Asset Acceptance to Close Debt Collection Office in Arizona; Expand Legal Channel

Debt buyer Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: AACC) announced late Monday that it is closing a debt collection call center in Tempe, Ariz., shifting the work being done there to a call center in India, and expanding its legal collections operations in Florida.

The Warren, Mich.-based ARM company said that it will incur about $900,000 in restructuring charges by shutting down the office in Tempe, mostly employee termination benefits and costs related to the office’s lease. But Asset Acceptance expects the move to add some $4 million to earnings each year.

“Office closures are never easy,” said Rion Needs, President and CEO.  “However, these actions reflect our continued efforts to improve our operating efficiencies and competitive positioning, as well as increase shareholder value.”

The company said it will expand its India collection channel and reallocate the inventory from the Tempe collections office to that channel.  The company did not note how many jobs would be eliminated in the Arizona office closing.

In addition, Asset Acceptance said it will be fully transitioning its Riverview, Fla. call center collections staff to the legal collections channel, also located in Riverview. The company’s noted its continued investment in the legal collections channel and recent launch of Recovery Services, a fee for service legal collections business.