MBM Collections

I am responding to the complaint received by your office and referenced as ID No.12157072 in which Taxpayer *** objected to the additional charges ona 2012 delinquent Municipal Service Fee (garbage collection fees). The following willoutline the history of the account, the charges from the prior delinquent tax collector,***, Ltd. (“***) and the charges from MBM Collections, LLC(“MBM”).History of AccountOur office is the Delinquent Tax and Municipal Service Fee Collector for WilkinsburgBorough. The Taxpayer’s account was turned over to MBM in August of 2014 whenMBM took over delinquent collection responsibilities from the prior delinquent taxcollector ***. At that time, Taxpayer owed delinquent Municipal Service Fees(“MSF”) for years 2012 and 2013. In particular, because the 2012 municipal service feewere not paid, ***, as permitted by law, filed a lien against the taxpayer’s propertyat 1305 Hill Avenue in Wilkinsburg Borough with the Allegheny County Department ofCourt Records on October 10, 2013 at Docket No. *** Since the time theaccount was turned over to MBM, delinquent municipal service fees for tax years 2014,2015, and 2016 have also been turned over as delinquent and unpaid.Original ChargesIn 2012, Wilkinsburg Borough charged property owners $150.00 per year for thecollection of garbage. A bill was issued for this service and if not paid in a timelyfashion, a penalty, established by ordinance, was applied to the outstanding balance.The penalty was, and remains, at five (5%) p***nt. If this total amount was not paid byDecember 31, 2012, the account and particular year at issue was turned over to ***for further collection efforts.

*** ChargesWhile MBM cannot speak directly to the actions of *** or the reasonableness of thefees charged, we can speak as to how the charges were included on the account andyear at issue. These amounts were all provided for either by ordinance/statute, in thecase of penalty and interest, or per resolution adopted by Wilkinsburg Borough when itappointed *** its delinquent collector and established its Fee ScheduleThe total turned over, including face and penalty, was $157.50. *** was thenrequired to prepare and mail legal notices pursuant to Pennsylvania statute (53 P.S. §7106). The collection fee for this notice, as established by the *** Fee Schedule,was $35.00. Taxpayer failed or refused to respond to this notice and *** was thenrequired to prepare and sent a first demand letter. The *** attorney fee for thisaction, as established by the *** Fee Schedule, was $150.00. Taxpayer failed orrefused to respond to the demand letter and *** was required to prepare and sent asecond demand letter and also filed a lien against Taxpayer’s property. The ***attorney fee for this action, as established by the *** Fee Schedule, was $150.00.Again, Taxpayer failed or refused to respond and *** filed a Writ of Scire Faciaswhich is the first step in a sheriff sale action. The *** attorney fee for this action, asestablished by the *** Fee Schedule, was $150.00.In addition to these attorney fees, *** incurred court filing costs relating to the filingof the Writ of Scire Facias and a sheriff fee for personal service of the Writ of ScireFacias on Taxpayer. These court costs totaled $200.50. Also, once the lien was filed,interest began to accrue, as permitted by statute. The interest due was $12.81. Thetotal amount due per *** at the time the account was turned over to MBM was$864.81.MBM ChargesWhen MBM assumed delinquent collection efforts for Wilkinsburg Borough, the FeeSchedule was revised. All administrative charges up to the point of being required toinitiate legal action by way of a sheriff sale action were encapsulated in a ten (10%)p***nt servicing charge assessed against the municipal service fee, associated penaltyand interest accruing monthly, as permitted by statute. Thus, as of the date Taxpayerpaid the account in full, the total amount charged by MBM was $17.03 for year 2012.MBM has charged the 10% servicing fee on all years of Taxpayer’s delinquency. Sincereceipt of the account, MBM has sent out at least 14 letters and has called and met withthe Taxpayer on at least 6 occasions.Total Amount DueMunicipal service Fee Borough Charge $150.00Penalty Borough Charge $ 7.50Legal Notice *** Charge $ 35.00First Demand Letter *** Charge $150.00Second Demand Letter/Lien *** Charge $150.00Writ of Scire Facias *** Charge $150.00Filing/Services Costs *** Charge $200.50Interest Statutory Charge $ 12.81Administrative servicing fee MBM Charge $ 17.03TOTAL $881.84DiscussionThe vast majority of the charges were incurred by *** when acting as theDelinquent Tax Collector and can be accounted for per ordinance/statute or the FeeSchedule. Once Wilkinsburg Borough ended its contract with ***, it was obligatedto seek payment, via its continued collection efforts, for those attorney fees and courtcosts that *** paid out-of-pocket and for which *** was entitled toreimbursement. Although not MBM charges, efforts to collect on the attorney fees andcourt costs became the responsibility of MBM. As stated above, all amounts chargedare provided for by ordinance/statute and by the *** Fee Schedule and MBM FeeSchedule adopted by Wilkinsburg Borough. These charges were fair and reasonableand could have been avoided if payment had been made.Taxpayer’s assertions that MBM’s practices, and ***’s for that matter, are deceitfulare simply without merit. Significant time and energy has been expended by both*** and MBM and over four years have lapsed from when the original MSF bill wasdue to when payment was finally made.Taxpayer’s payment of the 2012 delinquency, including all of the associated chargesonly appears to have come about as a result of Taxpayer applying for a loan and thelender’s requirement that the 2012 lien be satisfied, which it has been as of the time ofthis letter. At any time, including prior to incurring the additional charges, Taxpayer waspermitted to make payment on the delinquency. Both *** and MBM offer paymentplans and hardship payment plans to assist those individuals in making payments ontheir delinquencies. It does not appear that Taxpayer ever availed himself of thoseprograms in an effort to save on collection charges and to pay on the delinquency.MBM is always willing to work with taxpayers to the extent permitted by law and withinthe guidelines and requirements established by our clients. In this instance, over fouryears of non-payment resulted in reasonable, Borough-established additional chargesthe Borough was required to collect.Should you have any questions or if I can provide additional information or clarification,please do not hesitate to contact me.Very truly yours,Jennifer L. C