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How to Resolve a Discover Collections Debt

George Simons | January 27, 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: Are you being sued by Discover Collections for a debt you owe? To avoid a default judgement and give yourself time to negotiate the debt with Discover, be sure to file a written Answer with the court first. Be open and honest when dealing with Discover Collections to improve your chances of settling for less. Use tools like Solo to streamline the settlement process.

Discover Financial Services or Discover Bank, commonly known by consumers as Discover Collections, contacts you when they believe you owe them money. Its customers receive calls and messages asking them to pay delinquent credit card or loan debts they owe before the bank charges them off and reports them to the credit reporting bureaus.

If you delay payment for too long, Discover's in-house or a third-party debt collector may consider suing you to recover the money. With accounts staying delinquent for several months before being charged off, the debt keeps growing due to late fees and penalty interest rates. Resolving such growing debt starts with engaging openly with Discover to determine your options. You may be able to settle your debt for less.

This article will discuss resolving how to resolve a debt in collections with Discover. Let’s begin with understanding how the company works and how to contact it.

Settle debt with Discover Collections

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

Settle with SoloSettle

Who is Discover Collections?

Discover is an online bank offering financial services. They provide credit cards and loans. Discover has an in-house debt collection team that contacts customers who are late on their credit card payments or have defaulted on a loan. You will likely hear from Discover if you have a past-due account with them. Sometimes, the company hires third-party debt collectors to help recover money from defaulted accounts.

Discover’s contact information is as follows:

  • Phone Numbers: (1-800-347-2683 (within the US), 1-224-888-7777 (outside the US)
  • Website: Homepage
  • Email: executiveoffices@discover.com
  • Address: PO Box 17019, Wilmington, DE 19850-7019

Discover encourages consumers to contact it directly to resolve debt.

Read Discover online reviews to learn more

Several online platforms allow consumers to leave reviews based on their impressions of the company. Below are some of them.

As you can imagine, consumers have differing opinions about Discover. The BBB gives Discover an A+ accreditation. Some consumers disagree. However, one thing is evident: If you want to resolve a debt, you must first actively communicate with the company to find out the account details, discover your options, and resolve the matter.

Who does Discover collect for?

Discover collects debts for itself. Aside from credit card debts, it collects past-due debts on the following loans:

  • Home loans
  • Student loans
  • Personal loans, etc.

Discover transfers some defaulted accounts to third-party debt collection companies at its discretion.

How do you engage with Discover Collections?

As a consumer, you should not fear communicating with debt collectors. There are laws to ensure that you are safe and your dignity is intact, even when you are in debt. Discover should operate within the FTC guidelines. If you discover that the person contacting you is a scammer, report them to the FTC to protect yourself and other consumers.

The following are some of the rules Discover should observe.

Debt collectors cannot harass you

Debt collectors should not threaten to hurt you, call the police, or take legal action if they have not followed the correct procedure. They should not use obscene or profane language to intimidate or belittle you. It is also against the law for them to call you repeatedly or outside 8 am and 9 pm your time.

Debt collectors should be fair

Discover should not exaggerate the amount you owe or make you pay a debt that is not yours. You can address this concern by sending a debt validation letter. This document requests Discover Collections to confirm if you are the correct account holder. They should validate the amount they claim you owe.

What should I do after Discover Collections contacts me?

If Discover Collections contacts you, you should ask for more information about the alleged debt. When you receive a call from Discover Collections, ask the caller to give you their full name, address, company's professional licensing number, and active phone number.

If a third party is involved, they should give you more information about when they took over your debt. You should also ask for more account details to verify their credibility.

Request a debt validation

You can request proof that you owe the debt by sending a debt validation letter. This letter asks the creditor to provide more information about the debt. They should give the exact debt figures, the creditor's information, and a statement of notice showing you can dispute the debt within 30 days of their initial contact with you.

If Discover cannot validate the debt, they must stop all collections.

Ask them to stop contacting you

FTC guidelines permit you to mail a letter to a debt collector requesting them to stop contacting you. Ensure you keep a copy of the letter. Also, use certified mail and pay for the return receipt. Once Discover Collections gets the letter, they can only contact you to tell what action they will take (i.e., filing a debt lawsuit). You can also direct them to communicate with your attorney instead of you.

However, this tactic is only effective if you don’t actually owe the debt. If you really owe the money, it’s best to work with Discover to get a new payment plan set up that works for your current financial situation.

Dispute the debt with the credit bureaus.

You can send a dispute letter if you believe you do not owe the entire debt or if the amount is inaccurate. Request a credit report from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Ask them for detailed information about your credit history and your credit score.

Once you receive the report, thoroughly check and identify errors, complete a credit bureau dispute form highlighting the mistakes, print it, and mail it to them to perform their investigation.

They are required to give you feedback within 30–45 days. You can inform Discover Collections about these steps you have taken. They will stop collecting the debt until the investigation is over and the credit agency confirms or corrects the debt details.

What if Discover Collections is suing me?

Discover may sue consumers who ignore collection attempts. Depending on your state, you have 14-30 days to respond to the lawsuit. If you fail to respond, the courts will declare the debt valid, and Discover can garnish your wages.

Finding an attorney can be challenging and cost even more than the debt you owe. You can save time and money by representing yourself with the help of SoloSuit.

If you’ve received a Summons and Complaint, then Discover Collections has filed a lawsuit against you. You will need to Answer the complaint to protect yourself from a default judgment. You can draft an Answer to your lawsuit in minutes with SoloSuit. SoloSuit can also file the Answer for you after having an attorney review it.

The more proactive you are, the better your chances of resolving a debt collection lawsuit. Check out this flowchart that outlines all the different routes a debt lawsuit can take:

SoloSuit can help you file an Answer in all 50 states.

How can I settle a debt with Discover?

Discover mentions several times on its website that they are willing to discuss the possibility of debt settlement. If you are too deep in debt to pay off an account, you can prepare a settlement offer and approach Discover for consideration. After a few rounds of negotiations, Discover may let you off the hook for less than you owe. But you must take the first step.

If you have never negotiated with debt collectors before and do not know where to begin, try SoloSettle. You can use it to make offers and negotiate with Discover. Communication stays in one place, allowing you to keep records for future reference.

What is SoloSettle?

SoloSettle is an online software designed to bring debt collectors and consumers together to discuss and reach debt settlement. Most consumers are struggling with credit card debt, and Discover knows that. This platform provides an avenue to explain your situation and willingness to work things out. You can make offers and counteroffers until you reach an agreement.

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