As a business owner am I allowed to stamp Past Due on the outside of a past due invoice to a customer?
2007-01-24 01:31:02 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Other - Business & Finance
The The Fair Debt and Collections Practices applies to debt collection agencies I do not see that it applies to the original business/creditor
2007-01-24 01:59:24 · update #1
I'm surprised at some of the very immature answers. Maybe these people are just answering everything to get points.
Is the atmosphere today one of who cares if I pay my bills - screw the little business owners? No moral responsibility anmore? And if you take actions to get me to pay then your a bad guy - how dare you.
If I have a customer who does not pay their bill and is past due then if they are embarrassed about me stamping the envelope and leave, more power to them.
2007-01-29 05:49:18 · update #2
Yes you can there is no law that states you cant. It does grab that persons attention and will give them the idea that they need to pay as soon as they see that "past due" . i personally think its a good idea
2007-01-24 01:40:20 · answer #1 · answered by chkn_fur 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is a law in the The Fair Debt and Collections Practices Act that is called "third party disclosure" which prohibits you from disclosing any information (including the fact that the bill is past due) to anyone other than the debtor, their legal spouse, or a co-signer on the loan (also considered a debtor). If you decide to stamp that on the envelope, you could be be sued, and in my personal opinion, it's not really worth it as someone who is that far past due will probably just pitch it anyway unfortunately. Good luck. I know it's frustrating.
2007-01-24 01:53:22 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It may not be the wisest thing to do. In case the original bill was not delivered or there was an honest mistake on the part of the customer it could cause them embarrassment and lose you a good customer. I would keep that stamp to the inside of the envelope. The mail person will not care one way or the other.
2007-01-24 01:38:09 · answer #3 · answered by JAN 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Past Due Stamp
2016-10-07 06:53:54 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I suppose you could, but as a good business person, you should consider something like "Urgent" or "Important" on the outside.
Save the Past Due stamp for the contents of the envelope.
A follow-up phone call to the customer is a good idea too.
2007-01-24 01:39:36 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I doubt that it will be effective. Worse, it might be discarded as junk mail since some advertising postal mail contains various phrases to get our attention and believe that the contents are worthy of our time to open and read.
Either leave the envelope alone or turn over the debt to a collection agency. As a business owner, what penalty do you assess and collect for late payments?
2007-01-24 01:38:25 · answer #6 · answered by Thomas K 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check with the postal service to be sure. If you stamp past due, cause them embarrassment, and it turns out the account is not past due (for whatever reason), you hold yourself open to defamation of character.
Personally, I wouldn't do it...the customer knows its past due and I'm sure it's on the statement.
2007-01-24 01:39:58 · answer #7 · answered by Enchanted 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That could cause embarassment to the customer - that would not be a good business move. Are you allowed to? Probably not a law against it.
2007-01-24 01:36:45 · answer #8 · answered by ra63 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's your business, you can pretty much do what you want. If you consider the bill past due then to you it is. By stamping it ''Past Due'' you have informed your customer of that fact.
2007-01-24 01:36:53 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yes. I have seen envelopes like that. Nothing wrong with it. Maybe if they get enough of them they will get embarrassed enough to pay it so the mail carrier doesn't think they are a deadbeat.
2007-01-24 01:37:03 · answer #10 · answered by Ryan's mom 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