Humble Beginnings
It was 1968 and the late Samuel Harris, the Collection Manager for a woman's apparel chain in Chicago, concluded that he could do a better and more ethical job of collecting debts than the firms he contracted. Mr. Harris was mystified by the treatment customers received at the hands of collection agencies, and decided that his company would treat customers the way he would want to be treated. He also surmised that the majority of people with outstanding obligations were not in that situation voluntarily–many weren't employed and didn't have health insurance. In them he saw unfortunate but not necessarily irresponsible people. And with that, a business was born in the basement of the Harris home on Chicago's South Side. From sealing envelopes to cleaning the office, picking up supplies to taking messages, compassionate and professional collection practices have always been part of the Harris DNA.
Harris & Harris Today
Today, Harris & Harris is bound by the same principles. Brothers Arnie and Dave Harris own the firm. Arnie joined in 1986 as a litigating attorney, and Dave joined in 1988 as a front-line collection representative. The one-man business Samuel Harris started is now a firm of hundreds of collections professionals employing the latest technology and ethical practices to help businesses recover revenue.