Why Sell Redwood?

f)NE of our good dealer friends in a recent letter jokingly v remarked that from his standpoint one of Redwood's big disadvantages is its permanence-its great durability makes replacements unnecessary. Nothing short of a cyclone will destroy Redwood. Fungus does not rot it and worms and insects leave it alone. It is a slow burner. Thoroughly painted, it looks well a long time. Even unpainted, it stil resists decay. A Redwood house needs little repairing. But this dealer kebps right on ordering Redwood. He finds that telling these sad facts about Redwood to his customers does not drive them away.

Sometimes he even ventures to remark that according to the U. S. Government Report entitled "Physical, Mechanical and Chemical Properties of Redzlood," there isn't any other wood, either soft or hard, that averages as high on ilurabi,lity, lock of shrinkage, strength as a beam or post, ease of glueing, workability and ability to "stay put."

f am able to lcarn, ttris is more or lcss truc wittr people of rhat nationality all over the country. We also find foreigncrs of odrcr nationalities almost equally good, but othcrs, not so good. We do find, however, that if an account witb a forcigner goes bad it is usually onc of the worst that we have to contend with. Our experience with practically all foreigners of a white racc has been gencrally satisfactory, and as a rule, while it is rather regrettable, it is a fact that we have less concern in opcning a new account with a white man who has a foreign accent than with one of our own native born Americans. We also find peculiarities existing with certain religious sects that make them either a good or bad risk; however, as the matter of religion is a delicate subject to handle I will not attempt to cntcr into any detailed discussion here.

In opening accounts of the third class, that is, where material is sold for building construction and where there is a loan to take carc of the payments, it is always wcll to get a legal description of the property and have same correctly written on the ledgcr sheet. This is particularly important in the case where one man is building a number of houses for speculation. In this case he will usually designate his difierent houscs by nurnbers or otherwise and by tak:ng the p,recaution to sce that each lot of material is properly charged to cach job as given by purchaser and in case where he does not give that information, it should always be obtained from him, thercby having the propcr legal description of property on the ledger sheet for each one of these jobs it will prevent a lot of grief later on, in case that it is necessary to filc a lien. Some contractors are inclined to have materiral chargcd to a certain job numbcr rather than definitcly naming the job. In cascs of this kincl we always get the complete information as to who that job is for and location of prop€rty at time of maHng first chargc to a new job number.

It is always well before making dclivery of, 6rst material to make sure that the loan has actually been granted to the purchaser and that he has proper title to this property. Further, it should be ascertained as ncarly as possible as to whether or not the loan gfanted is sufficiently large to cover entir': cost of building and if not, the purchaser should be asked to make a sufficient showing as to where the balance of the money is coming from. In case sale is made through the contractor, the full name and address of owner should be procured and he should be advised from time to time as to the amount of money received on materials, approximate balance due and so on. The question is often raised as to the advisability of doing this, as tlre argument is made that it very often causes bad feeling on the part of the contractor. My experience has been this however. that if a material man will go to an owner and advise him of his responsibilities according to the lien law and ask him if he knows the contractor sumciently well to leave it up to him as to the paying of his accounts on that job, he will very often say, no. It can be suggested that he can make his checks pa.yable direct or that he ask for receipted bills and receipts before delivering check to contractor but, in doing so, make it clear to the contractor that he is making these requests as a matter of business to protect himself against the lien law, rather than to say that the material man has made this request. If this is properly explained to an owner, he will usually co-operate; however, there will always be exceptions and in more than one case, we have offended contractors. due to the fact that owners have been so unappreciative and so spineless as to pass the buck to the material man when settling with the contractor. If, on the other hand, we should have ignored the owner and we had been obliged later to file a lien against his property forcing him to pay for some of his material a second time, he would never cease damninrg us and would come to us with a loud crf and say, "why didn't you suggest that I pay you direct," and the sad truth of the matter is. we worrld be morally at fault in not having so advised him if we had any suspicion whatever that this thing might happen.

One of the most important things and one of the most difficult is to make sure that in all cases the material goes to the job to which it is charged. In cases where the material man makes the delivery it is rather an easy matter but very often the contractor has his own delivery facilities and insists on hauling the materials himself. This is very dangerous for the material man if a contractor is inclined to be careless or tricky. We had one very sad experience in a case of this kind. We also, find that contractors who operate in this manner will never return any materials to the yard but will either remove what is left to some other job or to some dumping place that he may have for this purpose. This also complicates matters in case of lien, I think it is well that a material dealer should insist upon all materials left over on a job being returned to his yard for credit, but if the contractor insists on transferring same to some other job, try to make an arrangement whereby proper credit can be given to the job from which it was removed and a proper charge to the job to which it was taken. If a contractor is inclined to co-operate, it can be handled in this manner. Of course, in some respects we dislike to see materials come back into our yard for credit because they are often in a damaged condition, but in my opinion it is a little better to take a slight loss this way, than to jeopardize an account on an entire house bill in case that a lien is necessary. As I stated before, we had one very sad experience with a contractor who insisted upon doing his own hauling. In this case the contractor took a contract to construct a house for $10,000.00 which afterwards cost the owner probably an extra $10,0fi).00, the actual cost of the house be'ng 15 or $16000.00. We furnished materials aggregating $3172.00; another lumber firm furnished materials aggregating 7 or $800.00, a third lumber firm furnished roofing material and a planing mill furnished the millwork. The contractor did all of his own hauling and so far as we were able to tcll, the materials were taken to this job. When the crash came, we filed our lien in the usual manner. When the case came to trial, the owner prov- ed through the contractor himself that two or three truck loads of the lumber that we had furnished to this job had subsequent- ly been hauled away to another job. The result was that the court docked us $300.00 to $350.00 for materials which the owner proved were hauled away but which we had actually furnished in good faith and for which we shall never receive our money, for the reason the contractor is busted. We simultaneously had five or six other liens against this same contractor and in every case we were obliged to make certain deductions on account of the fact that the materials were not on the job. I have not mentioned the name of this contractor, but I will venture to say, that there are at least six men within hearing of my voi'ce who know who I am talking about and who are familiar with his operations.

