How to beat Southwest Credit Systems

Dena Standley | April 11, 2024

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.

Fact-checked by George Simons, JD/MBA

Co-Founder of SoloSuit
George Simons, JD/MBA

George Simons is the co-founder and CEO of SoloSuit. He has helped Americans protect over $1 billion from predatory debt lawsuits. George graduated from BYU Law school in 2020 with a JD/MBA. In his spare time, George likes to cook, because he likes to eat.

Summary: If Southwest Credit Systems claims you owe a debt, exercise your rights to make them validate it and resolve the debt through settlement before your court date. SoloSuit can help you validate a debt and respond to pending debt lawsuits.

A phone call from a debt collector can be terrifying and frustrating. Collectors use aggressive means to get consumers to settle a debt they may not even know about. They may also use illegal tactics to compel them to respond without verifying the debt. Southwest Credit Systems (SWC Group) is no exception.

Who does Southwest Credit Systems collect for?

Southwest Credit Systems is a Texas-based third-party debt collection agency that manages billions of dollars in receivable accounts in the following industries:

Property management
Telecommunications
Utilities
Government
Education
Highway tolls

If you have a pending debt in these sectors, expect to receive a call from Southwest Credit Systems. The first step in dealing with them is to know your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which protects you from illegal debt collection practices. You will recognize when they violate the law, and you can use the violation to beat them in court.

Consumers often wonder if Southwest Credit Systems is a legitimate collection agency and are sometimes unsure of how to handle a call or email from them. Let's look at these concerns and discuss the dos and don'ts of dealing with Southwest Credit.

Is Southwest Credit Systems legitimate?

Yes, Southwest Credit Systems is a legitimate debt collection agency based in Carrollton, Texas. It was founded in 1974 and has over 200 employees. Southwest Credit Systems has been Better Business Bureau accredited since 1976 with a current BBB rating of B. Their BBB profile displays over 600 complaints.

Customer complaints raised in these platforms include harassment by the debt collectors, wrong debt amount quoted, unfair debt entry to their credit report, and failure to validate debt on request.

If you've experienced abusive or manipulative treatment from Southwest Credit Systems, you can report them on the Fair Trade Commission's website or contact your attorney general's office. Here's their contact information:

Physical Address: 4120 International Pkwy Ste 1100 Carrollton, TX 75007-1958
Website: http://www.swcgroup.com
Phone Number: (972) 300-1700

Southwest Credit Systems reviews are not great

Southwest Credit Systems has an average rating of 1.4 out of 5 stars from more than 350 Google reviews. On its BBB profile, Southwest Credit has an average of 1 out of 5 stars from more than 30 reviews.

Take a look at some real Southwest Credit reviews below:

As you can see, many consumers have negative experiences when communicating with Southwest Credit. If you ever get a debt collection call, know that you have rights and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

What to do when Southwest Credit Systems contacts you

Southwest Credit Systems debt collectors may contact you by calling multiple times, sending many emails, or leaving voicemail messages. They use these methods several times, and if you ignore them, they may enter your debt in your credit report or file a lawsuit against you. It is in your best interest to respond to them by doing the following:

Ask them to put everything in writing: A debt collector will try using the simplest method to collect a debt—calling and asking you to make payments immediately. They expect you to agree to the debt figures they give you without questioning its legitimacy. To avoid being scammed, ask Southwest Credit Systems to send the debt information via email or certified mail and make it clear that you will not continue with the collecting process on the phone.

Record the call: Record the conversation if the debt collector insists on following up the debt via phone. Thirty-five states allow you to record a phone conversation without telling the caller, but the other 15 states require you to tell them you are recording the conversation. Find out where your state lies and abide by the law. A fake debt collector will stop their attempts to collect once you tell them you are recording, while a legitimate Southwest Credit Systems collector will respect your wishes and send the information in writing.

Request for debt validation: Once you have a rough idea of the debt Southwest Credit Systems is following up on, request them to validate the debt. You make this request by sending a Debt Validation Letter within 14–30 days after Southwest Credit first contacts you. The letter should request them to give you the details of the original creditor, a breakdown of the debt in question, and a statement allowing you to dispute the debt if you still doubt its validity. A significant number of debt collectors stop their collection attempts at this stage if they do not have all the information. This scenario may be the case for you with Southwest Credit Systems.

Dispute the debt with the credit bureaus: Carefully go through the debt validation notice and highlight all the errors you encounter. Afterward, dispute the debt with TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax credit bureaus (if you've noticed the debt on your credit report). Depending on their findings, these bureaus will investigate with Southwest Credit Systems within 30 days and remove or correct the debt.

Once you follow the above steps and have confirmed you owe the debt, make plans to negotiate with Southwest Credit Systems and start making payments. Clearing your debt will help to improve your credit score and prevent Southwest Credit from suing you.

What not to do when Southwest Credit Systems contacts you

Consumers who do not know their rights under the FDCPA react blindly to a call by debt collectors. They respond in a way that permanently destroys their chances of fighting for fairness in a debt collection process. Do not respond to Southwest Credit Systems debt collectors in the following ways:

Do not give a debt collector your personal information: If the debt is legitimate, Southwest Credit should already have all the information they need to collect.
Do not admit to the debt: Even if you are familiar with it, do not openly admit to owning the debt until Southwest Credit sends the information in writing and you validate the debt. Admitting to a debt reduces your negotiating chances in court.
Do not agree to make a 'good faith' payment until you have signed a settlement agreement with a payment plan and the exact amount you need to pay.
Do not lose your temper, or you will say things that can be used against you in court. You may also give out crucial information to solidify the Southwest Credit case against you.

Dealing with Southwest Credit Systemsdebt collectors can be challenging if you do not know how to respond and what documents to send. SoloSuit's software simplifies the process by providing you with the documents you need to beat SWC in court or get them off your back before they file a lawsuit. Use our Debt Validation Letter to ask Southwest Credit Systems to clarify the debt and file our Answer with the courts if the agency sues you.

Let's look at an example.

Example: Pamela was contacted by Southwest Credit Systems (now known as Southwest Credit Group) about an unpaid toll road bill. She used SoloSuit to request a debt validation, and when Southwest Credit couldn't verify all the details of the alleged debt, they had to stop contacting her.

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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