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How to Resolve an Ability Recovery Services Lawsuit

Sarah Edwards | May 30, 2024

Sarah Edwards
Legal Expert
Sarah Edwards, BS

Sarah Edwards is a professional researcher and writer specializing in legal content. An Emerson College alumna, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication from the prestigious Boston institution.

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: If contacted by the Ability Recovery Services, here's how to respond: validate the debt, know your rights, respond to any pending lawsuits, and settle the debt outside of court. SoloSuit can help with all these steps and more.

If you’re being sued by this agency, don’t panic — there’s still a way to resolve your debt (and you might even be able to pay less than you owe). Take a deep breath and let SoloSuit show you how to resolve Ability Recovery Services lawsuits.

Settle debt with Ability Recovery Services

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

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What is Ability Recovery Services?

Ability Recovery Service (ARS) is a National Collection Agency that has been in business for over 30 years. They are members of the ACA International, a body that monitors how collection agencies work. According to its tagline, Ability Recovery Services is “The Collection Agency With a Sense of Urgency.”

ARS provides medical claim processing and billing services for medical facilities and practitioners. The company also specializes in offering services to higher education institutions, utility companies, financial institutions, and telecom companies. ARS collects debt in all fifty states and promises its customers peace of mind to run their businesses as they follow up unpaid accounts.

Ability Recovery Services is located at 284 Main St, DuPont, PA 18641-1960. If you need to get in touch with the company, you can call (570) 207-1892. That’s the main phone number, but like many collection agencies, it has representatives who also call from other numbers.

Ability Recovery Services, LLC is a fairly large operation. It collects in all 50 states and has been in business since 2005. It collects for several industries:

  • Medical providers
  • Financial institutions
  • Utility companies
  • Colleges and universities

Ability Recovery Services reviews

If you’re facing a lawsuit, you should know who you’re dealing with. We checked out the Ability Recovery Services Better Business Bureau (BBB) profile, where almost 400 consumers complaints have been submitted against the collection agency. On its BBB profile, Ability Recovery Services has an average review rating of one star out of five. It isn’t BBB accredited, although it at least has a BBB rating of A-.

We also took a look at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaint database and saw that as of April 15, 2024, Ability Recovery Services had more than 2,000 complaints filed against it. The issues mentioned in these complaints were very similar to those in the BBB complaints and include a wide range of problems:

  • Putting derogatory marks on credit reports without prior notification of the debt
  • Rude customer service representatives
  • Refusal to provide an itemized list of debt or to otherwise validate the debt
  • Ignoring requests for settlement options
  • Trying to collect the wrong amount

How to respond to an Ability Recovery Services lawsuit

After Ability Recovery Services has attempted to contact you, they can report your debt to any of the major consumer credit bureaus. That’s why you may see Ability Recovery Services on credit reports as well as other official correspondence.

They can also legally sue you to recover unpaid debt. How do you respond to a debt collection lawsuit?

File an Answer immediately

The very minute you receive notice of the lawsuit, it’s time to act. Filing an Answer with the local court will communicate your willingness to fight the lawsuit. Otherwise, the court can render a default judgment in favor of Ability Recovery Services.

SoloSuit makes it easier to draft an Answer. Just answer a few questions through the online platform, and you’ll generate an Answer that you can file with the court. You can also request that SoloSuit file your Answer on your behalf.

Learn more about how to respond to a lawsuit in this helpful video.

Validate your debt

Never agree that the debt is yours until you’re absolutely certain. Insist that Ability Recovery Services provide you with such details as:

  • The identity of your original creditor
  • The date you took on the debt
  • The date of your last payment (if any)
  • The amount of the original debt
  • The remaining balance of the debt

If Ability Recovery Services is unable to tie you to the debt, you may be able to win a lawsuit. Otherwise, you’re going to have to either pay your full balance or negotiate a lower settlement.

Act now to validate your debt with Ability Recovery Services.

Settle your debt with Ability Recovery Services

What if the debt is genuinely yours? It’s time to settle your debt to eliminate it once and for all. Here’s how you can negotiate a lower settlement with Ability Recovery Services.

Submit a debt settlement offer

Start by submitting a debt settlement offer to Ability Recovery Services. A reasonable offer would be to agree to pay 60% of the total amount. Don’t make any payments on your debt until you hear back from the debt collector.

Explain your circumstances

It may help if you can explain your circumstances to the debt collection agency. For example, you might explain your other debts or your financial status. But be honest, since debt collectors may already have access to your credit report and other documents to assess your current financial situation.

Prepare for a counteroffer

Don’t be surprised if Ability Recovery Services doesn’t accept your initial offer. They may respond with a counteroffer, which you can choose to accept or reject. If you reject the counteroffer, submit a counteroffer of your own, then repeat the process until you reach a mutually agreeable solution.

To learn more about how to settle debt, we asked an attorney for tips. Check out the video below to learn more about how to settle with Ability Recovery Services.

Streamline the process using SoloSettle

This process may sound intimidating if you’re not used to negotiating with creditors. That’s why SoloSettle can make it easier. SoloSettle serves as a middleman between you and the debt collector, so you never have to interact with them directly.

