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The government is doing a lot to stimulate the economy right now. Some of these drastic measures are both, in favor and against small businesses. It's important to keep up with the current events and decisions being made by the government and how they can affect your business long term. We have to keep in mind that while it is important for the government to stabilize the economy, there is also a political agenda at the same time. While the government is spending trillions of dollars to create jobs and help businesses, they are also making it more difficult for not only larger businesses but also small businesses to function in the United States. There are some other measures that may help small businesses in a big way; however, there is a down side.
The FCC is currently reviewing its Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and hopes to have revisions made that will impact the ability of any business to collect money owed from consumers. Although this may not be their direct intention, when all is considered, it's the reality. This is the political aspect. They argue that in these trying times that consumers will be taken advantage of and harassed by creditors to pay bills they are not able to afford due to the falling economy. The upside, the FCC is also considering the move to make the FDCPA apply to businesses as well. This is surly a case of the right hand not talking to the left hand. While the Obama Administration is doing everything in its ability to stimulate the economy, there are other government agencies who are putting everything in harms way. Keep in mind, that although this may sound like a great idea, the FDCPA only allows for talking to the debtor. If a company assigns this authorization to their Accounts Payable clerk, who in turns leaves the company, there is no one to contact regarding the balance due. This will cause it to go further past due and cost more to collect it while going through the steps of getting a new authorization to contact. This can be especially taxing when collecting from larger corporations who may have a different contact for each business unit. This in turn can put companies at risk of fines for violation of the FDCPA, which can put a small business under.
What would this mean for businesses? If you grant credit, it will be harder and more costly to comply with every law to collect balances rightfully owed to you. In return, this would make it more difficult for businesses to pay their own expenses. Although you would have the same protection, it would bring a lot of companies to their knees and creditors to discontinue further granting of credit. This would put the economy right back into a recession, which we have not yet even began to recover from.
We need to stop letting the government play politics and drag this country further to the ground by allowing debtors to be the victim. Our country will only survive by the businesses that make it what it is. Without those businesses, the consumers can't get what they need or even want. The cost of goods will go much higher than what they already seem to be and on one will have the money to pay for the goods and services that are available because no one will be working. So do they want to be the victim, or do they want to be the survivor?
William J. Kesman
Credit Services Plus, Inc.
5005 Rockside Road, Suite 600
Independence, OH 44131
(216) 573-3770 Main
wkesman@creditservicesplus.com
www.creditservicesplus.com