Assuming that we have used due care and diligence in the matter of opening accounts, we find that our job is still half finished. In spite of the most extreme care there is bound to be a certain percentage of accounts that will overrun, a smaller percentage that are going stale, and still a smaller percentage rhat lre going bad. Bad accounts are often brought about through conditions, rather than because oF error in opening. As a mat-

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(Continued from Page 27) tcr of fact, as you all know, the begt looking account ori your books might possible turn out to be the worst. Thcre are always conditions that no one can forsee and over which neither the creditor or debtor has any control, therefore, the most careful credit man will'find plentv of work to do in the matter of collections.- In order to be successful in the collection of accounts, constant daily attention must be $iven this work It is not a iob for the firsiof the month, or the middli of the month, but it is a job for six days out of every week of the month. There are alwavs certain accounts that should be given atterition on certain days and if they are given attention promptly, the result is bound to be good. It is my coirtcntion that a-cr^cdito-r sfroild be as prompt as his debtor. This will instill an inipression in the mind of the debtor that lie is dealing with a business man who is coing to be exacting and expect him to live up to his obligation which will immediately command his resPect.

We all hive various methods of getting our accounts in the hands of the people who o\ne us and with the modern methods of merchandising, it is customary to mail out our bills every month' except the certaln cases. where we may have reason to pre"""t itt" bill in a personal way. These bills should be mailed promptly and on the first day of the month if possbile' because the more prompt bills will very oftcn recelve more irompt attention. If a bill is to be orisenied iersonally, it should be done -promptty aird the p-&son who- presents the ilairn- siould be pr-operly coached to do so in a business like manner, but not in a -way that it will be antagonistic to the debtor' If in presenting this claim the dcbtor states ttt.i tt? will hale the money on the lfth of the month, the collector should thcn dctermine whetirer the money is to be brought in or whether he should go and collect -s,ame at that time. If the latter' he should be trhere at the appointed day and- hour to make the collection, by which he lives up to his end of the agreement. It is then up to the debtor to make good on his. If he fails in this. he immediately puts himself on the defensive and should be rcady to expect his creditor to become exacting' If on the other hand the debtor is to come to the office with the money at a certain time and fails' the collector should be looking him up imrnediately afterwards and find out why- It is human natute for a man who owes money to first get rid of the c':editor that is going to cause him tbe most bother.

In mailins a bill on an account that is to be oaid on i certain dav in the month it is well to hold back th"t bill from those wbich arc mailed 6n the first of the month. and mal same a day or two preceding the duc date and see that the date 6f pa]rment is writtcn some place on the bill so that it will be seen. This is another degree of promphess that will impress the debtor and very often if he cannot meet the payment on time. he will phone. write, or come to your office f^r an- extension, which should be cheerfully granted if reasonable. The matrer of granting an extension on an account. howevei. is onl that should never be trcated lightlv. ft should alwavs be handlcd as a m*atte; of sreat imooitance. Such time should be qiven to the transaction to imoress the debtor that he is recciving very careful consideration and that he is indeed receivins an accommodation. This will generallv leive him in a frame of mind whereby he will use cvery possible efrort to rnake cood at the exoiration of the extended date. bn the other hand. if the creditor is carelcss and grants the extension readilv with a wave of the hand. tbe debtor is likely to treat lfie matt€r in a like careless manner.

In collecting as in opening accounts each account must bc treated strictly upon its own mcrits. It wiU not do to bccomc racchanical and use stercotype lbrms and methods and treat all accounts on the same basis.

Before bills are mailed, they should bc looked over by the proper pargr and segre- gated as there will be certain ones, particu- rarly current bills, that are merel.y to bc thrown into the mail. There will be others, for the most part, past due statements that should be presented by the collector, there w ll be others going into the marl by whicn some method should be used to call the attention to the debtor that the account is past duc ard in some cases lctters to be written. Sometimes when mailing a bill is unsuccesslul, a follow up by the collector in person rrJl produce the money. Other times when the collector fails to impress, a letter from the office will bring immediate results so that it sometimes pays to reverse the tactics as regards some certain accounts. l'here are cases where one collector may have several interviews without success. By sending some other representative of your firm, he may collect the money immediately. This is because of the human elcment. Man, no mattcr how skillful he may be in his work, cannot be l00Vo efficient; there may be something in his personality that will defeat him with certain people.

