Ethics Checklist

How to Select an Ethical Collection Partner

A Practical Checklist for Government Agencies

Your constituents expect you to partner with principled, mission-driven organizations. So how can you evaluate potential collection vendors, to ensure they are aligned with your ethical standards? Here are some suggestions, based on our decades of industry experience:

Talk with their current and former clients. Candid conversations with peers about their experience with a vendor can help indicate what to expect from your own partnerships.

Look up their  Better Business Bureau rating. These are independent, unbiased ratings based on consumers’ verified experiences with companies.

Ask about lawsuits they have recently settled or had filed against them. Recognizing that not all suits have merit, it can still be helpful to look at patterns and outcomes.

Ask to see their documented organizational code of conduct, controls, and processes for identifying and managing compliance and ethics risks. They should have systems and teams exclusively dedicated to these oversight activities.

Look into their financial situation. Solvency can be a good indicator of an organization’s overall corporate governance and their ability to perform required services.

Ask for information about their employee training programs. These should be robust, relevant, and regularly refreshed, with stringent requirements for both new hires and tenured employees. You also should see evidence that the vendor performs thorough employee background checks.

Request to see their licenses. They should have documented, current proof of their ability to collect on your specific debt portfolios, including proof of their compliance with all applicable local, state, federal, and industry regulations. Your collection agency vendor should be licensed to operate in all 50 states and U.S. territories.

Consider their philanthropic commitments. Review their website and social media feeds. Ask them to explain their philosophy for giving back to their community. The more you learn, the more you may infer about how they would treat you, your staff, and your constituents.

If they subcontract work to other organizations, look into those companies too. Make sure you are comfortable with all parties that would handle your portfolios and interface with your constituents and that you understand where and how they will perform the work.

For CA residents only - the Pioneer DFPI Debt Collection License number is 10451-99.

The Pioneer Nevada agency license numbers are CAX10034 and FCA10095. The Pioneer Nevada compliance manager certificate number is CM12079.

For NYC residents only – the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs requires us to request and document your preferred language. You may inform us of your language preference by contacting us at 800-836-2442. Also, a translation and description of commonly used debt collection terms is available in multiple languages on the Department’s website, www.nyc.gov/dca.

Pioneer conducts its business in English but also offers limited verbal and written translations and services in Spanish on some accounts/clients. Please note that we cannot guarantee our verbal translation and support services/language access services will always be available in Spanish during business hours, and they may not be offered or available for certain accounts. If not available, we will communicate with you in English.

© 2024 Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc. (NMLS #951914). All rights reserved. Pioneer Credit Recovery and the Pioneer Credit Recovery logos are registered service marks of Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc. Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc. is a subsidiary of Navient Corporation. Navient Corporation and its subsidiaries, including Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc., are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.