Stage III of the Recovery Ladder
Straight Contingency
Direct placement for accounts past the letter stage — including the ones others gave up on. Paid only out of recoveries.
What it is
Direct placement, skipping the letters entirely. This is the stage built for the accounts other people have given up on — including the ones already written off your books.
- Accounts place directly into active recovery, with no letter series first.
- The rate is tiered by the age of the account, because older accounts take more work.
- Balances below a defined floor carry the higher rate regardless of age — the work does not shrink with the balance.
- Contingency throughout: the fee comes out of recoveries, so trying costs nothing when an account never pays.
Terms
What it costs, stated plainly.
- What you keep
- You keep 70% (under 1 year) or 50% (over 1 year)
- Fee basis
- 30% under 1 year · 50% over 1 year · balances under $75 at 50%
- Billed at signing
- Nothing
Pending compliance review
Best fit
Aged and cold accounts, write-offs, and any receivable where the relationship is already over — dealership deficiency balances, former-tenant balances, lapsed memberships.
Not this stage
Fresh accounts where the relationship is intact. Those belong in Pre-Collect, where you keep everything the letters bring in.
How it works
Four steps, and you stay in control of every one.
Describe your receivables
How old the accounts are, typical balances, how many, and what you’ve already tried. That’s everything a recommendation needs.
Get a recommendation, not a pitch
You’re pointed to the stage of the ladder that fits your accounts — including “start with letters and keep 100%” when that’s the honest answer.
Agree in writing
A straightforward agreement defines the service, the fee basis, and when work begins. Nothing starts until it’s signed.
Recovery begins
Letters go out, or accounts place directly — and escalation past any stage happens only with notice to you.
Questions creditors ask
Asked before you had to ask.
Our accounts are old. Is it too late to place them?
Aged accounts are what this stage is for — including accounts already written off internally. The rate is tiered by account age, and because the fee comes out of recoveries, an account that never pays costs nothing to have tried.
Do these accounts go through the letter series first?
No. Straight Contingency is direct placement — it skips the letters entirely, which is what makes it the right entry for aged and cold accounts.
How are small balances handled?
Balances below a defined floor carry the higher contingency rate regardless of age, because the work required does not shrink with the balance. The floor and the rates are published on this page.
The rest of the ladder
Not the right stage? These are the others.
Talk to the advisor
Where do your accounts sit on the ladder?
Every engagement starts the same way: describe your receivables — how old, how large, how many, what’s been tried — and get an honest read on how far up the ladder they’d ever need to travel. Often the answer is “not far.”