Code of Ethics
Preamble
1) All judgment recovery professionals
assume an obligation of self-discipline above
and beyond the requirements of laws and
regulations.
2) These Principles of the Code of Ethics
express the profession's recognition of its
responsibilities to the public, to the legal
system, and to colleagues. They guide
individuals in the performance of their
professional responsibilities and express the
basic tenets of ethical and professional
conduct. The Principles call for an unswerving
commitment to honorable behavior, even at the
sacrifice of personal advantage.
Article I: Responsibilities
In carrying out their responsibilities as
professionals, individuals should
exercise sensitive professional and moral
judgments in all their activities.
Judgment recovery professionals perform an
essential role in society. Consistent with that
role, they have responsibilities to all those
who utilize their services. Professionals also
have a continuing responsibility to cooperate
with each other to improve the business of
judgment recovery, maintain the public's
confidence, and carry out the profession's
special responsibilities for self-governance.
The collective efforts of all professionals are
required to maintain and enhance the traditions
of the profession.
Article II: The Public Interest
Judgment recovery professionals should
accept the obligation
to perform in a way that will serve the
public interest, honor the
public trust, and demonstrate commitment to
professionalism.
1) A distinguishing mark of any profession
is acceptance of its responsibility to the
public. The judgment recovery profession's
public consists of judgment creditors, judgment
debtors, the court system, the legal
profession, and others who rely on the
objectivity and integrity of judgment recovery
professionals. This reliance imposes a public
interest responsibility on judgment recovery
professionals. The public interest is defined
as the collective well-being of the community
of people and institutions the profession
serves.
2) In discharging their professional
responsibilities, judgment recovery
professionals may encounter conflicting
pressures from among each of those groups. In
resolving those conflicts, the judgment
recovery professional should act with
integrity, guided by the precept that when
individuals fulfill their responsibility to the
public, everyone's interests are best
served.
3) Those who rely on judgment recovery
professionals expect them to discharge their
responsibilities with integrity, objectivity,
due professional care, and a genuine interest
in serving the public -- all in a manner that
demonstrates a level of professionalism
consistent with these Principles of the Code of
Ethics.
4) Judgment recovery professionals commit
themselves to honor the public trust. In return
for the faith that the public reposes in them,
judgment recovery professionals should seek
continually to demonstrate their dedication to
professional excellence.
Article III: Integrity
To maintain and broaden public
confidence,
judgment recovery professionals should
perform
all responsibilities with the highest sense
of integrity.
1) Integrity is an element of character
fundamental to professional recognition. It is
the quality from which the public trust derives
and the benchmark against which a judgment
recovery professional must ultimately test all
decisions.
2) Integrity requires the individual to be,
among other things, honest and candid within
the constraints of professional
confidentiality. Service and the public trust
should not be subordinated to personal gain and
advantage. Integrity can accommodate the
inadvertent error and the honest difference of
opinion; it cannot accommodate deceit or
subordination of principle.
3) Integrity is measured in terms of what is
right and just. In the absence of specific
rules, standards, or guidance, or in the face
of conflicting opinions, the individual should
test decisions and deeds by asking: "Am I doing
what a person of integrity would do? Have I
retained my integrity?" Integrity requires the
individual to observe both the form and the
spirit of technical and ethical standards;
circumvention of those standards constitutes
subordination of judgment.
4) Integrity also requires a judgment
recovery professional to observe the principles
of objectivity and independence and of due
care.
Article IV: Due Care
A judgment recovery professional should
observe the
profession's technical and ethical standards,
strive continually
to improve competence and the quality of
services, and discharge
professional responsibility to the best of
his or her ability.
1) The quest for excellence is the essence
of due care. Due care requires the judgment
recovery professional to discharge professional
responsibilities with competence and diligence.
It imposes the obligation to perform
professional services to the best of the
individual's ability with concern for the best
interest of those for whom the services are
performed and consistent with the profession's
responsibility to the public.
2) Competence is derived from a synthesis of
education and experience. It begins with a
mastery of the common body of knowledge
required for designation as a judgment recovery
professional. The maintenance of competence
requires a commitment to learning and
professional improvement that must continue
throughout the individual's professional life.
It is a judgment recovery professional's
individual responsibility. In all engagements
and in all responsibilities, each individual
should undertake to achieve a level of
competence that will assure that the quality of
their services meet the high level of
professionalism required by these
Principles.
3) Competence represents the attainment and
maintenance of a level of understanding and
knowledge that enables the judgment recovery
professional to render services with facility
and acumen. It also establishes the limitations
of the individual's capabilities by dictating
that consultation or referral may be required
when a professional engagement exceeds the
personal competence of the individual. Every
judgment recovery professional is responsible
for assessing his or her own competence - of
evaluating whether education, experience, and
judgment are adequate for the responsibility to
be assumed.
4) Judgment recovery professionals should be
diligent in discharging responsibilities to the
public. Diligence imposes the responsibility to
render services promptly and carefully, to be
thorough, and to observe applicable technical
and ethical standards.
5) Due care requires the individual to plan
and supervise adequately any professional
activity for which he or she is
responsible.
Article V: Scope and Nature of
Services
A judgment recovery professional should
observe
the Principles of the Code of Professional
Ethics in
determining the scope and nature of services
to be provided.
1) The public interest aspect of the
judgment recovery professionals' services
requires that such services be consistent with
acceptable professional behavior. Integrity
requires that service and the public trust not
be subordinated to personal gain and advantage.
Objectivity and independence require that the
individual be free from conflicts of interest
in discharging professional responsibilities.
Due care requires that services be provided
with competence and diligence.
2) Each of these Principles should be
considered by the judgment recovery
professional in determining whether or not to
provide specific services in individual
circumstances. No hard-and-fast rules can be
developed to help the individual reach these
judgments, but the individual must be satisfied
that they are meeting the spirit of the
Principles in this regard. In order to
accomplish this, judgment recovery
professionals should assess, in their
individual judgments, whether an activity is
consistent with their role as
professionals.
Article VI: Pledge
All judgment recovery professionals freely
subscribe to
the following pledge without prejudice or
reservation.
In the execution of my professional
responsibilities, I will:
- Conduct my business in a professional
and ethical manner.
- Comply with all city, county, state,
and federal laws.
- Respond promptly to all correspondence
from all parties involved in my purchased
judgments.
- Immediately return ownership of all
judgments to the original judgment creditor
should I terminate my business.
- Stay abreast of changes within the
industry.
- Maintain confidentiality with respect
to agreements with the original judgment
creditor.
- Continue to educate myself with respect
to the legal processes involved in judgment
recovery.
- Assist other judgment recovery
professionals through the sharing of my
knowledge.
- Not use harassing tactics in the
process of recovery of any judgment.
- Not render legal advice in any form or
fashion, or give the appearance of
rendering legal advice.
- Not engage in unfair business practices
in regard to the public or other judgment
recovery professionals.
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