Collections Officer

• Great Opportunity
• Immediate Start

About Our Client

You will be working for a well-known Local Authority based in London.

Job Description

The key responsibilities are as follows:

1. Manage a portfolio of service charge accounts, working to targets set by the Collections Manager.
2. Monitor individual accounts, determining and taking appropriate action to ensure that account holders pay service charges in accordance with the obligations under their lease.
3. Authorise and check payment plans.
4. Maintain contact with account holders through letter, email, telephone, or face-to-face as appropriate; issue statements and other account documentation on request from the account holder.
5. Advise the account holder on the legal and statutory basis of service charges as appropriate.
6. Investigate any issues raised by the account holder with the accounting process, with service charges, and other issues, working closely with other teams within Home Ownership.
7. Advise the account holder on alternative sources of information, such as the CAB, and liaise with the CAB where necessary.
8. Liaise with and respond to elected members on collections issues as required.
9. Investigate issues with the lease and determine that service charges are in line with the provisions of the lease; ensure that any billing errors are noted and corrected.

The Successful Applicant

To be successful in this role you will need the following:

1. Previous experience in a similar role.
2. A good knowledge of leasehold issues, including but not limited to: service charges; repairs and maintenance responsibilities; current law and legislation.
3. Broad knowledge and awareness of current issues and developments affecting the management of council housing.
4. Experience in leasehold management and practice, or of arrears management.
5. Experience in working as part of a customer-facing team, answering queries through a variety of channels within a customer-focused organisation.
6. Experience of monitoring customer feedback.
7. Experience of working to performance targets and deadlines and of managing workload to meet targets.
8. Experience of liaising with resident, homeowner or comparable stakeholder groups.
9. Experience of working with property management and accounting IT systems.

What's on Offer

An immediate start contract based in London.