Collection Specialist

Collection Specialist

The Role

AAFE has been building affordable housing and providing community services in New York City for decades, with a portfolio that serves residents who often have limited options and real financial pressures. The Collection Specialist sits inside property management and is responsible for recovering outstanding balances from residents, managing the full collections cycle from first notice through legal escalation, and keeping the documentation and reporting that supports all of it in good order.

This is a tenant-facing, process-intensive role. You will be on the phone with residents regularly, working through payment arrangements with people who may be in genuine hardship, and coordinating with property managers and outside attorneys on cases that require legal action. The work requires patience and clear communication as much as it requires organizational rigor.

This is not a back-office or purely administrative collections role. You will be expected to exercise judgment, build rapport with residents under difficult circumstances, and flag problems before they become legal disputes.
What This Role Is, and Is Not

This role is:

• A structured, cyclical collections function with defined monthly touchpoints and clear reporting deliverables
• A coordination hub between residents, property management, and external legal counsel
• A role that handles difficult conversations with empathy and professionalism, with the goal of resolving arrears without litigation wherever possible
• A documentation and compliance function, maintaining accurate case files for both internal use and legal proceedings

This role is NOT:

• A call center or high-volume transactional collections position
• A legal role, though you will work closely with outside counsel and need to understand what they need from you
• A social work role, though you will connect residents to community services when circumstances call for it
• Remote-friendly or flexible on location, given the nature of the work and the teams you will coordinate with daily

Required Experience & Traits

• Minimum two years of collections experience, ideally in residential property management or a related housing context
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt your tone to a wide range of residents and situations
• Proficiency in Excel, including the ability to build and maintain tracking reports from scratch
• Working knowledge of Google Suite and Microsoft Suite
• Highly organized, with a demonstrated ability to manage multiple open cases, deadlines, and documentation requirements simultaneously
• Comfortable working across functions, with property managers, attorneys, and community services partners all as regular counterparts
• Bilingual English and Spanish is required
• Experience with Yardi is a plus, not a dealbreaker

Key Responsibilities
Rent Collections & Resident Outreach

• Run collections reports on the 15th and 25th of each month, send the corresponding resident notices, and follow up by phone to arrange payments and bring accounts current
• Negotiate payment plans with residents in arrears, with the goal of minimizing legal action while recovering outstanding balances
• Refer residents to community services or social services intervention when the situation calls for it

Tracking & Reporting

• Build and maintain a monthly collections tracker that shows the amount initially in arrears and the amount recovered
• Maintain a separate monthly report for cases referred to outside counsel, capturing court filings, deadlines, case statuses, and any other relevant developments

Lease Compliance & Enforcement

• Review lease agreements to confirm compliance and assist in addressing tenant obligations when violations occur
• Work with property management to escalate cases appropriately, including initiating legal action when other options have been exhausted

Legal Coordination

• Serve as the primary liaison between tenants, property management, and external attorneys on non-payment, lease violations, and related legal matters
• Maintain organized, complete case files in both digital and physical formats, and assist counsel in gathering documentation needed for proceedings

Communication & Tenant Relations

• Engage residents with clarity, consistency, and respect throughout the collections process, providing timely information about where their case stands and what their options are
• Represent AAFE's values of community service and dignity in every resident interaction, including the difficult ones

Compensation

• Base salary: $50,000 to $55,000 annually, commensurate with experience