Collections: Troubleshooting

This article provides a troubleshooting guide for scenarios where the collections process did not generate or advance collection action items as expected, or where a collections action item closed to Balance Settled prematurely. The most common root causes are:

• The Processing Days configuration
• The Age of Balance calculation
• Excluded Charges

This guide covers all checks available in Association > Settings > Collections and Association > Assessments. 

Contents

• How Collections Processing Works
• Troubleshooting Checklist
• Quick Reference: Why Didn't Collections Run?
• FAQs

How Collections Processing Works

Each morning that collections processing is active, Vantaca scans each homeowner's account to determine whether it meets the criteria to have a new Collections action item created, or whether an existing open Collections action item meets the criteria to advance to the next step.

The criteria used are the Minimum Balance Threshold and Age of Balance (Days) settings configured in Association > Settings > Collections.

Important: Collections also runs a closing check each night. If a homeowner's balance falls below either the Minimum Balance or Age of Balance (Days) threshold, the Collections action item automatically moves to the Balance Settled closing step.

Troubleshooting Checklist

Work through the following checks in order. Each step identifies a common cause and where to verify it.

1. Verify Collections is Active

Navigate to Association > Settings > Collections and confirm that Active is set to Yes (or Use Model Setting if the model is set to Yes). If set to No, collections does not run for this association. 

2. Check Processing Days

In Association > Settings > Collections, review the Processing Days setting:

Note: If Processing Days is set to Weekdays Only and the charge date falls on a weekend, collections does not run until the next business day. For example, if assessments are late after January 31st and January 31st falls on a Saturday, the collections process does not evaluate accounts until Monday, February 2nd.

3. Check Age of Balance (Days)

The Age of Balance (Days) setting determines how many days old a balance must be before collections evaluates it. This is calculated from the charge date.

Important: If you use the Auto-Waive Fee feature, you must account for those days in your Age of Balance setting. Otherwise, a collection letter may generate for a late fee that will be auto-waived.

Use the following calculation when auto-waivers are enabled:

Age of Balance (Days) = Late Fee day + Auto-Waive days - 2-day buffer

Why is a 2-day buffer required? 

The 2-day buffer accounts for two separate behaviors in how the collections process evaluates balance age, each shifting the effective trigger date by one day.

Day 1 — How balance age is measured: The collections process checks whether a charge's ledger date is before the cutoff date, not on or before it. This means the day a charge is posted does not count toward its age. A charge posted on the 1st is not considered aged on the 1st, the first day it qualifies is the 2nd.

Day 2 — When the nightly process runs: The collections job runs in the morning and evaluates accounts using that morning's date. A balance that just crosses the age threshold at midnight is not evaluated until the following morning's run.

These two behaviors are independent of auto-waivers. The 2-day offset is always present in how the collections query works, regardless of other settings.

Example: Assessments are due on the 1st and late on the 15th. Auto-waive is set to 4 days after the fee. You want collections to start on the 20th.

• 15 (late fee) + 4 (auto-waive days) - 2 (buffer) = 17 days for the Age of Balance setting

4. Check Excluded Charges

If a homeowner's collections action item unexpectedly moved to Balance Settled, check whether the relevant charges are excluded from collections. Navigate to Association > Assessments and review each charge:

• Exclude from Collections: If selected, this charge is excluded from both entering collections and advancing through the collections process.
• Exclude from Collections Balance Threshold: If selected, this charge does not count toward the minimum balance threshold for entering or remaining in collections.

Note: If the only charge with a balance is excluded from collections, the system treats the collectible balance as $0 and the collections action item automatically closes to Balance Settled, even though the homeowner still owes money.

5. Check the Minimum Balance Threshold

In Association > Settings > Collections, review the Minimum Balance threshold. If the homeowner's eligible (non-excluded) balance falls below this amount, the collections action item closes to Balance Settled. Confirm this threshold aligns with your collections policy.

6. Verify the Collections Model

In Association > Settings > Collections, confirm that the Collection Model field has the correct collections action item selected. Different associations can use different collections models (e.g., Collections 3 Letters vs. Collections 2 Letters).

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Quick Reference: Why Didn't Collections Run?

FAQs

Q: Why did my collections run on Monday instead of the day the assessment was late?

A: Check whether Processing Days is set to Weekdays Only. If the charge date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, collections does not process until Monday.

Q: Why did a collections action item close to Balance Settled when the homeowner still owes money?

A: The charge that carries the balance may be excluded from collections. Navigate to Association > Assessments, open the charge, and verify whether Exclude from Collections is selected. If it is, that balance does not count toward the collections threshold.

Q: How do I calculate the correct Age of Balance when using auto-waivers?

A: Add the auto-waiver days minus a 2-day processing buffer to your desired collection start day. For example, if you want collections to start 5 days after the late date and auto-waive is set to 3 days, set Age of Balance to at least 5 + 3 - 2 = 6 days.

Q: Why does the Age of Balance calculation always require a 2-day buffer, even without auto-waivers?

A: The 2 days account for two separate behaviors in the collections process, not a single safety margin. First, the age comparison uses a strict "before" check rather than "on or before," so the day a charge posts does not count toward its age. Second, the collections job runs in the morning and evaluates balances from the previous night, which pushes the effective trigger out one additional day. These two behaviors are unrelated to late fees or auto-waivers; they are specific to how the collections age query is structured.

Note: Late fees and collections are evaluated by separate processes with their own settings. A balance meeting the late fee threshold does not automatically satisfy the collections threshold as they are independent calculations.

Q: Can I manually reopen a collections action item that closed to Balance Settled?

A: Collections action items that close to Balance Settled cannot be manually reopened. If the homeowner's balance later meets the criteria again, a new collections action item is created automatically during the next nightly processing cycle.

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