Nelson, Cooper & Ortiz, LLC

our client, [redacted] forwarded this debtor account to us in error and Nelson, Cooper & Ortiz, LLC was unaware that the debt had been paid prior to sending a collection letter An initial collection letter was sent with no response and a follow up letter was sent days later Nelson, Cooper & Ortiz has CANCELLED this account and marked it "PAID DIRECTLY TO CLIENT PRIOR TO PLACEMENT" within our system.We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused this Consumer [redacted]

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint On July 17, 2015, the company made the following commitment to me: "We will pay cost of filing suit if necessary but prior to that we will pay $for an armed Private Investigator to visit their officeThese costs will be deducted from any monies collected prior to sending you payment."If that has occurred, I have not been apprised, nor have I been told how information acquired by that method would be used in order to pursue the debtor Regards,

Mrs [redacted] who filed complaint, was contacted the day we received this complaint, by phone, by Mr [redacted] director of collections for N***, Cooper & Ortiz, who apologized and MrsDuran fully accepted responsibility for the debt owed to our client, John Moore Plumbing, and is making plans to pay them directly The collector who was previously assigned to this case was reprimanded and issue has been resolved.Dale N***SrManaging Partner713-893-

With all due respect to *** *** views on this matter,
he is factually incorrect in a couple key areasFirst, neither I nor the
commercial collection attorney whom we regularly use on collection litigation
matters is aware of any lien rights which *** *** could have
pursued.
The services for which *** *** is seeking payment consist of conducting a
seminar/training. Neither statutory nor constitutional liens would be
available. There are provisions for both material and construction liens
which are available when services are provided in connection with improvement
of real property. However, this isn't applicable here. There is no
real property against which to place a lien and the services in question were
not performed in connection with the improvement of property. This is a
simple non-payment/breach of contract matter. As such, no lien can be
placed against the assets of the debtor until a court judgment is
obtained. *** *** never had the option of encumbering the debtor
company with a lien until he obtained a court judgment
Apart from the fact that *** *** couldn't file a proper
lien in the first place, a lien is a very specific legal remedy. While we
sometimes arrange to have liens filed on our clients' behalf where it is
appropriate, this is certainly not a part of the commercial collection
process. In addition to the costs and legal expertise necessary to file a
lien, an improperly filed lien can expose our client to some serious civil
liability. Once again, it is not a part of routine commercial debt
collection to automatically place liens against the debtor. If this is
done, it is only done after rather extensive consultation with the client and
usually after a direct information-gathering conversation between the client
and an attorney. The client is normally charged significantly for this
service over and above the debt collection contingency fee.
However, in this case we didn't even bring that matter up with *** ***
because it wasn't appropriate in his case
Second, Mr*** says the statute of limitations on his
claim has 'run its course'. He couldn't be more wrong. The statue
of limitations in Texas for most debts/breach of contract matters is four
years. There are some ancillary claims which must be brought within two
years. In this case, the debt was incurred less than six months
ago. The statute of limitations in this matter has not run its course and
won't run for another three and a half years. Mr*** is still
completely free to bring a lawsuit in this matter. If he obtains a
judgment, he can then file a judgment lien against the debtor. In our
experience, it takes a minimum of six months (to times longer if the amount
is larger and you cannot use the Justice Court), to file a lawsuit and obtain a
judgment. We understand that Mr*** is in a hurry to collect his
money, but he certainly still has plenty of time to file a lawsuit should he
choose to do so
Third, with regard to Mr***'s dissatisfaction in
general, I believe he fundamentally misunderstands the nature of our
client/collector relationship. To date he hasn't paid us a cent.
While we appreciate each and every one of Mr***'s suggestions about how
we might 'elicit a favorable response by the debtor', we are in the professional
debt collection business. We do this for a living. In addition, we
only get paid if we recover money for our clients. So we're in the
business of collecting money for our clients in the quickest, most efficient
manner possible while staying within the bounds of the law. A key
component of us handling matters such as this on a contingency is that we only
charge the client and only get paid if we get results. That is, absent
results, the client has paid us nothing. Inherent in this relationship is
that when we partner with a collection client, we retain the right to make
strategic decisions about how to collect the debt based on our experience with
such matters. This allows us to control our costs and the amount of time
and energy we devote to a particular collection. This is absolutely
critical because in our industry you can spend hundreds of hours and thousands
of dollars attempting to collect a debt and end up recovering nothing.
Because we're risking our time and money, we retain the right to direct exactly
how the collection process is followed in a particular case.
Incidentally, most professionals insist on just this sort of professional
autonomy for this and another critical reason; the client usually lacks the
experience and knowledge necessary to direct the professional in how to do his
or her job
The simple fact is that many commercial debts are not
collectable. In addition, some of the ones that are theoretically
collectable are not functionally collectible for economic reasons; ie
collecting them will cost more than they are worth. This is the reason
that most bad debt is sold at a steep discount. Any number of factors
contribute to whether a particular debt is collectable, including but not
limited to the economic conditions and assets of the debtor, the nature of the
debt, the amount of the debt, the nature of the underlying transaction, the age
of the debt, and the nature of the debtor. In addition, how we collect a
debt is sometimes a very nuanced matter; too aggressive an approach can
sometimes be as bad or worse than not aggressive enough. To be absolutely
clear, even if we do EVERYTHING PERFECTLY, a particular debt may still be
uncollectable. In addition, exactly how we proceed to collect a debt is
an economic/business decision. When we partner with a client, we do
invite and accept their input on how we go about collection; but only to a
degree. If Mr*** had agreed to pay us on a simple hourly basis,
then he would have the right to dictate exactly how we do our job.
However, as we are operating on a contingency basis, we reserve that right to
ourselves. That being said, we have every incentive in the world to do
everything we reasonably and legally can to collect a debt as quickly and
efficiently as possible; otherwise we don't get paid. However the key
here is that we, the professionals, retain the right to decide exactly how to
go about the collection process
Finally, while we appreciate Mr***'s desired
settlement, what he asks for is simply impossible. Whether the debtor
declares bankruptcy is simply beyond our control. In addition, while we
can attempt to persuade a debtor to pay, whether a particular debtor actually
pays depends at least as much on that individual debtor's circumstances as it
does on the effectiveness of our actions. When we initially accept a
matter for collection, neither we nor our client know key details which can
dramatically affect our chances of success. This is again why we accept
collection matters on a contingency basis; if we cannot collect, we don't
charge our client and the client owes us nothing. The fact that Mr
***'s 'desired settlement' is 100% collection immediately and before the
debtor files bankruptcy demonstrates that he understands little or nothing of
the realities of commercial collections
While I strenuously disagree with Mr***'s assessment
of our performance and suggest that he isn't even really qualified to assess
our performance, in the end he has lost no substantive rights relating to his
claim. We invite Mr*** to take this collection matter elsewhere
and will be glad to cancel his contract. As he has paid us nothing, there
are no funds to be refunded to him. While we would like to collect 100%
of the amounts owed to each and every one of our clients, that's simply not the
business we are in. Again, even if we do EVERYTHING PERFECTLY, a
particular debt may still be uncollectable
We sympathize with Mr***
in that he hasn't been paid for the work he performed. However, neither
we nor any other debt collector can guarantee a particular result. If Mr,
*** chose to interpret 'we'll get you paid' as a guarantee of a particular
result then we apologize for the confusion. We do our best to ensure that
all of our clients 'get paid'.Dale N***

