How to Win a Collect Pros Dispute

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Collect Pros, LLC is located out of California and is a company that collects private debts for more than 23 million companies worldwide. If you have been attempting to remove a collection from your credit report, then you may have gone into a dispute with Collect Pros. In this situation, it may be because the information they have used to collect a debt from you is wrong, incomplete, or they are doing something illegal. In order to win a dispute against Collect Pros LLC, you should educate yourself and understand your rights in general.

What is important to remember is that if the dispute is valid, meaning you do not owe the debt or there is a mistake, there is no reason you shouldn't win the dispute. If you have any proof of why you do not owe the debt, or why it is wrong, be sure to provide this. You can also ask for proof of the debt, and for Collect Pros to prove your responsibility for it.

Use SoloSuit to file a response to debt collectors in 15 minutes.

Understanding collection accounts

When you take out a loan or credit card, you sign an agreement to pay payments on your account. If you do not pay them, then your account will eventually be considered past due. This is considered being in “default”. Eventually, your debt may be sold to a third-party debt collector, or collection agency (such as Collect Pros).

These companies work by buying consumer debts for pennies on the dollar, and then collecting as much as they can of the original debt. Collection agencies are allowed to report your collection accounts to the three national credit reporting companies (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion).

The debt collector will typically contact you by phone or letter. They will ask you to make payments to them to pay off the debt. Collection accounts can remain on your credit reports for up to seven years from the date that account first became delinquent wit the original creditor rather the collector.

Understanding disputes

When you dispute a credit account, it means that you have sent an inquiry to a credit bureau regarding something that you believe is an error on your credit report.

Whether you believe there is an inaccurate or incomplete collection account on your credit report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act protects you. This act provides you with the ability to dispute any inaccurate or incomplete collection with either the credit bureaus or a creditor. By submitting a dispute, you are asking the credit bureau to look into why something is on your report, and to correct, or remove the item in question should there be no possibility to verify it.

To send a dispute, you can use the dispute form on each credit bureau's website. The Federal Trade Commission provides sample letters if you are not sure about writing one yourself.

After submitting a dispute a credit reporting company can take 30 days to investigate. If the court files in favor of you, the account will be removed from your credit report. If the court files in favor of the creditor or company reporting the debt, then it will stay on your report for up to seven years.

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Other options to remove a collection from your credit report

If you have a collection on your report that you have already paid, then you can ask the collector or creditor to remove it. Typically you will need to send this person a “goodwill deletion letter”. In this letter, you can explain why you made the mistake to get into debt in the first place, ask for forgiveness, and then show how you have paid off your other debts regularly.

There is no guarantee that it will be removed, but you may as well try. If the account is removed then your credit score might go up, offering you the chance at better APR on loans, credit cards, or mortgages.

If your debt is legitimate and you cant ask the debt collector to delete it from your report, then you will simply have to wait. It may feel like a long time, but it is your only option. It will impact your credit score, but as time goes on it will impact it less and you can work on your score in the meantime.

Protect your credit score by filing a response with SoloSuit.

Deciding whether or not to dispute a collection

Your credit report usually has a lot of information about your financial status, and how well you manage your credit. For example, every loan you take out is visible on your report, as well as credit cards you own, any bankruptcies you have filled, collection accounts, and credit inquiries attached to your name. These are all used to calculate your credit score, and lenders use them as a way to decide whether or not you are financially trustworthy.

This information is very critical to how you are viewed by lenders, so it is important to keep track of the information on your report. If you see any information you think is wrong, then you should immediately dispute it to have it removed or changed.

This might include collections for debts that do not belong to you, or anything on your credit cards. Even if they are simply wrong, it is essential to dispute them. If you happen to have missed payments on accounts you own, then disputing them will not change anything.

If you have a collection account on your credit report that you believe doesn't belong to you, you should always file a dispute. This is a simple process but can save you in your financial future. It is also an example of why it is important to check your credit score regularly.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.

How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.

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

>>Read the NPR story on SoloSuit: A Student Solution To Give Utah Debtors A Fighting Chance

How to answer a summons for debt collection in your state

Here's a list of guides for other states.

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Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah; File a Motion to Satisfy Judgment Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

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