How to beat CCB Credit Services

Dena Standley | October 19, 2022

Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by 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.

Defend yourself against CCB Credit Services.

Summary: Is CCB Credit Services suing you for a debt? SoloSuit can help you take a stand and win in court.

Some creditors use a third-party collection agency to help them get their money back from consumers who have fallen behind on their payments. It's challenging to deal with the collectors, especially if you cannot pay up during the initial demand. However, debt collectors are obligated by law to respect your rights when interacting with you.

Understanding how to deal with credit collection agents on owed or assumed debt works to your advantage. Before you say anything or start making payments, it is helpful to understand what CCB Credit Services can and cannot do so that you can assert your rights and decide how to manage the debt situation.

Their debt collection tactics can be annoying or even illegal. If CCB Credit Services hounds you to pay a consumer debt, here's how to beat them.

Who is CCB Credit Services, Inc.?

CCB Credit Services, Inc. is a collection agency that purchases your debt from a creditor (e.g., a credit card company or a loan company). Often, they will contact you via mail or phone, (demanding payment). Even worse, you will have a collection account on your credit report, which lowers your credit score (and chances) to get approved for a loan or other significant financial event.

If CCB Credit Services is breathing down your neck about a debt you owe, here's how you can beat them.

Investigate the debt in question

When an original creditor sells a debt to a third party, the third party might then resell the debt, and so on. Record keeping then becomes almost impossible to manage. It is common for sold debts to contain errors concerning the amount owed or even the debt owner. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau receives the most complaints about debt collection practices.

If you haven't received a debt validation from the debt collector within five business days of first contacting them, request one. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), you have 30 days after the first contact with CCB Credit Services to request debt validation, which should include details about the debt, who is collecting it, and how to dispute it. Send a Debt Validation Letter to get them off your back. In fact, many collectors simply give up after receiving such a letter, because it's not worth their time and money to go to the trouble of validating the debt.

If the debt is yours, gather your records, including your payment history and the original creditor. Document any communications with the debt collector and previous payments, and use certified mail for the best evidence.

Debt collectors must abide by your rights

The FDCPA ensures that all debt collectors abide by specific debt collection laws. Understanding these laws will help you identify if debt collectors violate your rights. Here are some rules every debt collector must follow:

Contacting you is governed by rules—Debt collectors cannot call you at work and should only call you during office hours (between 8am-9pm). A legitimate debt collection agency will provide you with company information, including phone numbers and addresses.
They cannot lie nor harass you—If you cannot pay your debts, creditors cannot threaten you with arrest, jail time, property liens, or wage garnishment. Your state may allow wage garnishment, but your debt collector will need to go to court first. Debt collectors who pose as police and threaten arrest may be fraudsters. Contact the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if you feel you may have encountered a scammer.

Get a copy of your credit report

Collection agencies are notorious for playing the shell game with debt. A collection account may appear on your credit report from one of the three major credit reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Review your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies if you want to have a comprehensive understanding of your credit health.

You can view your credit report for free at AnnualCreditReport.com. They are the only source that can give you copies of your credit reports from all three credit bureaus. Look for accounts with similar amounts and dates under different names. In addition to the collection agency, your credit report may include the original creditor.

Your credit report may list their account as a collections account. In many cases, one agency will sell a debt to another, and the same account may have more than one notation.

Make a pay-for-delete agreement or settlement

If the debt is valid and the information the debt collector provides is accurate, you still have options. If you wish to remove CCB Credit Services from your credit report, you can explore a pay-for-delete option. Pay-for-delete is an option where you only pay your debt if CCB Credit Solutions agrees to remove the collection account from your credit report.

Many debt collectors will accept less than you owe because they likely bought the debt from another company at a meager price. As a result, if you pay them any more than they purchased your debt for, they make a quick profit and only care about making money. Only after you have agreed on the terms can you sign an agreement that may protect you from escalation situations in the future.

A pay-for-delete is not the right choice for everyone. Before considering this option, send a Debt Validation Letter forcing the creditor to verify the debt and all associated information. If you decide to pursue a pay-for-delete, verify all negotiations via certified mail. If the collection account is still on your credit report after a few weeks, you should notify CCB Credit Services. Negative items can significantly lower your credit score.

For more information on Debt Validation Letters, check out this video:

Request a goodwill deletion

You can send a goodwill deletion as a last resort. A goodwill deletion letter is sent directly to the creditor or debt collection agency, asking them to reach out to the credit bureaus to remove the negative mark on your report. It is best for people who have already paid the debt, which may earn some goodwill with the debt collection agency. You can email them stating that you have already paid the debt and would like the collection account taken off your credit report.

The decision to remove the collection account lies entirely with CCB Credit Services. Be polite and concise in your letter and only supply supporting documentation if the information is accurate.

CCB Credit Services online reviews

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Better Business Bureau (BBB) have received many complaints against collection agencies. CCB, with an A+ rating on the latter, has received 11 consumer complaints, most of which are about inaccurate or incomplete reporting or non-verification of debt.

For example, one consumer complained that she had been making regular payments on a debt with the original creditor when CCB Credit purchased the debt. When she called them to discuss the debt, one of CCB's representatives told her they would no longer accept the regular payments she'd been making with the creditor. They said she needed to make a lump-sum payment because it was during tax season. When the consumer explained that she couldn't afford this, they advised her to ask her family and friends for money to help pay it off. To make matters even more unprofessional, they ended the call by telling her to enter the lottery so she could pay them back.

Where can you find CCB Credit Services, Inc.?

CCB Credit Services, Inc. calls Springfield, Illinois home. Here's CCB Credit Services' address, phone number, and website:

CCB Credit Services, Inc.
5300 South 6th Street
Frontage Road East
Springfield, IL 62703

Phone number: (800) 252-1772
Website: https://ccbcreditservices.com/

The law prohibits debt collectors from harassing, abusing, or lying to consumers. Understanding your consumer rights—and not being afraid to exercise them—is essential.

What if CCB Credit Services is suing me?

If CCB Credit Services files a lawsuit against you, there is still hope. You might think you have to hire an attorney to represent you in the case, but doing so can be stressful and pricey (in some cases, even more expensive than the debt you owe). But you can represent yourself and win in court with SoloSuit's help.

The first step to beating CCB Credit Services in court is to file a written Answer to the Summons and Complaint (which you should have been properly served). You can make an Answer on SoloSuit's website in less than 15 minutes by answering a few questions. SoloSuit can also help you file your Answer and have an attorney review your documents before submitting them.

Make the right defense the right way with SoloSuit.

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.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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