Stage I — Pre-Collect
You keep 100% of what comes in
Current and recently past-due accounts
Pending compliance reviewReceivables recovery for creditors
Recover what’s owed —without spending the relationship.
You only pay contingency when it works — and most accounts never leave Stage I, where you keep 100%.
- Full Recovery
- Straight Contingency
- Legal Administrative Services
Later stages exist only if you need them — and you decide.
Why creditors choose ARO
A firm you can safely put in front of your own customers.
Collected on accounts we thought were lost.
“We never received a complaint from any of our patients.”
“They do what they say.”
From client letters, quoted without the numbers — recovery figures stay out of our marketing by policy.
A documented three-letter series
Pre-Collect is a defined process — three letters on agency letterhead, then a decision point. You see exactly what your customers see.
Escalation only with notice
Accounts move up the ladder only after the letter series ends, and you’re notified of the specific accounts before anything transfers.
Attorney forwarding through the ALQ Network
Suit-worthy accounts are forwarded to collection-specialist attorneys through Action Recovery’s American Lawyers Quarterly Network membership — with your written authorization, account by account.
Firm tenure
Published after verification.
Pending — years operating
The Recovery Ladder
How far you’d ever need to go — and you decide.
Four stages, entered from the bottom. Accounts start gentle and escalate only when a stage ends unresolved — with notice to you at every step, and litigation never without your written authorization. Most accounts resolve in the first two stages.
Three letters on agency letterhead, one flat fee per account. Anything unresolved rolls forward only with notice to you.
Best fit: Current and recently past-due accounts
You keep 100% of what comes in
Flat fee per account, volume-tiered
Pending compliance reviewActive collection on accounts the letters didn’t resolve. Paid only out of what’s recovered — nothing billed at signing.
Best fit: Accounts that finished the letter series unpaid
You keep 70% of what’s recovered
30% contingency
Pending compliance reviewDirect placement for accounts past the letter stage — including the ones others gave up on. Paid only out of recoveries.
Best fit: Aged or cold accounts placed directly
You keep 70% (under 1 year) or 50% (over 1 year)
30% under 1 year · 50% over 1 year · balances under $75 at 50%
Pending compliance reviewThe most difficult accounts, forwarded to collection-specialist attorneys through the American Lawyers Quarterly Network. Suit only with your written authorization. You advance court, filing, and process costs.
Best fit: Suit-worthy accounts, with your written authorization
You net 50% — attorney fees come out of our half
50% contingency, attorney fees inside
Pending compliance review
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.
Will using a collection agency damage our customer relationships?
That fear is why the ladder starts with letters. Pre-Collect is a series of three professional letters on agency letterhead — no calls, no pressure tactics — and most engagements start and stay there. Escalation past the letters happens only after the series ends, with notice to you, and litigation is never pursued without your written authorization on the specific account.
Do we pay anything up front?
Only Pre-Collect, the letter service, is prepaid — a flat per-account fee. Every contingency stage is paid out of what’s actually recovered: if nothing is recovered, nothing is owed.
What happens to accounts the letters don’t resolve?
At the end of the three-letter series you get a notification listing the specific accounts that remain unresolved, and those accounts move into Full Recovery — active contingency collection. You know exactly which accounts are transferring before anything happens.
Our accounts are old. Is it too late?
No — aged accounts skip the letter stage entirely and place directly into Straight Contingency, which is built for accounts others have given up on. Because it’s contingency, trying costs nothing unless money is recovered.
How do we know which service fits our accounts?
Describe your receivables — how old the accounts are, typical balances, how many, and what’s been tried — and you’ll get a recommendation for the stage that fits, not a pitch. That’s the assessment, and it carries no obligation.
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.”