Asset Accpetance's Growth Having Positive Impact on Community

Warren, MI - If at some point the managers at Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. need to stop and catch their breath, you might understand.

The Warren, MI-based buyer and collector of old debt has been on a dizzying growth and expansion path for the past eight years and indications are that the company is still growing. Just in the last three months, the company has completed a successful initial public offering of its stock, announced plans to move into a new headquarters building on Van Dyke Avenue in Warren and reported that its total revenues in 2003 grew by 59 percent over 2002, growing to $160.2 million.

Since October 1996, Asset has grown from 30 employees working from one office in St. Clair Shores to a total of 1,500 employees working in eight states.

What's the secret of their success?

"We have really stuck to our knitting," CEO Brad Bradley said. "We understand the need to stay focused on the business."

AACC buys uncollected debt from banks, retailers, credit card companies and others and then tries to collect on that debt. Typically, Bradley explained, AACC purchases the old debt after the original owner has tried several other methods and gone through one or more traditional collection agencies in an attempt to collect it.

In 2003, AACC had purchased approximately $14 billion in cumulative face value of acquired debt, said Mark Redman, the company's chief financial officer.

The company's employees at call centers in Warren, Wixom, MI and seven states then work to contact delinquent borrowers to arrange payment. The company also has staff lawyers who go to court when necessary in an attempt to collect old debts.

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