As of November 2026, TSI checks every account you place for death, bankruptcy and active military duty before any contact, and keeps checking while the account is placed. A hit stops collection and reaches you in the next daily file. Where an estate or bankruptcy case can still pay, TSI's program files the probate claim or proof of claim and tracks it to close.
Results vary by portfolio, including account age, balance and type, and by client program.
- Mar 2: Placed
- Mar 3: Scrub hit, deceased
- Mar 3: All outreach stopped, status sent to you
- Mar 19: Personal representative found, claim filed with the probate court
- Chapter 13 filedApr 8
- Proof of claim dueJun 17
- Claim filedMay 2
Got a letter or call from TSI about your own account? Go to the Consumer Support Hub or make a payment.
What one missed scrub costs
A bankruptcy petition stops collection the moment it's filed. Under the Bankruptcy Code (11 USC 362), a willful violation of that stay can cost actual damages, costs and attorney's fees, and sometimes punitive damages. One collector who didn't see the filing is all it takes.
A death handled badly costs something harder to price. A collector who tells a grieving daughter "the balance is still due" has implied she owes it. Under CFPB guidance, she usually doesn't: debts are paid from the estate, and survivors generally aren't liable unless they co-signed, held a joint account or fall under a state law that makes a spouse or an estate's administrator pay. That call becomes a complaint with your name on it.
Then there's the money that never gets claimed. Estates and bankruptcy cases do pay valid claims, but only claims filed on time. These accounts often get written off by default because no one owns the deadline.
What's included
Scrubs before anyone calls
Every placed account runs overnight against commercial bankruptcy and deceased data and the Defense Department's SCRA website, before any work. Monitoring continues as long as the account is placed.
Stop, code and tell you
A hit suppresses every channel at once: calls, texts, emails and letters. The account gets a status code, and you get the filing date, case number, chapter, court and the debtor's attorney in the next daily file.
Estate recovery
TSI confirms the death, finds the estate's personal representative and sends the validation notice to that person. Collectors who take survivor calls are trained never to suggest a family member owes a debt they aren't liable for.
Probate claims
Where the estate has assets and your balance justifies it, your claim is filed in the probate case before the state's creditor deadline, by TSI or its contracted probate partner, and tracked to payment or denial.
Bankruptcy proofs of claim
Proofs of claim go in for Chapter 13 cases and for Chapter 7 cases with assets to pay. TSI follows each case to discharge or dismissal and posts trustee payments, and you get a weekly report of new filings, discharges and dismissals.
Military status
Active-duty customers are identified on placement and handled under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which limits default judgments against servicemembers (50 USC 3931). When a servicemember asks for the 6% interest cap on debt taken on before service, TSI applies it with you.
How it runs
Agree the rules
You decide who files claims (TSI or your own counsel), any minimum balance for probate or bankruptcy work, and what happens when a bankruptcy case is dismissed.
Scrub, stop and report
Overnight scrubs run before any contact, and new hits during the placement trigger the same steps. Outreach stops on every channel once status is confirmed, and the status goes to you by file transfer, portal or API.
Research and file
TSI confirms a death (death certificate or obituary) and finds the estate, its probate court and the claim deadline, or checks a bankruptcy's chapter and bar date. Then the claim is filed, or the account is coded for return.
Track to close
Payments from an estate or a trustee post and remit like any other payment. Discharged accounts, and deaths with no estate, come back to you as uncollectible with the documents attached.
Deadlines that decide whether you get paid
In a voluntary Chapter 7, 12 or 13 case, a proof of claim is generally timely if filed within 70 days after the order for relief, which is usually the filing date, and a government creditor gets 180 days (Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, Rule 3002(c)). Many Chapter 7 cases have no assets to pay unsecured claims, so a claim makes sense only if the trustee finds some.
Probate windows are set state by state, and they can be short. In Maine, for example, the published notice gives creditors 4 months from its first publication to present claims "or be forever barred" (Maine Rev. Stat. tit. 18-C, 3-801).
Where it fits with the other stages
These checks run inside every TSI collection stage: third-party collections, secondary placements and legal recovery. You can also send TSI a book of deceased or bankrupt accounts on its own, for claim work only.
What you see
Reports show scrub hits by type and source, the date outreach stopped, claims filed with their deadlines and status, payments and returns with reason codes. Status flows back to your system of record so your own staff stop billing too. Ask any agency for these numbers before you place with it.
General information, current as of November 2026. It isn't legal advice. Rules change and differ by state, so check the sources linked here and talk to your own counsel before you act on it.
The company behind the work
Questions buyers ask
What is deceased and bankruptcy account handling?
It's finding placed accounts where the customer has died, filed bankruptcy or is on active duty, stopping collection on them and filing estate or bankruptcy claims where money can still be recovered.
How do I collect a debt from a deceased customer's estate?
File a claim with the estate's personal representative or in the probate court before the state's creditor deadline. A collector can contact the personal representative, who pays valid claims from estate assets. Survivors generally aren't personally liable unless they co-signed, held a joint account or fall under a state law that makes them pay, such as community property rules for a spouse (CFPB).
What should my collection agency do when a customer files bankruptcy?
Stop all collection at once, code the account, send you the case details and either file a proof of claim before the bar date or return the account. On discharge, the account comes back as uncollectible. On dismissal, it goes where your rules say.
How long does a creditor have to file a bankruptcy proof of claim?
In most Chapter 7, 12 and 13 cases, 70 days after the order for relief, or 180 days for a government creditor (Rule 3002(c)). In a Chapter 7 case noticed as having no assets, creditors are told it's unnecessary to file, and they get a new deadline if the trustee later finds money for a dividend (Rules 2002(e) and 3002(c)(5)).
Is there a minimum balance for probate or bankruptcy claims?
TSI doesn't set one. You can, since a small claim may cost more to file than it returns.
What happens if a servicemember's account is placed?
TSI flags it on placement through the Defense Department's SCRA website and applies the law's protections, including its limits on default judgments. The 6% interest cap covers debt taken on before service, for the period of service, once the servicemember asks in writing with a copy of their orders or another indicator of service, up to 180 days after service ends (50 USC 3937).
Find the money you've been writing off
Send one portfolio, deceased and bankrupt accounts included. The Recovery Performance Diagnostic weighs what claim work would return against what it costs to file.
Got a letter or call from TSI about your own account? Go to the Consumer Support Hub or make a payment.
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