How to Resolve a Debt with ACEI Collections

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 ACEI Collections has communicated with you about a debt, SoloSuit can help you respond to the initial contact with a Debt Validation Letter, respond to a debt lawsuit, and settle your debt before going to court.

Managing finances can be challenging, and sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you owe money to a collections agency. If ACEI Collections has contacted you about an outstanding debt, you're probably wondering about the best way to navigate this situation. Rest assured, there are steps you can take to manage and potentially resolve this debt. This guide will walk you through the process.

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What is ACEI Collections?

American Collections Enterprise, Inc. (ACEI) is a debt collection agency that collects on behalf of creditors throughout the US. ACEI Collections may have purchased a debt from your creditor who no longer wanted to bother with collection efforts. With this transfer of ownership, it’s possible that ACEI Collections could take you all the way to court over the supposed debt.

ACEI Collections is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, and it has a B- standing with them. ACEI Collections reviews average at 1 out of 5 stars on its BBB profile and only 1.3 out of 5 stars on Google.

On top of these poor ratings, ACEI Collections has received many complaints on its BBB profile and the CFPB consumer complaint database. These complaints are concerning, and many of them allege that ACEI Collections attempts to collect on invalid debts, fails to verify a debt upon request, and reports inaccurate information to the credit bureau.

Knowing your rights will keep you safe from any sort of sketchy behavior on ACEI Collections’ part. Keep reading to learn how the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects you.

The FDCPA protects you from unethical collection practices

The FDCPA protects consumers from abusive or deceptive debt collection practices. Under this law:

ACEI Collections must provide written notice of the debt.
ACEI Collections cannot call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
ACEI Collections must cease communication if you request in writing.
Harassment or misrepresentation is prohibited.
ACEI Collections cannot discuss your debt with your friends, family, or coworkers.

If you believe your rights are being violated, you can report the agency to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

You also have the right to debt validation. Before you take any action on a debt, you should verify that it’s legit and that you actually owe it. You can do this through debt validation.

Make ACEI Collections validate the debt

Errors can occur, and it's possible that a debt you've already paid or isn't yours has been mistakenly attributed to you. As such, debt validation is a federal right given to you that can ensure you aren’t held liable for a debt that isn’t yours or has passed the statute of limitations.

If a debt collector has contacted you about a debt, you should respond with a Debt Validation Letter within 30 days of initial contact before making any payments. This letter is a type of legal demand that asserts your rights in the FDCPA, which says:

“If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period . . . that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed . . . the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt . . . until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt . . . and a copy of such verification . . . is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector.”

In order to validate the debt, ACEI Collections must provide the following information:

Proof that you owe the debt
The amount of the debt
The age of the debt
ACEI’s ownership of the debt
ACEI’s debt collector license, or right to collect on the debt in your state
A calculation of whether the statute of limitations has expired for collecting the debt
The last action taken on the account

If ACEI Collections can’t provide you with all this information, there is a good chance they will stop contacting you. Even if you owe the full debt, the collector still may not be able to show proper documentation that you owe it, or they might not be able to show documentation that they own the debt and have the right to collect on it. This is what makes a Debt Validation Letter such a powerful tool for debt resolution.

Below is the contact information for ACEI Collections:

Address: P. O. Box 30096, Alexandria, VA 22310
Phone: 703-253-7000
Email: cs@payacei.com

Respond to your debt lawsuit

If the debt is valid and within the statute of limitations, ACEI Collection can sue.

The first step you should take is to respond to an ACEI Collections lawsuit before your state’s deadline. To respond to a debt lawsuit, you have to draft and file an Answer into the case. In your Answer, you should:

Respond to each claim against you.
Assert your affirmative defenses.

SoloSuit can help you draft and file a customized Answer to your debt lawsuit in minutes and increase your chances of winning. Our software helps you create a personalized response to your debt case, helping you avoid losing automatically by default judgment. All you have to do is respond to a series of questions about your case, and an Answer document will be generated for you.

Your Answer will be properly formatted, contain appropriate legal language, address all the claims against you, and include a section for your affirmative defenses.

Settle your debt with ACEI Collections

After you respond to your debt lawsuit, you have time to work out a debt settlement with ACEI Collections.

In a debt settlement, you offer a portion of the total amount due, usually at least 60% of the debt’s value. In exchange for a lump-sum payment, ACEI Collections agrees to drop any legal claims against you and release you from the remaining balance.

Once you've reached a settlement with ACEI Collections, you should ask for a written agreement that outlines the terms you've agreed upon. Don't make any payments until you have this in hand. Finally, be sure to follow through on your end and make all payments as agreed upon. Late or missed payments can nullify your agreement.

After settling the debt, monitor your credit report to ensure the account is updated appropriately. The report should reflect the payment, and the account should be marked as "paid" or "settled."

To learn more about how to settle a debt with ACEI Collections, check out this video:

SoloSettle, powered by SoloSuit, is a tech-based approach to debt settlement. Our software helps you send and receive settlement offers until you reach an agreement with the collector. Once an agreement is reached, we’ll help you manage the settlement documentation and transfer your payment to the creditor or debt collector, helping you keep your financial information private and secure.

Now, let's take a look at an example of how to settle a debt with ACEI Collections.

Example: Kyle is contaced by ACEI Collections regarding an old debt of $3,500. He goes months without responding, and eventually receives court documents in the letter notifying him that he's being sued for the debt. Kyle uses SoloSuit to respond to the lawsuit with a written Answer, buying himself time to negotiate a debt settlement with ACEI Collections. He uses SoloSettle to send a settlement offer of 60% of the debt, or $2,100. ACEI Collections counteroffers, and after a few rounds of negotiations, they come to an agreement to settle the debt for $2,625 (just 75% of the original amount).

You can resolve your debt with ACEI Collections

Facing a collections agency can be daunting, but understanding your rights and the steps to address the situation can alleviate much of the stress. Approach the process methodically, keep open communication with ACEI Collections, and remember that you have resources, like SoloSuit, available to help you.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate

>>Read the NPR story on SoloSuit. (We can help you in all 50 states.)

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