Assessment, Auditing and Consulting Services

Using an agency that does not maintain the appropriate state licensing can create unnecessary exposure to your organization (civil and/or administrative action, negative press, etc.). To minimize this risk, most creditors establish internal policies, programs, and procedures to ensure that the agencies that represent them remain licensed and in good standing in all appropriate jurisdictions.

Depending on the scale of your outsourced recovery program, this can become extremely time consuming, and mistakes can prove costly.

Our program provides you with a strategic alternative that is designed to minimize the exposure that you have concerning unintentionally using an agency that is not appropriately licensed while eliminating any cost to your organization.

Our Licensing Portal gives our clients a view into the progress in all three areas.

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How We Work

Cornerstone Support Assessment Services Program

Develop a Licensing Matrix

Developing a consistent licensing matrix that becomes the standard by which to measure statutory compliance is critical to managing a review process designed to mitigate exposure.

Cornerstone Support can assist in developing the initial licensing matrix and monitoring pending legislation and possible regulatory opinions.

Initial Licensing Audit

Cornerstone Support performs an initial audit and prepares an initial compliance report for all partner agencies. The report identifies where a partner agency is currently licensed as well as any gaps that may exist in their statutory compliance.

All licensing information is obtained directly from the appropriate state department (do not rely on copies of licenses). Any gaps identified are confirmed with the partner agency.

Remedy Licensing Deficiencies

Gaps or licensing deficiencies identified in the initial licensing audit are handled by Cornerstone Support through its initial licensing department.

Cornerstone Support will generate and complete all necessary applications, supplements, and questionnaires as well as setup registered agents, resident managers, and remote offices as required. Cornerstone Support will also submit the necessary documents to the appropriate state offices and then follow-up as needed.

Clients will have access to online progress reports and be immediately notified by email when the license has been obtained.

Ongoing Maintenance

Cornerstone Support will independently monitor the licenses held by your partner agencies. All licensing information is obtained directly from the state. We do not rely on unverified information (i.e. copies of a license) provided by a partner agency.

Management Reporting

Secure web interface will be provided for real-time online management reporting that will include:

Consolidated Licensing Summary – Dashboard that provides a consolidated summary of all partner agencies current licensing status.

Vendor Compliance Report – The system allows clients to drill down to a real-time compliance report (license numbers and expiration dates) for all partner agencies.

Gap Reporting – Summary of licensing gaps by partner agency and email alerts identifying important changes to the status of any debt collection license.

Frequently Asked Questions

What strategy should an agency employ to become compliant?

First

The agency should identify the states where they are currently communicating with or anticipate communicating with debtors. The statutes are consistently clear among the respective jurisdictions that communicating with a debtor, whether by phone or mail, without being licensed is a violation of the law. As such, it is imperative to obtain and maintain the appropriate debt collection licensing and registrations in all states where debtors will be contacted.

Second

The agency should identify what types of credit grantors they are currently representing and, more importantly, what types of credit grantors they are working hard to attract. The credit grantors fully understand the debt collection licensing requirements and the related exposure that exists for them by forwarding accounts to agencies that are not appropriately licensed or registered.

What is covered in the ongoing maintenance provided by Cornerstone Support.

Our renewal service includes tracking renewal and annual report deadlines, preparing renewal and annual report applications, submitting completed renewal and annual report applications to the appropriate state department, and following up on the status of any submitted renewal and annual report applications.

Can Cornerstone Support conduct an independent review of my current licensing?

Absolutely! Engage Cornerstone Support on a scheduled basis to perform an independent review of your current licensing situation.

In return, you will receive a regular Compliance Report for all contracted agencies that identifies where an agency is currently licensed and more importantly any gaps that may exist. An exception report that summarizes any compliance gaps by contracted agency can also be provided.