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How to Resolve Debt with Coast Professional

George Simons | January 29, 2025

George Simons
Co-Founder of SoloSuit
George Simons, JD/MBA

George Simons is the co-founder and CEO of SoloSuit. He has helped Americans protect over $1 billion from predatory debt lawsuits. George graduated from BYU Law school in 2020 with a JD-MBA. In his spare time, George likes to cook, because he likes to eat.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Hannah Locklear
Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Summary: Coast Professional collects student and government debts. To settle, verify the debt, negotiate a payment plan in writing, and respond promptly to lawsuits. Solo can help with all this and more.

If you just learned that your debt has entered collections with Coast Professional, you may go through many emotions. You may be experiencing stress, confusion, and uncertainty. Take a moment to relax, then determine the best course of action to take.

Higher education institutions hire Coast Professional, Inc. for debt collection services. These may be debts resulting from tuition, parking fines, auxiliary accounts, and other debt obligations incurred on campus.

If you want to end collection calls sooner or even settle the debt for less, you should work with the company to reach a settlement agreement. SoloSuit can help you communicate with Coast Professional and respond to debt collection lawsuits.

Let’s break down everything you need to know about Coast Professional.

Settle debt with Coast Professional

You can negotiate debt settlement at any stage of the collections process. SoloSettle makes it easy.

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What is Coast Professional?

Coast Professional, Inc. is a debt collection agency that offers a wide range of services as a full-service receivable management and contact center company. Their clients include hundreds of universities, campuses, cities, states, and counties. With over 200 clients, Coast Professional specializes in government collections for colleges and universities.

The Coast Professional phone number and other contact information is listed below:

  • Phone: (318)-807-4500
  • Toll-free: (800)-231-0225
  • Email: info@coastprofessional.com
  • Website: Coast Professional, Inc.
  • Address (headquarters): 4273 Volunteer Road, Geneseo, NY 14454, US

Who does Coast Professional collect for?

Here is what Coast Professional collects for the government:

  • Federal, state, and local government​ debts
  • Overpayments
  • Licensing Fees
  • Taxes
  • Court fines and fees
  • Toll-related fines and balances
  • Any other government-related debt

Coast Professional also collects for colleges and universities, such as:

  • NDSL / Federal Perkins Loan Program​
  • GSL / Stafford Loan Program
  • Health Professions Student Loans
  • Primary Care Loans
  • Institutional Loan Portfolios
  • Tuition & Student Receivable Accounts
  • Parking fines
  • Accounts receivables
  • Other campus-based debt

Contact Coast Professional to find out who sent them your debt.

Here are your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits debt collectors from engaging in abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices. The findings presented in support of this legislation suggested that abusive debt collection practices contribute to the following:

  • Personal bankruptcy rate
  • Instability in relationships
  • Job losses
  • Privacy invasions

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) explained its Debt Collection Rule In November 2021 (some provisions of the FDCPA), particularly on how creditors can contact you. You can find more information on the CFPB website.

Respond to a Coast Professional lawsuit

Coast Professional must prove it has the legal standing to sue by demonstrating how the debt was transferred to them. Without evidence of the chain of custody, the creditor cannot sue.

Ask for the original signed agreement and the alleged balance you owe by sending a Debt Validation Letter before they sue. Coast Professional cannot take you to court if a debt remains unvalidated.

If Coast Professional files a lawsuit against you, you must respond to the case with a written Answer before your state’s deadline. Use these three steps to respond to your Coast Professional debt lawsuit:

  1. Answer each claim listed in the Complaint against you.
  2. Make your affirmative defenses clear.
  3. Send a copy of your Answer to Coast Professional after filing it with the court.
  4. Continue to monitor your court case until it’s dismissed or resolved.

Below, we explore each of these steps in detail. If you don’t like reading, watch this video instead:

1. Answer each claim listed in the Complaint against you

If you do not respond quickly, the court may enter a default judgment in Coast Professional's favor. But you can avoid a default judgment. How? File an "Answer" with the court where your case is filed after receiving the Summons and Complaint documents.

