Credit reports with collections accounts are common, and collections accounts prevent millions of people from getting credit or loans. If a collections account has mistakes or omissions, you may remove it from your credit report and start again. This article will guide you through contesting a collections account, from learning about them to gathering the essential paperwork and submitting your challenge on time.
How to Read Your Collections Report
If you want to dispute a collections account, you need to first learn what it is and how it works. When you owe money, and a collection firm is tasked with pursuing payment, your account is said to be in collections. To pursue debt collection, collection companies purchase accounts from the original creditors. Your credit score may be hit if a debt is returned to a collections agency.
What Data Should You Collect About the Collections Account?
If you want to dispute a collections account successfully, you’ll need as much data as possible on the account in question. This contains the debt’s amount, the date it was assigned to collections, and the name of the collection firm handling it. Either consult your credit record or contact the collecting agency to learn more.
When a Bill Goes to Collections, What Happens to the Credit Score?
Possessing accounts that have been sent to collections may do serious harm to a person’s credit score. No matter how old, every collection account will hurt your score, and paying off a collections account won’t remove it from your credit record for seven years after that.
Have a Question Regarding your Rights there Under FCRA?
Under the legislation known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have the legal right to dispute any inaccurate or incomplete data that may be included in your credit report. If you have successfully disputed a collections account, it must be deleted from your credit report if judged to be erroneous or incomplete.
Collecting Data
To successfully dispute a collections account, you must first collect as much data as possible.
Obtaining a Credit Report
To begin, get a copy of your credit report. There are three main credit reporting companies each of them provides free copies of your credit report once a year (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). Take care to carefully review your credit report to confirm the correctness of the information it includes.
Speak with a Collections Professional
Contact the collection agency if you require further details regarding the account currently in collections. You should inquire about the debt and request a thorough account and any documents they may have. Be cautious about documenting everything you say or do while dealing with the collection agency.
Talk to a Lawyer or Public Notary
If you need help locating documents or figuring out how to challenge the collections account, you should probably go to a lawyer or search for a “notary public near me” online. You may get legal counsel and guidance on your rights under the FCRA from them.
Opening a Case of Disagreement
When ready, file a dispute with the credit reporting agencies with all the evidence you have collected.
Compose a Letter of Disagreement
Writing a dispute letter to the credit bureau that reported the collections account is the first step in challenging the account. Include your full name and mailing address, a statement explaining why you disagree with the collections account, and copies of any relevant paperwork in your correspondence.
Write and Submit a Letter of Dispute
Send your dispute letter to the credit bureau that includes the collections account after you finish writing it. This may be sent through regular mail, fax, or electronic mail. Please save a copy of your disagreement letter and any other documents to back it up.
Keep Track of Your Case
The credit bureau will look into the collections account once you have lodged a dispute. They will contact the debt collector and urge them to double-check their facts. If the debt collector cannot verify the details, the collection account will be erased from your credit report.
It’s important to Monitor Your Development
It is in your best interest to monitor the status of your dispute and communicate with the credit bureau as necessary to ensure it is being addressed. Either you or the credit bureau may check on the progress of your dispute at any time. Register a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if your disagreement is not addressed within 30 days.
Conclusion
If your credit report contains inaccurate or insufficient information, dispute a collections account. If you think the data is wrong, this arduous process is required. Learn about your collections accounts, gather proof, and dispute to improve your credit and financial future. A consumer credit law attorney may help with the dispute process.
