Written agreement to be specific, intelligible and unambiguous; money collected to be credited first to principal; partial collection of claim prohibited; accounting of money collected on behalf of customer.
1. The terms and conditions of any written agreement between a collection agency and a customer must be specific, intelligible and unambiguous. In the absence of a written agreement, unless the conduct of the parties indicates a different mutual understanding, the understanding of the customer concerning the terms of the agreement must govern in any dispute between the customer and the collection agency.
2. Unless a written agreement between the parties otherwise provides, any money collected on a claim, after court costs have been recovered, must first be credited to the principal amount of the claim. Any interest charged and collected on the claim must be allocated pursuant to the agreement between the customer and the collection agency.
3. Except with the consent of its customer, a collection agency shall not accept less than the full amount of a claim in settlement of an assigned claim.
4. A collection agency shall, at the time it remits to the customer the money it collected on behalf of the customer, give each customer an accounting in writing of the money it collected on behalf of the customer in connection with a claim.
Last modified: February 27, 2006