How to Settle Debt With Halsted Financial Services
Dena Standley | July 30, 2024
Legal Expert, Paralegal Dena Standley, BA
Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.
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: Halsted Financial Services is a third-party debt collector with great reviews. If you’ve been contacted by a Halsted Financial debt collector, you can resolve your debt with them by requesting a debt validation or discussing settlement options.
You become curious and answer when you receive a call during odd hours or repetitive calls from the same number. The caller identifies themselves as an agent for Halsted Financial Services and claims to be collecting a debt of $5,000.
The caller then threatens to "raise this matter to the next level," letting you know that if you don't pay today, you will not be able to get any more credit.
After you request proof of the debt in writing, they hang up. But they still bombard your phone with calls all day long. It is incredibly irritating and a clear sign of harassment. Your request was to have them substantiate the debt, but they disconnected the call, citing you were "uncooperative."
Creditors (such as banks, credit card companies, or other lenders) may hire a company, such as Halsted Financial Services, LLC, to collect debt on their behalf if not received promptly. Learn how to resolve debt with Halsted Financial Services below.
Settle debt with Halsted Financial.
You can negotiate debt settlement at any stage of the collections process. SoloSettle makes it easy.
Unlike many other debt collection agencies, Halsted Financial Services reviews are overwhelmingly positive. From nearly 1,000 Google reviews, Halsted Financial has an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars. Similarly, the BBB reviews search Halsted Financial with an average rating of 4.43 out of 5 stars.
Check out some real Halsted Financial Services reviews below:
Despite its great reviews, many consumers have submitted serious complaints against Halsted Financial. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Halsted Financial has received nearly 300 complaints. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has also received hundreds of complaints against Halsted Financial Services in just the last three years.
Many of these complaints claim that Halsted violates consumer rights listed in the FDCPA. This is why it’s important to know your rights before dealing with debt collectors.
Stand up for your rights when a Halsted Financial debt collector contacts you
You first need to know your rights when communicating with Halsted Financial Services. There are strict regulations about what a debt collector can and cannot do. By law, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) protects consumers from aggressive debt collectors by prohibiting practices such as:
Calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
Violent or arrest-threatening measures.
Multiple calls within the same day.
Discuss your debt with your family or colleagues.
Posing as a lawyer.
Contacting you after you have sent a cease-and-desist letter.
Trying to collect a debt you don't owe (or have already paid).
Rejecting debt validation requests.
There are many complaints against Halsted Financial Services on the Better Business Bureau website, most of which have something to do with billing or collections. By calling the FTC at 877-382-4357 or using the FTC's online platform, you can report Halsted Financial Services if you believe your rights have been violated. Alternatively, you can report them online or by calling the CFPB at 855-411-2372.
Send a Debt Validation Letter
Federal law Section 609 gives you the right to request a debt validation. You can do this by sending a Debt Validation Letter to Halsted Financial Services. Send it within 30 days after hearing from a debt collector to protect yourself from paying a debt you do not owe. Whether you are disputing the entire claim or just a portion, you have a right to see proof of the validity of the debt collector's claim.
If Halsted Financial Services cannot produce the paperwork to prove you owe them money, they will be forced to abandon their collection efforts against you and close their file. Use SoloSuit's Debt Validation Letter and mailing instructions if you aren't sure exactly how to pursue this option.
To learn more about debt validation, check out this video:
Reach a pay-for-delete agreement
One of the primary reasons a debt collection agency like Halsted Financial Services seeks payment from a debtor is that it can offer a deal in return. For every dollar of debt they purchase from creditors, debt collectors receive, on average, $.04.
Therefore, Halsted Financial Services may have only paid $200 of the original $5,000 debt. If so, a settlement is more likely since they'll profit $800 if you pay $1000. They may be eager to make some money, close the account, and even consider removing it from your credit report.
Make a written agreement before engaging in a pay-for-delete arrangement, and insist on the written confirmation.
What if Halsted Financial Services sues me?
If Halsted Financial Services is suing you, don't panic. SoloSuit can help you represent yourself in court or settle the debt without going to court at all. Here's how.
The first step to resolving debt a lawsuit with Halsted Financial is to respond to the lawsuit. When you're sued for a debt, you should receive court documents notifying you of the suit. These documents are called the Summons and Complaint (also known as Petition in some states). The Summons notifies you of the case information, while the Complaint lists the specific claims being made against you. You should respond to the Summons and Complaint as soon as you receive it by filing a written Answer with the court.
Here are six tips to follow when drafting your Answer:
The Answer isn't the place to tell your side of the story in detail. Instead of using an elaborate story to respond to the lawsuit, your Answer should focus on responding to the claims listed in the Complaint document. Keep it simple. You can admit, deny, or deny due to lack of knowledge.
Deny, deny, deny. Most attorneys recommend that you deny as many claims as possible, forcing Halsted to do more work to prove their side of the case.
Include affirmative defenses. These are any legal reasons that Halsted Financial should not win the case. A common affirmative defense used in debt lawsuits is the statute of limitations, which is the time period that a debt collector has to sue someone for a debt. If the debt is past the statute of limitations, then the lawsuit is void.
Use standard formatting or “style”. At the head of the Answer document, be sure to include a caption where you list the court information, party information, and case number.
Include a certificate of service. It's important to serve your Answer to Halsted Financial. At the end of your Answer document, include a certificate of service when you verify the address you used to serve Halsted the Answer.
Sign it. Most courts reject any legal documents without signatures, which is why this last step is so crucial.
Halsted Financial Services is known for working with consumers to help them resolve their debts. So, if you want to settle your debt with Halsted Financial, you can discuss your options with them and potentially save a lot of money through debt settlement.
Debt settlement involves paying off a percentage of the total debt amount in a lump-sum payment in order to resolve the debt. This method can save consumers hundreds, even thousands, of dollars and help them find the peace of mind that comes through debt resolution. However, settlement does have an impact on credit, but nothing has a bigger impact on credit than not paying anything at all.
To settle your debt, contact Halsted Financial Services to discuss options. Give them an offer to pay off a percentage of the debt. They may come back with a counteroffer, and you may have to negotiate with them. They might also accept a new payment plan that works with your financial circumstance.
To start the debt settlement conversation, you can use tools like SoloSettle (powered by SoloSuit) to use technology to send and receive settlement offers until you come to an agreement with the collector. This tool is especially powerful if you’ve already been sued for debt, helping you avoid direct contact with collectors, assert your rights, and manage your settlement agreement and applicable documentation that should be filed into your case.
To learn more about how to settle your debt with Halsted Financial, check out this video:
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