How to Beat Credit Control Corporation

Dena Standley | February 24, 2023

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.

Beating Credit Control Corporation feels like ^^

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

A call or email from Credit Control Corporation could only mean that you owe a debt to an individual or a company. Credit Control Corporation is a legitimate third-party debt collection agency that collects debt for utility providers, healthcare institutions, and commercial enterprises.

Credit Control Corporation has been in business for over 38 years and is Better Business Bureau (BBB) accredited, and they have a Google star rating review of only 1.9 from 135 reviews. Consumers complain that Credit Control Corporation harasses them, contacts them for a debt they do not owe, and refuses to remove an already paid debt from their credit report.

You can beat Credit Control Corporation if you have experienced these consumer issues by filing a lawsuit. You can also report them to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) and use any violation committed to request they remove the debt from your credit report. Consumers usually have questions on the best way to deal with Credit Control Corporation debt collectors, and today, we will answer four of the most crucial questions. But first, let's take a look consumer complaints against Credit Control Corporation.

Credit Control Corporation has received many complaints

If you're feeling frustrated with Credit Control Corporation, you're not alone. In the last three years, Credit Control Corporation has received 199 complaints on its BBB profile, and 218 complaints have been submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

These complaints mention unfair debt collection practices by Credit Control Corporation, such as:

Calling friends and family members to discuss someone else's debt.
Ignoring requests to validate a debt.
Reporting incorrect debt information to the credit bureaus.
Failing to correct credit reports after reaching a settlement.
Claiming consumers owe a debt that was already paid off.
Accusing consumers of owing more than the original amount.

Let's consider a real example.

Example: One consumer, let's call her Margaret, had open heart surgery and paid her medical bills to the medial billing office. Margaret was notified by Credit Control Corporation that she owed the same amount she had already paid off. When she reached out to Credit Control Corporation to dispute their claims, it got her nowhere. She even requested an itemized bill from CCC, but they just kept sending her the same debt collection letter. Margaret sent documents proving the payment, and the medical billing office even called Credit Control Corporation to explain that the debt had been paid in full. Finally, after much hassle and her credit score dropping, CCC agreed to close the account and report the resolved debt to the credit bureaus.

As you can see, Credit Control Corporation doesn't always play fair. To protect yourself, you should understand your rights that protect you from abusive debt collection practices, as outlined in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Keep reading to learn more about your rights.

Can I file a lawsuit against Credit Control for harassment?

Yes, consumers have a right to sue a debt collection company that violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). If Credit Control Corporation has harassed you in any of the following ways, you can sue them for up to $1,000 in damages per violation:

Threaten you with a lawsuit, arrest, or negative credit reporting.
Intimidate you for having a debt.
Make criminal accusations that are not true.
Use obscene language as they attempt to collect.
Call third parties like family members, colleagues, or friends.
Call you at work after requesting them not to call.
Call you multiple times a day and not heeding to your request to stop calling.

Federal laws provide consumers with the opportunity to seek monetary damages in court. The court can exonerate you from paying the debt, or you may receive compensation for emotional and financial distress.

Can Credit Control Corporation garnish my wages?

Yes, in rare cases, wage garnishment occurs when a debt collection agency sues a consumer, and they have failed to respond or appear in court, leading to a default judgment. A default judgment means the collection agency automatically gets permission to access their funds from your wages or bank account.

Credit Control Corporation can also garnish your wages if you ignored their attempts to collect, and they won the case because the evidence they had against you was compelling even if you showed up for court.

To avoid being taken to court for a familiar debt, plan to respond to Credit Control Corporation debt collectors. Ask for more information about the debt in question and send a Debt Validation Letter for Credit Control Corporation to verify that the debt is yours. If the document confirms the debt is rightfully yours, make plans to start payments.

How can I remove Credit Control Corporation from my credit report?

Credit Control Corporation has a right to enter a debt on your credit report once you default or refuse to make payments. Sometimes the information entered may be inaccurate. In other cases, the debt may not be yours or one you have already paid. If you experience these issues on your credit report, you can take the following steps:

Send a Debt Validation Letter: Once you notice discrepancies on your report, send a Debt Validation Letter that requires Credit Control Corporation to validate that the debt belongs to you and the figures are correct. If Credit Control Corporation fails to validate the debt, they should immediately remove it from your credit report.

Dispute the debt: If the validation notice from Credit Control Corporation contains errors, you can dispute the debt with the credit bureaus. The first step is to request your credit reports from TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Next, highlight the errors and send the report back with a debt dispute letter. The bureaus will investigate with Credit Control Corporation and either correct the debt or remove it from the report.

Request for goodwill deletion: If you genuinely had debt and paid it, you can request Credit Control Corporation to delete the debt from your report. Legally, they must change the status from unpaid to paid debt and leave it on your report. Asking them to remove it should be done politely because they are within the law by leaving it there.

Propose a pay-for-delete agreement: Request Credit Control Corporation to agree to remove the debt from your credit report if you pay a significant amount. Debt collectors do not quickly warm up to such proposals, and they will require you to pay more than half of the debt to agree to the arrangement.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) safeguards you from unfair debt entry. Report any bad business practices or fraud to your attorney general's office or the FTC website.

What options do I have if Credit Control Corporation sues me?

As we mentioned, Credit Control Corporation can sue you if you ignore their attempts to collect or fail to make payments. Consumers usually panic and are easily manipulated by debt collectors when they receive a lawsuit. You still have options even after the Credit Control Corporation sues you. Remember, Credit Control Corporation's desire is to obtain their client's money, and they will accept any arrangement to do so. SoloSuit will help you respond to the lawsuit with the following documents:

File a written Answer: This is the first document you must send within 14–30 days after receiving the lawsuit. You may obtain a default judgment if you do not send it. Check out this video to learn more about how to create your Answer to a debt lawsuit:

Motion to Compel Arbitration: Send this document if your loan or credit card agreement contains an arbitration clause. This clause makes it challenging and expensive for Credit Control Corporation to come after you in court. Watch this video to learn more about how a Motion to Compel Arbitration can help your case:

SoloSettle: Use this to propose an arrangement to settle the debt outside the courts. You can request to pay less than the original amount and avoid the expensive court process. To learn more about how to negotiate a debt settlement, check out this video:

After completing the document, our attorney will review it at a small fee, and we will file it with the courts and send a copy to Credit Control Corporation.

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.

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

Get Started

We have answers.
Join our community of over 40,000 people.

You can ask your questions on the SoloSuit forum and the community will help you out. Whether you need help now or are just looking for support, we're here for you.

Ask a Question

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