Getting Collection Accounts Off Your Credit Reports

Getting rid of collections from your credit reports is one of the main goals of credit repair.  They are very damaging to both your perceived credit worthiness and your credit score. They used to be one of the easier tasks to complete even if you really didn't know too much about fixing your credit.  But that is not the case anymore.  Sometimes they are as stubborn to remove as charge offs and they take a lot more work than in years past.

Collections, based on who the 3rd party company is, who the original creditor is, what type of alleged debt it is,and other factors can drop your credit scores overnight to a score that will prevent you from qualifying for a home loan, car loan, credit cards, even from renting, and even other important needs or wants, such as employment, promotions, and a whole slew of other things that can affect your life. My partner and I have seen our clients' scores drop up to over 100 points with a new collection but typically in the range of 40 - 80 points. 

You have to attack collection accounts vigorously and consistently in order to remove them. You have to be careful the way you say things when you are disputing to avoid verifying the alleged debt for them. This is true when disputing with credit bureaus and also with the collection company.   You must choose your words wisely. You must NEVER admit you owe a collection company anything and never admit you owe the original creditor that is related to that collection account.

For the best chance at successfully getting rid of collections, you need to dispute with the credit bureaus and the collection companies. If you want to get them deleted from your reports you need to have bureau disputes that attack in multiple ways to avoid getting a "frivolous" response letter.  You will also need to demand validation directly from the collection company. You may need to do several "rounds" of letters to both of these entities before you see the results you're looking for.

Demanding validation is important for several reasons.  Once you demand validation, the FDCPA requires the collection company to cease all collection activity until they validate.  However, there is NO LAW, not even in the FDCPA that requires a collection company to validate.  What this means is  that if a collection company does not validate, they can no longer furnish or verify information on your credit reports.  They are required to delete the information.  They are no longer allowed to send you a bill.  That's obvious collection  activity.  They are not allowed to initiate a lawsuit against you either if they haven't validated.  The bad news is that many of these collection companies don't give a rat's whiskers (thought I was gonna say something else, huh?) about the law and they ignore it, violate it, and continue their illegal collection activity.

Validation can eliminate the alleged debt if the collection company obeys the law. This happens quite often when you write effective letters.   But even with effective letters, many companies give up their pursuit of you but try to recoup some money by selling the account to another collection company.  The more this happens, the easier it usually gets to remove each new claim for that old account. However, sometimes you slam them so hard and so effectively that you eliminate that alleged debt and never have to see anything related to it again.  That is the ultimate success you are looking for.

Successful disputing also requires you to consistently respond to their replies to your disputes. You can't drop the ball.  You MUST respond and you must respond on point. In other words, you have to attack what they say, what documentation they provide, what they don't provide, and properly rebut any claims they make that they have verified or validated the account.  A good arsenal of laws, case laws and other legal citations to back up your demands and your rebuttals helps to knock them down and kick them out of your life and off your credit reports.  I think this is probably where I see most people get hung up, stumped and start to give up.

Credit repair is not as easy as a lot of people think! Sometimes it feels like a full time job when you are doing it on your own. My partner and I have been doing this for over 50 years combined. We are the best of the best at what we do. We have other credit repair companies calling and asking for our assistance because they are frustrated with their clients' progress sometimes. And you know what? It's sometimes hard for us too so we know that you can get frustrated, worn down and feel like giving up.  Fortunately, we love fighting, love seeing great results for our clients, are passionate about what we do, and heck, its our job so we don't give up.  

You need to hang in there, keep fighting, keep responding, keep demanding proof, documentation, etc. Your credit depends on it. Your ability to rebuild your credit, improve your scores, qualify for credit, loans, get employed, etc. depend on it. 

If you get too worn out, burned out, frustrated or tired, please reach out to me. This is what I do.  If you don't even want to attempt it on your own for whatever reason be it lack of  time, fear, or you just want to let a professional assist you, please contact me. I will audit your reports and my partner will give you a consultation. We will answer your questions and give you a realistic projection of what you can expect our services to achieve for you. 

You can contact me by email at futurefico@gmail.com or go to our company website at InsightCreditGroup.com and sign up for a consultation.  I look forward to helping you achieve the credit you desire!

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