size-fits-all approach

Collections marketplaces or attorney groups:

• Bring increased risk to your reputation
• Not as experienced with industry compliance standards

Maintain transparency throughout the recovery process

When you outsource resident debt recovery, you should always continue monitoring your listed accounts. The recovery partner you work with needs to provide a transparent, online solution. That way, you have an easy way to track recovery rates and your former residents have convenient and flexible repayment options.

Save on costs with contingency collections and added benefits

Choosing a recovery provider that only gets paid when you do is always a smart decision. This is called “contingency debt collection,” where fees are based on an agreed upon percentage of the amount collected. This type of service allows you to keep your team focused on increasing occupancy instead of spending time negotiating payments.

It’s also important to find a recovery partner that offers additional, value-added services. This can help you:

• Increase efficiency and further reduce operating costs
• Streamline your collections-related administrative tasks
• Free up your team so they can focus on increasing occupancy

Offer a resident-friendly experience

It’s vital to protect your reputation while recovering debt. Small agencies usually don’t have the scale and expertise to tailor their approach to each consumer. And attorney groups tend to collect on former residents too early in the process. A large-scale recovery service that deals exclusively with Multifamily Housing is your best option. This type of company will provide a more resident-friendly experience — so you can enjoy better resolution rates and maintain a solid reputation.

Discover what Assurant has to offer

Assurant’s full-service debt recovery is the largest single-source provider with over 30 years of collections expertise exclusively in Multifamily Housing. Plus, our solutions are built specifically to simplify your debt recovery and reduce your risk. Using AI and machine learning, we streamline recovery from account placement through balance resolution.