Debt Settlement Portal Guidance

SUMMARY

This article describes the structure of FORTH's Debt Settlement Portal  (debtfreeportal.com), a portal for consumers enrolled in debt settlement programs. This article also covers the associated file/business vertical - Debt Settlement. The article is divided into the following sections:

• Logging In
• Document Library
• Budget Tracking
• Debts
• Transactions
• Upcoming Transactions
• Statements
• Tasks
• Messaging
• Consumer Onboarding
• Settings

CONFIGURATIONS AND DOMAINS

Configurations are a key element of all Portals provided by FORTH. Configurations always come from the assigned company. There are two configuration types used:

1. Domain - debtfreeportal.com, for example
2. Company - based on assigned company

Logging In

Our clients can log in as a Consumer, and their consumers can log in by visiting the domain URL (https://client.forthcrm.com). Go to the Contact's Client Dashboard and then Customer Portal (at the bottom of the screen). You will see the User Name, the date a Welcome Email was sent (if at all), and the Last Login date.

NOTE: The user name is automatically generated upon enrollment of the client.

You will also see either “Active” or “Inactive” on the right side of the screen. “Inactive” will appear only if that portal was deactivated. From the bottom left of the screen, you will need to select the appropriate domain (debtfreeportal.com) from the "Domain" dropdown menu. 

Once you select a domain from the dropdown menu shown above, three options appear on the screen. You may log in as a Consumer, reset the password, or if you have the proper permissions, you may deactivate the portal account.

If you click “Login as Consumer”, you will be automatically logged in without needing a password. The logged-in user will then be identified as an “Agent”. This feature enables users to see a version of the portal, allowing them to see and perform actions as if they were the consumer, to aid the user while in contact with the consumer.

The portal provides a User Dashboard, like the one shown here. On the left side, the dashboard displays the user’s First Name, the Initial of their Last Name, and their Contact ID. In addition, the dashboard displays the user’s Available Balance, Next Payment Amount, and Next Payment Date.

The Dashboard displays (if applicable) an option to opt-in to receiving paper statements (above left), and any tasks (above middle) that you may have assigned to you. If you have no outstanding tasks, the image above on the right will appear. This information is pulled from tasks assigned to the client in the CRM.

 

On the right side of the User Dashboard is a display of up to five (5) enrolled debts. If there are more than five, these additional debts can be found on the “Debts” page. In addition, there is an Account Activity pie chart that shows activity on Settled & Completed Debts, Settled Debts in Repayment, and Unsettled Debts. The pie chart can also be configured to show Debt Custom Field values instead (via the Settings page).

NOTE: The information displayed on this dashboard is pulled from information available via the “Debts” menu. 

Finally, four “Quick Action” buttons are configurable via the Settings menu. The default buttons are View Transactions, Send a Message, View Tasks, and Upload Documents.

The Debt Settlement Portal offers the following Menu Options on the left side of the page, as shown here.

• Document Library
• Budget Tracking
• Debts
• Transactions
• Upcoming Transactions
• Statements (for clients using the ForthPay Gateway)
• Tasks
• (For DSRP’s) Messaging

Document Library

The Document Library shows all uploaded documents. Visible Document Types are controlled via the Settings Page. If a document type is allowed/enabled via the Settings page, all uploaded documents in the CRM on the contact’s file with that document type will be visible to the consumer. The consumer can also upload into any visible document type. Consumers can view and download files however, the agent role is restricted to view only. These actions are configurable via the Settings page.

Budget Tracking

The information displayed from this menu pulls from the Budget Analysis page/fields. If fields are null on the Budget Analysis page, “No Budget Data Available” will appear (see below).

Debts

The Debt Settlement Portal’s Debts page has a Summary section and an Accounts section. The Summary section displays the settlement payment progress and the dollar amount(s).

NOTE: Account refers to a single debt on the contact file. Configured settings determine the visibility of Unenrolled, Enrolled, Settled, and Unsettled debt visibility.

