1.   Save for the metal detector and federal guards in the lobby, the place could easily pass for a third-rate collection agency.

2.   A couple of months later the credit card company, or its debt collection agency, presses you for payment.

3.   And because creditors almost always regard fresher debts as easier to collect, some creditors are placing their overdue accounts with collection agencies sooner than they used to.

4.   Answer letters from collection agencies promptly with phone calls and letters that will go on file as contested, and do the same with any tainted credit report.

5.   As Americans file their tax returns this year, they are dealing with a tax collection agency that has been significantly hobbled in its ability to enforce the laws.

6.   A collection agency will be hired next week, he said, and will then begin collections.

7.   A federal collection agency will do.

8.   Bregman said if the city cannot collect the debts, it will turn them over to a collection agency.

9.   But before it was over, each was forced to scramble every month to meet the minimum payments and ward off the collection agencies.

10.   But some creditors are waiting longer before turning to collection agencies.