Very often the use of the printed past due on a statement will bring results, if this is unsuccessful, a mild letter merely making mention of the account may do the work. In the use of collection letters, it has been my experience, that by promptly following up with other and more insistent letters, gbod results will be accomplished. Form Ietters are good, but must be used very carefully by the party using same as he must c6nsider whether or not the form letter will practically apply to each particular account. Anyone, who has had some experience in writing collection letters can get irp his own set of lorm letters which may be uied successfully in a good many cases. I once used a set of my own with great success over a considerable period of time. There are certain collecting systcms that will produce good results, but like the form letteri, must be carefully uscd and I am inclined to discourage their use, for the reason that they are too often handlcd psonqscuously and will do more harm than good.

Promissory Notes: It has always becn -a debatable question as to whether or not it is a good plan to procure promissory notcs on past due accounts. There is good argument bn both sides. It is true, that very oftcn a d,ebtor considers that he has nrade a temporary settlement when he has given a note ind fiels free to put off the creditor as long as possible as he will argue that the note is dra-wing a good rate of interest and that the creditoi is Eetting paid for the accommodation. I do not believe there should be any sct rule as to the matter of taking notes on accounts, but, I do believe that if there is likely to be any question whatever as regards any dispute or repudiation that may irisc later if the debtor is pressed, it is well to take the precaution of getting the account into the form of a promissorJ/ note. There is always a psychological moment for getting a debtor to sign a note. This is 4t the time when he comes to you and tells of his hard luck and begs for further accommodation. My method in this casc is to act before talking. I go to the bookkeeper, have her make out the note. I take the note in one hand and a well inked pen in the other hand, walk back to the counter and impress him that we have decided to stretch our rules and grant him his request and will take his note, although in so doing, we are making an exception to our policy. Nine times out of ten he will sign the note without comment. He may question the rate of interest or the length of time granted him but his protests will usually be pretty feeble and easily subdued. If later on it is nccessary to sue him, you know thcrc will be no question as to the validity of thc acoount. It is deo my opinion that it is wcll to .takc security such as a deed of trust, chattel mortgagc or crop mortgage, evctr though some timcs it may be a second or third licn. I have in mind one instance wherc we took a third chattcl mortgage on some cows. Wc nursed it along until it became a first, it latcr devcloped that he had sold ofr about half of thesc mortgaged cows without our permission and we collected our full account 24 hours later. This account, by the way, was outlawed before he signed the note.

Forcing Collections: Thcre are several good methods of forcing collections. I very often find that just a letter from our attorney will bring immediate results, becausc when they rcceive a letter signed by an attorney, they know that he means business and they also know that the attorney will not write very many letters but will resort to immediate action.

There is ionsiderable question is to the advisaUility of attachment suits; I find that it is very hazardous to att€mpt collection through the attachrnent of automobiles as the equity in same is always very questionable. They are seldom owned clcar of incumbrance by any party who it is neccssary to sue, usually be'ng bought on contract or if rrot, there will be a chattel mortgagc, or if neither of these a third party clairn will be filed by the wife after the attachment. I do find, howevcr, thc attachmsrt of real property will very often bring desired results. Whilc it is true that a debtor cdn take advantage of the homcstead law which may temporarily block tlrc creditor, on the ot"her hand if the attachment is left on the propert/, the time will come when he will. want to sell samc or rc-financc hris loan and in eithcr casc, it will be nce€ssary to satis- fy the attachmsnt.

In the case of securit'es, such as deed of trust. It is very often not necessary to actually foreclose, but mere mention of thc same will bring results. It is not our practice !o foreclose on second securities, exc€pt, as a means of last resort.

On claims of $50.ffi or less, the Small Claims Court is rather a succcssful medium of collecting. In the last few months wc have collected probably a dozen clairns through the Small Claims Court, but have never yet filed a suit in the Small Claims Court, but by merely making referencc to same in a letter, havc produced the collection.

All the above methods of collection are generally used in accounts of the first two classes.

In accounts of the third class therc are other methods to be used. In the case of iobs on which there arc loans, it is well to keep a careful chick on the progress of these jobs so that the creditor knows at all times how much money the debtor has received on his loan. Also, the amount if any, that has becn applied to his material account. In a great many cases it has been our custom to takc written orders on the Loan Company at thc beginning of the job for the ambunt of the material bill with an understanding that there will be a subsequent order gtven later on for any extr?s that may accrue. These orders are usually made to apply on a portion of each payment and are irnmediately filed with the Loan Company and if accepted by ttrem, will bc automatically taken care of as the payments are due. I find. however. that it is necessary to keep a check on the Loan Company as in some iases they have mysteriously pro' duced prior orders or advances that werc necessaiy for them to make so that they would not have sufficient funds to take care oa our order in its entirety. In all cascs. where there are building loans, thc borrowcr is required to file a noticc of completion be-

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