Family Collections and Services Manager Fast Start Hat


DATE: 01/16/2019; Edited 06/30/2021

NAME OF POSITION: Family Collections Manager

PERSON’S SENIOR: Director of Payments and Collections 

PERSON’S NAME: Patrick Forney 

PURPOSE (The reason why the position exists):  To ensure all families are current and paying their full monthly bill on time. To handle any past due or delinquent families so that they are gotten current and paying on time or as a last resort turn them over to terminate the contract with the family and get them out of the home.

VIEWPOINT (The viewpoint that an employee should have, to be successful at the job):

The survival of our company and thus our ability to help families depends on collecting money from families and ensuring it gets to the investors. The investors who buy homes for families to live in do so with the intention that they will receive payments each month and any month that a family does not pay is a major problem to be handled immediately. 

We do want to help families stay in their homes, so payment plans are a key function in getting them caught up without putting too much strain on the family’s finances if they are unable to pay it all at once. In talking to families, it is very important for them to feel that you are on their side and a friend that will be understanding to their life situations and will help them get caught up by working out solutions that are satisfactory to all parties. They can not feel like you are a robotic collections person who doesn’t listen to them or work with them because they will then avoid all future communication from you. 

Families will have various excuses as to why their payments are late and it is your job to spot what situations are valid and qualify for a courtesy extension period and what situations you will need to help them work around to get the payment in. Families need to understand that their home payment is vital because that’s what keeps a roof over their head and a place to sleep every night. Other than food this should be the most important bill to pay. We are giving these families a rare opportunity to own their own home without requiring all the various qualifications that banks do.

The ultimate intention is to help families who are able people and are motivated to improve their quality of life and their home. We are not a charity organization and do not give homes to people who evidently cannot pay the monthly payment and who cannot handle the needed repairs of the home. 

Evicting the families is a last resort action and only to be done after they have received 3 past due notices and have made no concrete (in the form of acceptable payment) attempt to get caught up or stick to their payment plan.

COMPUTER SKILLS REQUIRED: Knowledge of QuickBooks, Microsoft Office and general PC computer knowledge. Able to create and correct formulas in Microsoft Office, specially Excel documents. Can create and operate Google Docs as well as having experience with Google Drive or OneDrive. 

SKILLS REQUIRED: Good math and duplications skills as well as being detail oriented specifically regarding numbers and correctly importing them into software or excel documents. Is particular about completing actions that have been started. Can keep track of dates and can complete tasks before their due date.

Good communication skills with families and getting families to talk and be agreeable to handlings. Can come up with workable solutions to get families caught and can think outside the box to get past-due balances handled. 

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POSITION:

  • To oversee the collections of all families  

  • To ensure any past due families are caught up

  • To create payment plans as needed and make sure families stick to them and make the payments. 

  • To send statements and late due notices to families

WEEKLY ACTIONS:

  1. At the beginning of the week get a Delinquency Report 


  1. Separate the families into sections


  1. Still in the grace period (where the end of the grace period does not fall in the current week)

  2. Still in the grace period (where the end of the grace period will be in the current week)

  3. Past due by 30 days or less

  4. Past due by 31-60 days

  5. Past due by 61-90 days (This will be handled by the Evictions section with a few exceptions for families that have older Land Contracts)  

  6. Past due by more than 90 days (This will be handled by the Evictions section)  


  1. Send “Friendly Reminder” to families in group (a) that they have # of days until their grace period expires and that they are already past their contract due date.


  1. Send “Friendly Reminder” to families in group (b) that they have # of days until their grace period expires and if their payment is not in by the ____ a late fee will be added to their bill. 


  1. Send “Past -Due” individual texts to (c) with the total amount owed using their name and letting them know a late fee has been added and will continue to accumulate. 


  1. Send “Past -Due” individual texts to group (d) letting them know that if they do not make a payment by the designated due date their account will move to the eviction department. 


