Most people in the collection business dread Christmas time. The reason for this is because people believe that collecting money during the holidays is not only extremely difficult, but that it is taboo. How can we get on the telephone and ask for money when there is Christmas cheer everywhere? How can we levy on the bank account that is going to be used to fund the children's Christmas gifts ...

In the first few weeks of 1994 things actually appeared to be picking up for the credit industry. We were receiving telephone calls from debtors stating that they wanted to enter into payment plans to pay off their debts. Many of our collection matters that did not have any life to them, all of the sudden seemed to start breathing again. Then, the earthquake. Once the earthquake hit, most of ...