Asset Buying Resources

Collector, Nov 2007 by Rippentrop, Gary D

ACA International's Asset Buyers Division provides vital education and guidance

The rise in popularity of asset buying in the credit and collection industry is still a relatively new phenomenon. In the mid-1990s, more creditors began viewing asset buying as another way to handle their past-due accounts. The ACA Board of Directors recognized the opportunities asset buying held for association members and created the Asset Buyers Program. Since that time, asset buying has continued to take shape, and the ACA Board acted again in 2005, turning the Asset Buyers Program into the Asset Buyers Division (ABD). This change gave asset buyer members representation on the board and opened membership to players in the asset buying market who do not fit into ACAs other divisions.

Throughout its evolution, ABD has acted as the source of information for asset buying professionals, providing articles, conferences and educational materials to help inform and guide members in this evolving market.

ACA's annual Fall Forum conference, being held Nov. 12-14 in Memphis, Tenn., includes an asset buyers track. This event will bring together buyers and sellers, provide education on hot topics and help potential buyers and sellers evaluate whether asset buying fits into their mix of professional services.

Other ABD resources include:

* The Due Diligence Guidelines booklet, which provides more than 90 questions and 13 topics to help asset buyers make prudent purchasing decisions.

* Buying Receivables: A Portfolio Purchasing Primer, the premier book on asset buying, which covers all aspects of purchasing debt from the initial financing to the due diligence process.

* A Guide for Understanding Purchase and Sale Agreements, which examines key contract issues to help asset buyers better understand the documents that are a fundamental part of the asset transactions. The guide also includes sample agreements.

* ACA International's Guide to 1099-CReporting, a substantial explanation and analysis to help credit and collection professionals comply with the Internal Revenue Code and regulations when reporting discharges of indebtedness to the IRS.

Buying and selling opportunities and practices are a big focus for those involved in asset buying, but, ultimately, asset buying leads to collection efforts. Just like contingency collections, at some point a collector places a call to the consumer to collect the debt. Knowing this, the ACA Board again recognized the role of asset buying in the industry when it passed the enhanced ACA Code of Ethics at its most recent annual meeting in July.

The code, along with ACAs Healthcare Collection, Servicing and Debt Purchasing Practices Statement of Principles and Guidelines, helps ensure ACA members from all divisions maintain strict legal and ethical practices and standards.

Whether you are currently involved in asset buying or are simply exploring the opportunities, I encourage you to read the three feature articles, beginning on page 20 of this month's Collector. I also urge you to visit ACA Online at http://www.acainternational.org to learn more about ABD, ACAs asset buying resources and all of your ACA member benefits.

By Gary D. Rippentrop, CAE

Gary D. Rippentrop, CAE, is ACA International's CEO. He can be reached at rippentrop@acainternational.org.