Our SOL Management Tool is Limitless (Seriously it is!)

Whether you’re a Q-LawE, Q-Law, or a Collection-Master user, you are all too familiar with the complexities of legal collections, particularly interpreting the Statute of Limitations (SOL) prior to filing suit.

Both Q-Law and Q-LawE have been at the forefront of alleviating the intense weight of this type of formulation with their comprehensive SOL module. Let’s face it, being off by even a day can lead to a bunch of legal implications that consumer attorneys are all too eager to capitalize on! Our clients, both law firms and creditors, depend considerably on this powerful module as the method for calculating the SOL expiration date for each account that comes into the law firm. How? Mainly by using its built-in table for claim types as the driver – but that’s just the start. Accurately interpreting state SOL rules are first and foremost before collection efforts even commence.

Let’s briefly talk “expiration accuracy” and what precisely this means. So, if creditors do not file suit before an SOL expiration, they are not permitted to pursue any legal action towards collecting on the claim. But determining an SOL expiration date is not a hey-Google kind of inquiry. SOL thresholds maintained by Q-LawE* are intricate calculations – to say the least. Why? Because each state’s statute of limitation is defined differently. Meaning? States’ respective rules and laws govern how the statute of limitation for the many claim types out there are to be calculated.

Since SOL criteria for each of the 50 states is driven by such a multitude of factors, Vertican has a complex, multifaceted web of functionality baked into our module providing, not only the expiration in question, but ultimately the legal protection and cost efficiency to back the creditor when filing suit. Q-LawE, in particular, performs the most comprehensive of calculations, considering not only loan and claim types, but a multiple debtors and multiple states comparison approach whenever needed. This compilation of intelligence also yields another significant outcome, profitability. More on making money in a moment!

Mental Math v. Turbo Tax

No matter which platform you are on, firms that do not take the time to configure and utilize this already built-in module are likely computing SOLs manually and that can eventually create problems. Any oversight or slight mistake can be costly enabling defense attorneys the justification to toss out a suit, or worse, seek penalties. Still such errors not only have legal repercussions, but users working out those SOL calculations on an in-house spreadsheet are not optimizing time allowance. Time is powerful because it allows for clients to hold the threat of suit and/or to extend collection on each account for the maximized time, within the constraints of the respective law.

We have built this automated tool to perform such calculations on every single account as soon as it is placed. Moreover, if users set it up by the creditor, we do those calculations and make the proper assessment on every one of those accounts. There are numerous variables, and we keep track of all of them to determine, in general, the most conservative, protective, yet cost-effective approach.

Show Me the Money

Another occurrence in the statute of limitations world is when any payment is made on an account prior to suit. This triggers the payment reset start date function in our software. In other words, anytime a user posts a payment, it will automatically recalculate the SOL based on the rules for that state and for that account type. As a result, this action restarts the statute of limitation calculator, enabling extended time to collect.

Nicholas Arcaro, Vertican’s Senior Vice President of Business Development, shares, “Collection-Master clients have been telling me for years that they’ve been looking for a reliable way to calculate SOL in our industry that takes all of these variables, such as claim type and payment resets, into consideration. Without Q-LawE’s SOL technology, my clients are absolutely leaving money of the table.”

A recent enhancement in the SOL module is that it takes into the account a host of new variables pertaining to New York and Ohio (and a few other states). Because the SOL is highly automated, it can be set up to run in Job Scheduler every day. It will perform all the necessary calculations for newly added accounts, as well as accounts where any change may affect the determination of the SOL (for example, receipt of new payment, change of address to a new jurisdiction, etc.).

Back Me Up Here

While we can share a lot more about functionality, let’s move to the most recent SOL development. Activity Notes now holds a record of how the module did all those calculations per account. This provides a valuable record because it transparently documents the entire calculation (all the variables the software consulted). So, our clients have a detailed note line containing all the calculations and a daily spreadsheet that attorneys may review as needed.

The SOL module is a critical tool now more than ever since the recent ruling by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) made the importance of accurate SOLs crystal clear: one cannot file suit after the statute of limitation if, for the respective state where suit is listed, has expired. Rest assured that Q-LawE’s SOL module has implemented all the necessary calculation methods even before the CFPB deemed it mandatory to abide by the SOL rule.

As more states enhance their rules, it’s crucial to remain abreast of those changes so that clients don’t fall out of the loop. “Q-LawE systematicallycalculates and stores the statute of limitation date,” explains Kurt Sund, Vertican CTO and Q-LawE architect. “Then the firm can set up a 90-daywarning, for example, so when a suit approaches an SOL expiration, the system will assign a task for the firm to review that account and decide if they wish to file a suit. Our SOL module has our clients’ backs.”

The SOL module can be executed systemically at firms that have thousands of accounts and actively require these calculations every single day. It’s truly robust, brilliant automation. Whether avoiding mistakes, reducing counter legal risk, or maximizing productivity and opportunity to bring in collections, we recognize that our clients’ livelihoods depend on this powerful tool. Creditors, in turn, depend on our clients to be the authority of these complex laws and interpretations. These are fetes that cannot be flawlessly attained manually, Q-LawE’s SOL module is the brainpower that makes it happen.

If you’re interested in finding out more about our SOL management module email us.

*Q-Law has some of these capabilities.