1.
What is validation
of debt?
a.
Debt validation
is where you try to find out whether the collection agency has the legal right
to collect on the debt by asking them to provide you with proof. The FDCPA
gives you the right to seek validation from a collection agency and not the
original creditor. The FDCPA does not govern collection practices of the
original creditor.
2.
Is there a
time limit for validation of debt?
a.
Under the FDCPA,
debt collectors (collection agencies) are required to send you a debt
validation notice within 5 days of contacting you to collect a debt. The notice
informs you that you have the right to validate/dispute the debt within 30 days
of receiving the letter.
3.
How are
you helping me if my accounts are all going into collections?
a.
We are helping
you prove that the alleged debts that you have enrolled into our program are
valid debts and that the third-party collection agency may legally collect on
that debt. Many times, third-party collection agencies are not able to prove
that the accounts they’re attempting to collect on are valid. If they are
unable to prove that they have the right to collect on a debt, they are legally
no longer able to attempt collection.
4.
How long
does it take for the original creditors to sell my alleged debt to a
third-party collection agency?
a.
The time frame
for an account to be sold to a third-party collection agency varies by creditor
and account type. Typically, accounts are sold over between 3-9 months from the
date of the first missed payment; however, this is not guaranteed.
5.
What
happens if my creditor/collection agency can validate my debt?
a.
If any account
enrolled is able to validate that you legally owe that debt, you will receive a
100% refund of the amount of funds paid in for that specific account. We can
refer you to an independent third-party law firm that can assist you with the
settlement of that account.
6.
What is
the FDCPA?
a.
The Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is the main federal law that governs debt
collection practices. The FDCPA prohibits debt collection companies from using
abusive, unfair or deceptive practices to collect debts from you. Under the
FDCPA, debt collectors include collection agencies, debt buyers, and lawyers
who regularly collect debts as part of their business. There are also companies
that buy past-due debts from creditors or other businesses and then try to
collect them. These debt collectors are also usually called debt collection
agencies, debt collection companies, or debt buyers.
7.
What is
the FCRA?
a.
The Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of
information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. The top three credit
reporting agencies that we deal with are Experian, Transunion, and Equifax.
b.
Under the FCRA:
i.
You have the
right to know what is in your file.
ii.
You have the
right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information.
iii.
Consumer
reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or
unverifiable information.
8.
What is
Financial Strength Builder?
a.
Financial
Strength Builder (FSB) is a third-party service provider that provides
educational and learning tools to help consumers reach their highest financial
stability. FSB offers fun, educational tools that were created to create the
behavior needed to experience the feel-good results of making better financial
decisions.
9.
What
happens to my credit score during this process?
a.
Your credit score
will take a hit once you have made the decision to stop paying your creditors.
Many times, our clients see an increase in their credit score during Step 1 of
the program, then once their creditors begin to report late payments on their
credit report, their credit score goes down. Often, once we’ve completed the
third and final step of our program, our clients graduate with a better credit
score than when they first enrolled. Please note that adding new accounts with
late payments, opening new tradelines, applying for new credit can have a
negative impact on your credit score. Please be aware of this.
10.
I just received
a collection letter- why is my debt amount higher than it was when I first
enrolled this account?
a.
Original
creditors frequently add hundreds of dollars in interest and late fees before
selling the account to a third-party collection agency in order to sell the
account off for more than they would get if they just sold the account at the
time of non-payment. The debt amount does not affect our ability to request
debt validation on the account.
11.
How long
will Credit Restoration take?
a.
The time frame of
the final step of our program varies based on the amount of inaccurate
information that needs to be removed, and the age of that information. There is
no definitive time frame because it depends on how long it takes for the
inaccurate items to be removed from your credit report.
12.
How long
does it take to have a specific item removed from my credit report?
a.
It depends on the
original creditor. When a dispute is filed with a credit bureau, they go to the
creditor that reported the information and ask that they prove the information
was not reported in error. The creditor has 30 days to send proof to the credit
bureau. If sufficient proof is not provided, the negative information is
deleted from your credit report. Sometimes, the creditor is able to provide
sufficient proof so a second dispute must be filed with the credit bureau.
13.
What do I
do if a creditor/collection agency is violating my rights?
a.
Under the FDCPA,
creditors and collection agencies have guidelines that must be followed in
order to stay within your rights. Our Violations Team is here to provide you
with consumer rights education and training on how to protect those rights.
They will review laws and statutes that were put into place to protect you as a
consumer. By providing you with information, assistance, and services to which
you may not otherwise have access, we are arming you with the tools and
resources to assist in protecting yourself against violations of your consumer
rights. Please be sure to log all calls you may receive from a
creditor/collection agency in your Creditor Communication Log located in your
Welcome Package, and regularly send these call logs in to us so that we may
review these logs for any potential violations. Please be sure to contact us if
more communication logs are needed! This information is for educational
purposes only. Do not misconstrue as legal advice. If you receive a potential
violation, you will be referred to a third-party law firm that you will sign a
separate agreement with regarding debt tradeline deletion and potential
compensation to you through litigation.
14.
What are
the chances that I will receive a summons?
a.
There is no pattern that allows us to know when a client will receive a summons. Should you receive a summons, an independent third party law firm will be identified for you that you may choose to work with if you want. You will sign a separate agreement with them in order for them to represent you. They have the ability to provide you several solutions which include assistance with a settlement of the account and or the possibility to appear in court in order to get the debt dismissed.
15.
After all
my payments are made to you, is the debt removed from my credit?
a.
Your fee schedule
has no impact on the length of the program or how long our services are
available for you. Often times, our program fee is broken into monthly payments
so that our program is affordable to you. Once you have finished paying your
fee schedule, we will continue to work on your behalf until you are ready to
graduate our program.
16.
What is
your success rate?
a.
The rate of success
is dependent on each individual client’s situation. We have had tremendous
success in the past for many of our clients.
b.
We have received
tens of thousands of documents confirming the cease of collection activity. We
have received tens of thousands of confirmed deletions of inaccurate
information on credit reports that have been removed. We have identified
thousands of potential violations which may have turned into litigation which
resulted in tradeline deletion, compensation, and debt waiver.