  1. As well as sending texts to groups (c) (d) and calling the families and talking to them to see what their solution is. If they do not answer, leave a message and send emails with a similar message and include their statements with the breakdowns. 


  1. Concurrent with the above text steps, send mailed out past due notices and warnings. 


  1. At the end of the week calculate from your Delinquency Sheet how many families are still delinquent and verify this amount with your senior.  


  1. Ensure all your stats are logged by 2:30pm on Friday, and submit an ARF for your bonus (as per your compensation agreement) with the delinquency and family’s current data. 




DAILY ACTIONS AND QUANTITIES or EXPECTATIONS:

  1. Check emails and handle anything that comes up

  2. Check you text message software and handle any communication

  3. Check your phone voicemail for any missed calls and handled them appropriately

  4. Check with the EasyHomes cashier for any payments that have come in and note them on your delinquency sheet

  5. Begin your weekly texts, calls, emails, notices, etc.

  6. Fill out form for any over the phone payments and turn it into the cashier. Put the family on hold while the EasyHomes cashier processes the payment then let the family know of it went through. 


STATISTICS: 

  • (MAIN STAT) Number of Families Who Make Full Payments: # of families who make full payments within that week.  


  • EasyHomes Collections Income: The amount of money paid by and collected from families that week. 


  • Family Collections Contacts: # of calls answered by a person, emails responded to, and texts and letters received from families. 


VALUABLE FINAL PRODUCT: 

FAMILIES CURRENT ON THEIR PAYMENTS AND PAYING FULL PAYMENTS EARLY OR ONTIME EACH MONTH.



Fast Start Hat written by:


Angelica Gomez (with contributions from AnneMarie)

SVP Ops E&H Inc.



Family Collections and Services Manager Fast Start Hat - Glossary of terms:

  • Trusts: In law a trust is an entity where property is held by one party for the benefit of another party. A trust is created by the owner, "trustor" or "grantor" who transfers property to a trustee. The trustee holds that property for the trust's beneficiaries. A trust is a legal arrangement through which one person (or an institution, such as a bank or law firm), called a "trustee," holds legal title to property for another person, called a "beneficiary."

  • Land Trust: A land trust is a legal agreement in which a property owner transfers the title to a property to a trustee. The property owner is typically the beneficiary and directs the trustee in all matters relating to the management of the property, as outlined in the trust agreement or deed.

  • EOI: Evidence of Insurance is a document that gives an overview of what a property is insured for including generally what it covers and what the deductible is. This is provided by the insurance company used. 

  • Deductible: (In an insurance policy) a specified amount of money that the insured must pay before an insurance company will pay a claim.

  • Servicing Agreement: An agreement signed between the trust beneficiary and E&H which allows us to collect money from families and disburse the money as directed by the servicing agreement. 

  • Loan: A thing that is borrowed, especially a sum of money that is expected to be paid back with interest.

  • Land Contract: A land contract is a form of seller financing. It is similar to a mortgage, but rather than borrowing money from a lender or bank to buy real estate, the buyer makes payments to the real estate owner, or seller, until the purchase price is paid in full.

  • ACH: ACH payments are electronic payments that are created when the customer gives an originating institution, corporation, or other customer (originator) authorization to debit directly from the customer's checking or saving account for the purpose of bill payment.

  • Principal: Principal refers to the original sum of money borrowed in a loan or put into an investment.

  • Interest: A fee that is charged by a lender to a borrower for the right to use the borrowed funds. The interest charge typically is expressed as an annual percentage rate.

  • Foreclosure: the action of taking possession of a mortgaged property when the mortgagor fails to keep up their mortgage payments.

  • Evictions: to expel (a person, especially a tenant) from land, a building, etc., by legal process, as for nonpayment of rent.

  • Statements: A document setting out items of debit and credit between a bank or other organization and a customer.

  • Investor Reports: These are reports that are sent to all investors by the 20th of the following month and has all the marketing, collections, fees and sales of the previous month. For example, the report for June 2018 is due July 20th, 2018 as per the marketing or servicing agreement.