Financial Holds & Collections
Unpaid Balance at CCC
If you have an unpaid balance with CCC, a financial hold may be placed on your student account. A financial hold can prevent you from registering and may restrict other activity on your account.
If you receive a notice about a past-due balance, contact Student Accounts as soon as possible. Resolving the balance before it is sent to a collection agency can help you avoid additional collection costs.
When Is a Balance Considered Past Due?
Under CCC’s Collections Procedure, tuition and fees may be considered past due after the 100% refund deadline for a class has passed when:
- You do not have authorized financial aid pending;
- You do not have authorized Veterans funding pending;
- You do not have an approved third-party payment guarantee pending;
- You have defaulted (stopped paying) on a payment plan; or
- You have other unpaid charges, such as parking fines or charges for equipment that was not returned.
What Happens When I Have a Past-Due Balance?
CCC contacts students before referring an account to an outside collection agency.
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CCC sends you an email and places a hold on your account.
The hold restricts activity on your student account. Check your CCC student email regularly so you do not miss notices about an unpaid balance.
- CCC calls you.Two weeks after the first email goes out. CCC will call you with the phone number associated with your student account.
- CCC sends a final notice.
Two weeks after the phone call, CCC may mail a final notice about the unpaid balance.
Make sure your mailing address is current with CCC so you receive important account notices.
- Your account may be sent to a collection agency.
30 days after the final notice is mailed, CCC may refer your account to an independent collection agency. This gives you 90 days total to pay your bill before you are sent to collections. After it is sent to collections, the collection agency will begin to contact you to try to collect the money you owe.
Contact Student Accounts before your account reaches collections.
If you receive a past-due notice and are unsure what you owe or how to resolve it, contact Student Accounts as soon as possible.
Financial Holds
What does a Financial Hold Mean?
CCC places an accounts-receivable hold on your account when it determines that the balance is delinquent (past due). A financial hold can prevent you from registering for classes and may restrict other activity on your student account.
If you see a hold and do not know why it is there, contact Student Accounts to find out:
- What you owe;
- What charge caused the balance; and
- What you need to do to resolve the hold.
How Do I Remove a Financial Hold?
CCC requires a past-due balance to be paid in full before the hold can be removed. Making a small payment toward the balance does not release the hold.
If you cannot pay the full balance or have questions about what you owe, contact Student Accounts to discuss your account and find out what options may be available.
Collections
What Happens If My Account Is Sent to Collections?
When CCC sends an unpaid account to an outside collection agency, that agency takes over collection efforts for the debt.
This can make the amount you owe significantly higher.
- You may be charged collection costs of up to 25% of the original principal balance the amount you owed;
- Collection costs are added to the amount you already owe;
- This means that if you owed $1000, an additional collection charge of up to $250 would be added. The total you would owe would be $1,250;
- You may also be responsible for court costs or reasonable attorney fees if they result from efforts to collect the debt; and
- Your account may also be submitted to the Arizona Department of Revenue Debt Set-Off Program.
How do I know which collection agency has my account?
CCC uses more than one collection agency, so the agency handling your account may vary.
The collection agency may contact you by mail or phone. If you do not know which agency has your account, contact Student Accounts at 928-226-4237 for information about your account and collection placement.
What Is the Arizona Debt Set-Off Program?
Past-due CCC accounts may also be sent to the Arizona Department of Revenue Debt Set-Off Program.
This program allows an eligible Arizona state payment that would otherwise be sent to you, such as a state tax refund, to be applied toward a qualifying debt you owe CCC.
Being referred to an outside collection agency does not necessarily prevent the state from also pursuing the debt through the Debt Set-Off Program. CCC policy states that the collection agency and the state may pursue collection at the same time.
What If I Think My Balance Is Wrong?
Do not ignore the balance while you are trying to understand it.
Log in to myCCC to review your account, then contact Student Accounts if you have questions about a charge, payment, or balance.
If your account has already been sent to collections, Student Accounts can tell you which collection agency is handling the account. All future communications and arrangements would then be with the collection agency, not CCC.
Can I Just Stop Attending a Class If I Cannot Pay?
No. Not attending a class does not remove you from it or cancel what you owe.
If you decide not to take a class, you are responsible for officially dropping it. CCC does not guarantee that you will be dropped automatically for nonpayment, and faculty do not drop students simply because they stop attending. [Is this true?]
If you do not drop a class by its published refund deadline, you are responsible for the full tuition and fees.
Need Help With a Past-Due Balance?
The earlier you contact CCC, the more time you have to understand and address your balance before it moves further through the collection process.
Student Accounts can help you:
- Review what you owe;
- Understand a financial hold;
- Determine whether your account has been sent to collections; and
- Find the collection agency handling your account, if applicable.
We are here to help. You can call us at (928) 226-4237 or email us at cashier@coconino.edu.