Within the “Accounts” portion of this page, the current creditor is highlighted in bold letters and is listed above the original creditor (see Midland Credit Management in the image below). The original creditor can be the current creditor if the debt was not sold (see Chase Bank in the image below).

If Document Upload was configured via Settings, the user will be required to upload the specified document type(s) if the consumer does not already have uploaded files of the document types specified in the Settings page.

Transactions

The Transactions menu includes a chart and a table that each reports on transactions in a different way. A summary chart shows the sum of cleared transactions and is broken down by Deposits, Payments, and Fees. The table shows all transactions, regardless of their status. This is a highly configurable page for the client (see the Debt Settlement Transaction example below).

Upcoming Transactions

This feature displays a table of upcoming transactions that pulls from the contact’s enrollment plan. The content of this table is configurable in Settings.

Statements

The Statement menu only shows information if the client is a ForthPay customer for payment processing, as it is linked to the ForthPay payment gateway.

NOTE: Forth Pay now dispatches agreements and statements in the recipient's chosen language. Upon enrollment, it automatically selects the correct document template based on the consumer's language preference, ensuring communication is tailored appropriately. If no preferred language is specified, the system defaults to English when dispatching documents. Contact your account manager or our support team for setup information.

The terms “Deposits”, “Payments”, and “Fees” seen on the Statement menu may be changed, but this change will not affect the terminology used on ForthPay Statements.

Using the My Account page, ForthPay clients can select to receive either Paperless or Paper statements. Consumers who are ForthPay clients are presented with this choice upon their first login as well.

IMPORTANT: The information displayed via the Debt Settlement Portal is pulled from the Settlements module/tab within the CRM.

Tasks

If a task is assigned to a client, that task will appear on the Consumer Portal. This page will display the completion status of each task listed, and consumers themselves may be given the ability to act on a task.

Messaging

This feature allows a message to be sent from an email address associated with a user. This is the same feature accessed from the “Send a Message” Quick Action button on the Home Dashboard. To access it, click on the small envelope image in the top right corner of the screen. 

In the dialog box that follows, click the “Send a Message” button on the right side of the screen. 

Below is a sample message: 

My Account

The My Account screen displays contact and banking information for the account owner. It displays account details, including the date of birth, the date the user first began using the account, the account’s primary email address, the account number (pulled from the CRM), and a “Change Password” button.

From this screen, the user may also see any banking information they may have entered in the CRM, including Bank Name, Routing Number, and Account Number.

It is from the My Account page, that a ForthPay client can select if they wish to receive statements either electronically (via email) or as a paper copy through the mail.  

HELP AND SUPPORT

The Help and Support Section consists of a “Help” menu and a “Frequently Asked Questions” menu. They both can be accessed by clicking on the small Question Mark icon at the top right of the screen (see below).

The “Help” menu provides contact information for the company the client is assigned to. An example of this screen is shown below.

The Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) feature is configurable via Settings. A listing of questions is posted in bold and the answers for each one are displayed.

My Portals allows access to the Debt Free Portal or the ForthPay portal (if the user is a ForthPay client) and back. This feature is accessible by clicking the globe image located at the top right corner of the screen.

Consumer Onboarding

After entering their username/password for the first time, the consumer is asked to verify their date of birth and the last four digits of their social security number.

If the user is a ForthPay client, on their first login they will be prompted to choose paper or paperless statements from the “My Portals” page. If Document Types were configured as part of the new consumer onboarding process, then you must upload document types chosen in the settings (if they don't have Uploaded Files of those Doc Types already). After the consumer completes those, they are sent to the Portal itself.

REMINDER: After the first login and onboarding process, the consumer will be able to change their statement preferences via the “My Account” page.

Settings

To access settings for your portals, go to the Admin Tab, select the Settings button on the navigation bar, then click the Customer Portal Settings link on the Navigation Bar. 

For more information about these Portal Settings, please refer to the Help Center article titled Customer Portal Settings.

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