How to Beat Helvey and Associates

Dena Standley | November 21, 2022

Edited by Hannah Locklear

The trouble with Helvey and Associates is they do their best to get on your nerves until you pay. Their persistence and harassment can make consumers start paying even without confirming the facts.

So how can SoloSuit help you? Well, we help consumers who cannot afford to hire an attorney to create legal documents, empowering them to represent themselves in court. We can also help you avoid going to court altogether by preventing a lawsuit.

This article will explain how to beat Helvey and Associates at their game. First, let’s explore what Helvey and Associates is and what your fellow consumers think about its services.

Who are Helvey and Associates?

Helvey and Associates is a third-party debt collection agency based in Warsaw, Indiana, with multiple offices located across the United States. In business for more than 60 years, Helvey & Associates uses dunning letters, skip tracing services, and credit bureau reporting to get consumers, like you, to pay off debts..

Helvey & Associates’ contact information is as follows:

Address: 1029 East Center Street, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
Phone: 574-269-1726, 855-804-5704
Email: info@hlv.com

Helvey & Associates, Inc is not an accredited business according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), but it does have an A- rating as of November 2022. That being said, its BBB reviews stand at only 1/5 stars.

The company has been operational in the debt collection industry for nearly seven decades. Still, consumers are dissatisfied with some of its practices. Below are some examples.

Helvey and Associates customer reviews

If you feel like you’ve been treated unfairly by Helvey & Associates, Inc., you’re not alone.

Complaints with the BBB and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) demonstrate some of the questionable debt collection tactics the company is willing to employ to get people to pay up.

As of 2022, Helvey & Associates has received 62 complaints in the last three years on its BBB profile. Similarly, the CFPB has reported more than 360 complaints over the last 10 years.

In these complaints, consumers allege that H&A makes false promises that they would remove accounts from consumers' credit reports if they paid in full, only to turn back and claim it is illegal to do so. They also claim that H&A has been furnishing records to the consumer reporting bureaus without proper notification.

Let’s look at a real example from H&A’s BBB profile:

“I am not liable for this debt with HELVEY AND ASSOCIATES and i do not have a contract with HELVEY AND ASSOCIATES . They were not able to provide me with the verifiable proof of any contract with my signature on it like i asked. this was a account from duke in which it was sent to collection as closed with zero dollars. their failure to positively verify the account has hurt my ability to obtain credit.”

This example suggests that Helvey and Associates failed to validate someone’s debt upon request, which is a violation of the Faird Debt Collection Practices Act. (FDCPA). It’s best to familiarize yourself with debt collection industry laws so you can protect yourself from unfair debt collection practices.

The FDCPA gives you rights that protect you

Did you know that a debt collector cannot lie to you? If the consumer quoted above can prove that Helvey and Associates lied to them, they can sue and get compensation.

Under the FDCPA, debt collectors cannot:

• Call you late in the night or early in the morning.
• Harass you.
• Degrade you by calling you names.
• Shame you by discussing your debt with unauthorized third parties.
• Call you at work if you tell them not to.
• Keep calling you after you ask them to stop.
• Impersonate government officials or agencies.
• Demand that you pay more than you owe.
• Threaten to take legal action if they do not plan to follow through.

If Helvey and Associates know that you are aware of your rights, they will have no choice but to stick to the rules. File your complaint with the CFPB or the FTC if they fail to comply.

Below is an example of how you can win against Helvey and Associates.

When Helvey and Associates contacts you, knowing your rights can help you fight back. A great way to prevent a lawsuit with debt collectors is sending a Debt Validation Letter. Keep reading to learn more.

Send a Debt Validation Letter to Helvey and Associates

Suppose you allow Helvey and Associates to bully you into paying alleged debts without proper validation. In that case, you could ruin your credit by reviving accounts past the statute of limitations. You might also open yourself up to debt collection lawsuits or pay more than you owe.

The law requires that Helvey and Associates validate every debt they contact you about. However, most consumers who don't know this take debt collectors at their word and fall deeper into the traps.

It's critical to remember that accounts that have gone into collections are prone to errors. The only way to determine if H&A have their records right is by sending a Debt Validation Letter. Check out this video to learn how a Debt Validation Letter can help you:

The letter requires that H&A provide documentation supporting every account entry. They will have to stop contacting you if they cannot prove their claims with proper documentation.

Use certified USPS mail so you can track your letter.

Even though the Debt Validation Letter will not delete valid debts, it lets you get your life back. The calls will stop, at least for some time. You will prove that the debt is not only yours but is also accurate. And you can also prevent a lawsuit.

Create your Debt Validation Letter now.

If the collector does validate your debt and ends up filing a debt lawsuit,, it is not too late to beat Helvey and Associates in court.

What should I do if Helvey and Associates is suing me?

Helvey and Associates collect for several credit providers, including the healthcare industry. If you have a debt resulting from medical bills, you typically have more time before the account reaches your credit report.

If you see such debt on your report, H&A has likely bought the account. Most healthcare providers rarely report to the credit bureaus.

Whatever the type of debt, if Helvey and Associates buy it, they may decide to sue you to recover their money (and profit).

If you have received a Summons and Complaint for debt collection, respond to the lawsuit. Do not let Helvey and Associates win because you failed to file an Answer. It takes just three steps, which we’ve explained below. Don’t like reading? Watch this video instead:

1. Respond to every claim

The Complaint document that accompanies the Summons lists the plaintiff's claims. Read every accusation carefully and respond to each of them independently. You can:

• Admit if you accept the claim.
• Deny if you want Helvey and Associates to prove you are guilty.
• Deny due to lack of knowledge if you aren't sure or do not understand the claim.

Some lawyers recommend that you deny everything. This forces Helvey and Associates to prove that you are guilty. If they can’t, there’s a good chance the case will be dropped.

2. Next, assert your affirmative defenses

After you’re responded to each claim against you, include a section for your affirmative defenses. This is where you get to tell your side of the story. An affirmative defense is any legal reason that Helvey and Associates’ case is not valid.

You can use a long list of legal defenses according to the US Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 8(c). Mnay of these legal terms may be new to you, but SoloSuit can help you pick the right ones that apply to your case.

All you have to do is respond to a series of questions about your lawsuit, and SoloSuit will translate your answers into the proper legal wording and format.

Make the right defense the right way with SoloSuit..

3. Finally, file your Answer with the court

Your Answer should reach the court before the filing deadline. Depending on where you live, you have between 14-35 days.

If you use SoloSuit, we can file for you. You should print the Answer document and make two copies if you plan to file yourself. File the original with the court. Send one copy to Helvey and Associates' attorney, and keep one for your records.

The advantage of using SoloSuit to file is that we will have an attorney review your Answer before filing to ensure it meets all legal requirements.

SoloSuit can file your Answer for you in all 50 states.

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.)

How to answer a summons for debt collection in your state

Here's a list of guides for other states.

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