How to Beat Penn Credit

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.

Beating Penn Credit feels like ^^

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

Penn Credit may contact you, claiming you owe a debt. It can be tempting to avoid responding to a debt collector, but the harassment is likely to continue.

If Penn Credit engages in unscrupulous debt collection practices, federal and state laws protect your rights. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) outlines what debt collectors can and cannot do in an attempt to collect a debt. Penn Credit may contact friends and family for your contact information, but they cannot discuss your debt with anyone besides you or your spouse. A debt collector cannot lie, threaten or abuse you.

Here's everything you need to know about Penn Credit and how to beat them.

What is Penn Credit Corporation?

The Penn Credit Corporation is a Pennsylvania-based financial firm focused on debt collection. Established in 1987, the firm provides accounts receivable management services for the following types of debts: student loans, utility bills, small claims, telecommunications, medical, and government.

You can use the following information to get in contact with Penn Credit:

General Mailing & Phone:
2800 Commerce Drive
Harrisburg, PA 17110
(800) 800-3328

Payment Address:
PO Box 69703
Harrisburg, PA 17106

Collections Department:
Phone: 800-900-1380
Email: inquiries@penncredit.com

Penn Credit has received many complaints and bad reviews

Debt collection is among the most vilified industries in our society. Penn Credit Corporation is no exception. As of 2022, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau(CFPB) reports 1,462 complaints against Penn Credit Corp. in a three-year time period, while the Better Business Bureau(BBB) reports 173 complaints in that same period.

These complaints document rude agents, inaccurate reporting, and harassment by phone and letter. These are violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and you can also file a complaint against them if they violate the FDCPA.

Let's take a look at a real example from the CFPB complaint database.

“Penn Credit Corporation decided to put unverified information on my credit report report. I filed a cfpb complaint about a debt reported on my credit profile and they claimed to have sent it to the address that the original company sent to them. I called the company and they can not seem to find any balance that I could have owed them. At this point Penn Credit corporation is in violation of at least 8 FDCPA regulations. Each violation is listed on the attached notarized affidavit. Along with the invoice for the charges for each violation.”

Get more information to verify the debt

The legal way to get this information is to send a Debt Validation Letter when Penn Credit first contacts you about a debt.

You have 30 days to respond. During the 30 days, your legal rights to get verification information from a debt collector increase under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

A Debt Validation Letter will help you get information regarding:

The reasons a debt collector believes you owe this debt.
The amount and age of the debt.
Proof that Penn Credit is allowed to collect the money.

After you send a Debt Validation Letter, you may find that the debt does not belong to you or Penn Credit has other inaccurate information. If that happens, you should immediately send a Cease-and-Desist Letter discussed below.

Send a "stop contacting me letter."

In this letter, also known as a Cease-and-Desist Letter, you ask the debt collector to stop contacting you unless they prove your responsibility for the debt. Cease and desist letters do not cancel the debt. Therefore, if Penn Credit collectors believe you are liable, they may take other actions to collect the debt.

Penn Credit may still sue you or report the debt to a credit bureau. According to federal law, debt collectors must stop contacting you once they receive a written request. However, they can reach you to inform you that they will not contact you again or plan to take legal action against you.

Pay the debt and request a goodwill deletion.

In exchange for paying off the debt, Penn Credit may extend a goodwill deletion. The term "goodwill deletion" refers to a debt collection agency ceasing to report a debt to major credit bureaus for the customer's benefit. It can work as long as your credit report is clean and you have paid the debt.

Write a letter explaining your situation; why you were late with the debt to request a goodwill deletion.

Penn Credit Corporation will do you a favor by granting you a deletion if you are honest and polite in your letter. Sincere and apologetic letters are more likely to be accepted.

Pay-for-delete settlements

If you cannot secure a goodwill deletion, your next step is to negotiate a pay-for-delete agreement. A "pay-for-delete" agreement means Penn Credit Corporation will remove an account from your credit report when you pay the debt. The debt collector may occasionally accept a less-than-full settlement. Debt collectors often purchase original creditors' debts at a discount. Therefore, they only need to recoup part of the money to turn a profit. Negotiate by offering to pay half the total amount. Once you agree, have it in writing.

Before you make your first payment to Penn Credit Corporation, wait to receive the agreement in the mail and ensure that they have spelled out their terms and that you agree to them. After making the payment, review your credit report 30 days afterward to see if Penn Credit Corporation is still listed. You can reach out to them and remind them of the agreement.

Defend yourself when sued by Penn Credit

File an answer to defend yourself. If you get sued, you may not take every action, but filing an Answer may buy you time to decide what to do. The answer is due thirty days after you receive the Complaint, and if you fail to respond promptly, the judge may issue a default judgment against you. Those thirty days include weekends but not court holidays.

You should take seriously their claims that they intend to sue you. According to the law, it is wrong for debt collectors to threaten any unacceptable action that they do not intend to take. Our Debt Lawsuit Settlement Letter will help resolve the lawsuit quickly when sued for debt.

Draft and file an Answer to a debt lawsuit against Penn Credit

The first step to beating Penn Credit Corporation in court is to respond to the Summons and Complaint. The proper way to respond is by filing a written Answer with the court and sending a copy of it to Penn Credit.

Know your state's statute of limitations

State laws set limits on the time creditors or debt collectors can sue. This is known as the statute of limitations, which varies by state. Generally, the time is two or more years depending on your state. You may not need to pay the debt after the statute of limitations expires.

In some states, even partial payments will restart the timer. Make sure to investigate the statute of limitations before making any payments to Penn Credit.

Draft and file the Answer on time

Make sure to file the Answer before the deadline, which is 14-35 days depending on which state you live in.

Follow these 6 tips when drafting your Answer:

The Answer isn't the place to tell your side of the story in detail.
Deny, Deny, Deny.
Include affirmative defenses.
Use standard formatting or “style”.
Include certificate of service.
Sign it.

To learn more about these 6 tips, check out this video:

After you've drafted your Answer, file it with the court immediately. Some courts require you to file electronically, but usually you can mail it in or drop it off in person. You should also send a copy of the Answer to Penn Credit and request a return receipt for proof of delivery.

SoloSuit can help you file an Answer 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.

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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