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.

Once again, I would reiterate that the 'resolution' Mr. [redacted] requires is simply impossible for us or any other debt collector.  The resolution we propose is simply that Mr. [redacted] take his business elsewhere.  We will gladly release him from any legal obligations he may have to us.   He has paid us nothing and wants more, he has lost nothing by virtue of having retained our services.  He remains 100% able to pursue this matter through any other avenue he chooses.Sometimes circumstances make it impossible to satisfy a particular customer, regardless of circumstances, and sometimes a particular customer is simply impossible to satisfy.  We cannot and never have guaranteed that we could recover anything for a particular client.  Our clients pay us to apply our expertise towards significantly increasing their chances of recovery.  Neither we nor any other debt collector could guarantee Mr. [redacted]'s 'desired settlement' of 100% collection immediately and before the debtor files bankruptcy.  Debt collection simply doesn't work that way.  Debt collectors simply do not have control over many of the factors which significantly affect the chances of success.It is obvious that Mr. [redacted] is unhappy with the service he has received.  The solution he proposes is fundamentally unreasonable.  His 'desired settlement' goes far beyond the scope of what we do in our original agreement ie placement form.  In essence, he demands that we act as an insurer and that we guarantee he will be able to recover on a bad debt.  We never agreed to do this and it's something we simply cannot do.  If Mr. [redacted] desires such a guarantee, he should sell this debt to a third party; there are companies that buy debts like this.  Unfortunately, these companies pay anywhere between 2% and 15% of the face amount of the debt because they recognize the risks inherent in trying to collect such a debt.Collecting a debt isn't like building a house.  There is no clearly defined 'start' or 'finish'.  Also, the debtor is as invested in NOT paying the debt as the creditor is in receiving payment.  To equate 'finishing' the job with 100% collection demonstrates a fundamental inability to understand this.  Some debts are easy to collect and you get 100% recovery with fairly minimal work.  Other debts can require a mountain of work and even if you do everything perfectly, you may recover nothing.Fortunately, the nature of our contractual agreement (ie placement form) is such that it provides Mr. [redacted] with a quick and easy solution.  We will release him from our agreement and he can take his business elsewhere.  Since he's lost nothing; neither cash out of pocket nor the opportunity to recover from the debtor, he's owed nothing.  We do our best to satisfy our customers.  While we believe we provided Mr. [redacted] with reasonable service, we are more than willing to apologize for any delay or disappointment Mr. [redacted] may have suffered.  Since we sincerely disagree here, lets agree to disagree, shake hands and go our separate ways.  Since we never received any money from Mr. [redacted] and he has suffered no harm, he's owed nothing.  We wish Mr. [redacted] the best of luck in recovering his money and would like to consider this matter closed.Dale N[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  
On July 17, 2015, the company made the following commitment to me: "We will pay cost of filing suit if necessary but prior to that we will
pay $300 for an armed Private Investigator to visit their office. These
costs will be deducted from any monies collected prior to sending you
payment."If that has occurred, I have not been apprised, nor have I been told how information acquired by that method would be used in order to pursue the debtor.
Regards,

our client, [redacted] forwarded this debtor account to us in error and Nelson, Cooper & Ortiz, LLC was unaware that the debt had been paid prior to sending a collection letter.  An initial collection letter was sent with no response and a follow up letter was sent 10 days later....

Nelson, Cooper & Ortiz has CANCELLED this account and marked it "PAID DIRECTLY TO CLIENT PRIOR TO PLACEMENT" within our system.We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused this Consumer. [redacted]

Mrs. [redacted] who filed complaint, was contacted the day we received this complaint, by phone, by Mr. [redacted] director of collections for N[redacted], Cooper & Ortiz, who apologized and Mrs. Duran fully accepted responsibility for the debt owed to our client, John Moore Plumbing, and is making...

plans to pay them directly.  The collector who was previously assigned to this case was reprimanded and issue has been resolved.Dale N[redacted]Sr. Managing Partner713-893-3235