The Summons notifies you of the lawsuit, while the Complaint lists the specific claims Coast Professional makes against you.

The first section of your Answer document should focus on responding to each claim in the Complaint. These claims are usually listed in numbered paragraphs, so your Answer should include a numbered list with your corresponding responses.

Respond to each claim with one of these answers:

  • Admit
  • Deny
  • Deny due to lack of knowledge

Most attorneys recommend that you deny as many claims as possible, which requires Coast Professional to prove their allegations. If they can’t, they have no case. When you deny a claim, it’s like saying, “Prove it.”

Respond to your debt lawsuit in minutes with SoloSuit.

2. Make your affirmative defenses clear

The next section of your Answer is for your affirmative defenses. An affirmative defense is any reason that Coast Professional does not have a case against you or that you should win the case.

Here are the most common defenses you can use:

  • Statute of Limitations: Claim that the claim was filed after the statute of limitations for debt collection had expired.
  • Lack of Privity: In your defense, you argue that there is no valid contract between you and the plaintiff (Coast Professional). In many cases, this defense works against collection agencies.
  • Invalid or fraudulent assignment of debt: Claim that the debt obligations were improperly transferred to the third party.

You can use dozens of affirmative defenses to strengthen your case against Coast Professional. Ensure you have facts to back any affirmative defenses you assert in your Answer. SoloSuit helps you list your affirmative defenses with the proper legal wording.

Make the right affirmative defense the right way.

3. Send a copy of the Answer to Coast Professional after filing it with the court

After preparing your Answer to the Complaint and Summons, you must file it by the deadline. You can mail your Answer, but with SoloSuit, an attorney will review it before filing, and then SoloSuit’s legal support specialists will file it for you. You should make two extra copies—one for Coast Professional and one for your records.

Now, let's look at a real example of a SoloSuit customer.

Example: John was sued by a debt collector, and he used Solo to respond to the lawsuit. In his Answer document, John denied most of the claims against him and listed some strong affirmative defenses. Then, an attorney reviewed his documents before SoloSuit filed his Answer. A few weeks later, John discovered his case had been dismissed.


4. Continue to monitor your court case until it’s resolved.

Ideally, Coast Professional will drop the lawsuit against you after you’ve either established they cannot verify the debt or you’ve reached a settlement agreement. However, it is your responsibility to keep track of the lawsuit, respond to any requests for information by the court, and show up for any hearings until the matter is resolved.

How to settle your debt with Coast Professional

At the very least, debt collection agencies want to recoup their original investment plus a profit of between 25% and 50%. You can still settle the case favorably by following the steps outlined below:

  1. Evaluate your personal finances to determine how much you can afford to offer as a settlement. In addition to calculating your income minus expenses, consider thinking outside the box. Do you have personal items you could sell for cash or some rainy-day savings tucked away? If so, now might be the right time to tap into those resources.
  2. Reach out to Coast Professional with your settlement offer, preferably in writing.
  3. Be prepared for negotiations. Coast Professional will probably respond with a higher counteroffer, so be prepared for that, and don’t get discouraged.
  4. Once you’ve reached an agreement, request a settlement agreement that outlines the settlement terms, the due date of the payment, and language that states the debt will be fully satisfied.
  5. Make the payment in a timely manner.

Choose a payment amount you can afford and send an offer using SoloSettle. A one-time lump sum settlement can convince Coast Professional to consider your offer. The debt collector will close the account. Although the account goes to your credit report as a settled account rather than a paid-in-full account, you are out of debt and can start on a clean slate, and even debt forgiveness has less of an impact on your credit than delinquent debt.

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Read Coast Professional reviews online

Some consumers recommend Coast Professional, while others don't. It depends on their impression of the company. Many leave their reviews online, which you can read to learn more about the company.

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