There are two arrears management methods, one is pre-legal and the other is legal.

Arrears notices the pre-legal ( there is no industry standard ) however before an owner can be legally handed over a letter of demand must be sent.

Debt Statuses are when the Property Managing Agency is a registered debt collector and a 10% collection fee may be charged ( as per Annexure B, Section 11)

1. Arrears Notice Management 

1.1 Set up of Arrears Notice Messages

Navigation: Global Overview > Settings > Communication

These steps can be followed to set up the default message that will be sent within communities when notices are sent from Customer Age Analysis.

From the list of different available default messages to set up, select the relevant message to be set up. The Letters of Demand have already been populated but can be amended.

The following Pop-Up will appear, complete the fields provided

This email message will be sent to the owner to inform the owner that they are in arrears. Navigate to the specific place in the message box, insert the wording but use the insert tag with regards to Owner names and Amounts - Please do not type this in manually.

Example: Notice the words with the [ ] around them, the WeconnectU system will automatically change the data applicable to each owner. So that the Property Manager does not have to manually update each Notice email with the relevant owner details. This ensures a more personalized notice for each owner.

1.2 Set up of Arrear Notices Charges

Navigation: Community Level > Settings > Charges

Set up the amounts charged for different notices under the Charges section for each notice type's Email and SMS, for example

Select the amount to be charged for the 1st, and 2nd notice, as well as the Letter of Demand, sent to the client. If there should be any statuses exempt from the notices that will be sent, select in the dropdown message next to Notice Exemption.

If relevant, complete the following charges for Phonecall and Handed Over.

Notice Threshold Amount: any amount below this amount set will not receive any notices, they will be exempt from the list.

Warning Admin Fees & Penalty Admin Fees: This relates to the Warnings and Penalties function.

1.3 Sending Arrears Notices

Navigation: Community Level > Finance > Age Analysis.

The orange dot next to a customer represents 1st notice. The 2nd notice will be represented by a red dot next to the customer. The Letter of demand will have a black dot next to the relevant customer.

To run notices, Click on Run Automatic Notices.

A list of all relevant customers that meet the criteria set up for notices will follow, and de-select any email or SMS that should not be sent. If this box is unticked the owner will not receive any notification or will be charged. The notices will not reflect on the statements.

Click on Confirm and Run Notices when all necessary internal checks have been done. The following screen will appear where it will list the Charge of the notices.

The customer will an email and an invoice and PDF statement will always be attached to the email being sent. This will be an updated statement up to the date the arrears notice has been sent.

2. Debt Collection Management 

2.1 Set up Debt Collection Cost Table

Navigation: Global Overview > Settings > Debt Collection

If the company is a registered debt collector, complete the Debt Collecting Cost Table as per the example below. Should the Property Management Agency be VAT registered ensure to tick the "Apply VAT" box.

The invoice date for charges can either be as per the date of the Status Applied or the First of the next month's invoice.

2.2 Set up Collection Statuses

Navigation: Global Overview > Settings > Debt Collection

Different collection statuses can be created by clicking on Add Status. These statuses can be applied within each community.

The following Pop-Up will appear, complete the fields provided

• Status Title: This will be the name of a specific status which will also appear in the body of the Debt Collection Email.
• Status Code: This is the code that will appear next to the name in the status management screen once the status has been applied to the specific customer.
• Email Text: This email message will be sent to the owner to inform the owner that they have been placed in a specific status. Navigate to the specific place in the message and then select the tag to be inserted. Please do not type this in manually.

• SMS Text: There is an option for an SMS message to be sent out as well. 
• Apply Collection fee: This will be the fee set up in the debt collecting cost table. This is the option to charge the owner with the debt status being applied. If the company is not a registered debt collector, may not apply these costs however, the company can still use the collection status function to manage debt in arrears.

The Status should look similar to the below:

2.3 Set up Default Billing

Navigation: Community Level > Settings > Default Billing Setup

Ensure the default billing accounts, specifically the debt collecting field, have been selected under default billing. This is usually completed by the WeconnectU Take-On Team. This is a permission-based function.

2.4 Apply Debt Collection Statuses

Navigation: Community Level > Finances > Customer Status Management

It is best practice to select the tick box "Hide Zero Values & Hide Credit Values". This will prevent any owner who is not owing to receive any form of Debt Status Notification.

Select the tick box next to the owner that requires a specific status.

Next, navigate to the drop-down list which states select status.

Notice that there are two headings, for debt collection please scroll down and make use of the Debt Statuses list.

Select the status relevant to the owners selected. There will be an option to send an Email and/or SMS with this status selected. Use the note field to add any note relating to this status. These notes will appear on the customer profile which only Business Users and Attorneys can see.

Scroll down and then click on Apply Statuses.

The customer will now have their new status provided next to their name with the specific code selected in the setup.

Here is where the Property Managing Agent and or the Attorney can make notes and upload relevant documentation to the customer profile regarding debt recovery.

The customer will receive an invoice as below. A PDF statement will always be attached to this email being sent. This will be an updated statement up to the date the arrears notice has been sent.