Instead, you’ll use SoloSettle to submit an initial offer and respond to any counteroffers. SoloSettle will also handle your payment for maximum peace of mind. Let’s take a look at an example of this service in action:

Example: Mark had gotten a little behind on his student loans, but he’d never expected to get sued over it. So when he received notice of a lawsuit from Ability Recovery Services, he panicked. Fortunately, he was able to use SoloSuit to file an Answer, which gave him time to negotiate. Using SoloSettle, Mark submitted an initial offer to pay 60% of his student loan balance. Ability Recovery Services rejected this offer but submitted a counteroffer for Mark to pay 65% of the balance. Mark agreed, which allowed him to resolve his debt for less and get back to rebuilding his credit.


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Make an Offer

How to resolve Ability Recovery Services lawsuits

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to resolving a lawsuit with Ability Recovery Services (or any other debt collector). If you’ve just found out you’re being sued, you generally have three main options:

  • Arrange a settlement with the collector.
  • Force the issue into arbitration.
  • Continue the lawsuit.

Let’s take a closer look at each one and when you should use it.

Option 1: Arrange a settlement

Resolving your debt lawsuit with a settlement is often your best option. However, if you want to keep this option open, you still must respond to the lawsuit within your state’s deadline. You do this by filing an Answer.

In some cases, Ability Recovery Services might just drop the suit (depending on the value of your debt, some collectors prefer to not go after consumers who will actually fight them). If they don’t, you can try to negotiate a settlement.

With a settlement, you and a debt collector agree on a lump sum you will pay. To see how it works, let’s look at an example.

Example: Jack gets a notice in the mail that says Ability Recovery Services is suing him for $5,000. He knows he owes it, but paying that much would be hard. He decides to offer a settlement. Jack files an Answer by his state’s deadline. He then uses SoloSettle to send Ability Recovery Services an offer: he will pay half the debt, or $2,500. The collector counteroffers with $3,500, and they finally agree on $3,000. Jack pays the $3,000 lump sum, and then his ordeal is finally over!


Ready to negotiate a settlement with Ability Recovery Services? Get started with SoloSettle by SoloSuit!

Option 2: Force arbitration

In some cases, you might be able to force the lawsuit out of court and settle it with an arbitrator instead. An arbitrator can help resolve the issue with the Ability Recovery Services collector. However, the service isn’t free.

It’s important to understand that while filing a Motion to Compel Arbitration can be great in some circumstances, it can actually make your debt worse in others. Make sure you fully understand the particulars of your case before filing a motion!

If arbitration seems like a viable option for you, SoloSuit can help you format and send your Motion to Compel Arbitration.

Learn more about arbitration in the following video:

Option 3: Continue with the lawsuit

If there’s a good chance you’d win a lawsuit (like if the debt you’re being sued for is a result of identity theft), it’s often a good idea to allow the lawsuit to continue. That way, you can bring the relevant documentation to court and prove your case.

If you choose this option, you must file an Answer document by your state’s deadline. This is critically important. If you don’t file an Answer, the court will almost always issue a default judgment against you.

This means that Ability Recovery Services wins automatically. With a judgment, the collector can also garnish your wages, put a lien on your house (if you own one), take money from your bank account, or take other drastic actions to get the money.

SoloSuit can help you take the guesswork out of responding to a debt lawsuit — send your Debt Answer today!

How does Ability Recovery Services work?

Ability Recovery Services works by following up on debt owed to their clients. When you stop making payments for a loan or credit card debt, the creditor attempts to collect from you, but when you do not make payments for three to six months, they transfer or sell your account to ARS.

If it's a transfer, ARS collects on behalf of the credit and is paid a percentage of the money they recover. If the creditor sells the debt, ARS now collects as if the debt is theirs. They usually buy the debts for a fraction of the actual amount and attempt to collect the total amount from you. If you become aware of this fact, you can request ARS to settle the debt for less than you owe. SoloSettle can help you draft a convincing debt settlement offer while our debt specialists monitor the negotiation process.

Start working on your debt settlement offer here.

Know your consumer rights while communicating with ARS

Consumers often feel helpless when debt collectors contact them for a debt they owe. You do not have to endure being mishandled because the agents represent big companies. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act safeguards borrowers from mistreatment by outlining laws that debt collectors and creditors should adhere to when following up on their debt. These guidelines state that ARS should not:

  • Call continuously for the same debt on the same day.
  • Phone you after 9 pm or before 8 am.
  • Talk to your colleagues, family, or friends about your debt.
  • Use abusive or profane language as they communicate with you.
  • Threaten to take your sensitive documents or call the police to arrest you.
  • Use deceptive and aggressive means to collect their debt.

If a debt collection agency has violated any of these laws, you have a winning chance if the agency sued you. SoloSuit’s Answer to Summons template will enable you to add these violations as affirmative defenses and force ARS to withdraw the case or accept a settlement offer. Learn more in the following video.

With SoloSuit, you have options!

Generally, it’s better to try to resolve debt before you get sued. But don’t despair if you already have a lawsuit against you! With SoloSuit’s help, you can navigate this difficult situation. It might feel like weathering a storm, but there’s a debt-free life (or at least, a life with less debt) on the other side.

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