South Dakota demands debt collection agency to provide quarterly reports

The Affiliated Group, a receivables management firm, started offering their services in the state of South Dakota in 2009. They have aided the state government in collecting bad debt losses, which accounted for approximately $19 million, insideARM reports. Aside from obtaining debts, AG's responsibility will include providing the state government with quarterly reports of its progress starting October 1. "The citizens of South Dakota deserve this kind of transparency in all the contracts that the state enters into on their behalf," Neeb told insideARM. "We’re working for the citizens of south Dakota. This kind of reporting that lets citizens know that their tax dollars are being spent wisely is a good thing." South Dakota had a mere 258 reported debt collection complaints in 2010. While the dearth of complaints is due to the relatively minimal population of the state, the per capita statistics regarding fraud, other and debt-related complaints is quite low. In this category, South Dakota ranks 50th in overall complaints per capita, according to the Federal Trade Commission.