Medical Debt 101: How to Protect Your Finances and Credit

Medical bills can pile up fast—especially when unexpected health issues arise. But does that emergency room visit or surgery bill actually hurt your credit score? The answer isn't as straightforward as you might think.

Sued for medical debt? Use SoloSettle to settle it for less.

Does medical debt show up on your credit report?

Medical debt absolutely can affect your credit score, but there are important exceptions. According to debt resolution attorney Greg Anjewierden, CEO of DebtBrief, medical debt under $500 typically won't appear on your credit report anymore. He explains:

"Medical debt can be weighed less than some of that consumer debt, but it can still affect it."

This makes sense since getting hit with a $10,000 hospital bill after an accident is different from maxing out credit cards on shopping sprees.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been pushing to remove medical debt from credit reports entirely. However, with recent changes in the Trump administration, the future of these protections remains uncertain.

Respond to medical debt collection lawsuits fast with Solo.

How long does medical debt stay on your credit?

Like most debts, medical debt typically stays on your credit report for seven years. But here's the good news: if you pay off medical debt—even if it's late—it often gets removed from your credit report entirely.

This is different from credit card debt, where late payments leave permanent marks. As Greg notes:

"I believe with medical debts, even if it's paid late, you can get it removed in that way for medical specific debts."

Smart ways to negotiate medical debt

Before your medical debt lands in collections, take these steps:

1. Contact the hospital directly. Many medical providers offer charity programs or interest-free payment plans.
2. Ask about financial hardship programs. Hospitals often have special programs for patients who can't afford their bills.
3. Negotiate a lump sum payment. If you have some savings, hospitals frequently accept 60-80% of the total bill for immediate payment.
4. Don't ignore collection notices. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Ignoring medical debt can lead to lawsuits, wage garnishment, and liens on your property.

Let's consider an example.

Example: Lucy received a $15,000 hospital bill after emergency surgery. She contacted the hospital's billing department and qualified for their financial hardship program, reducing her bill to $5,000. She then negotiated a lump sum payment of $3,500 (70% of the reduced amount) to settle the debt completely. The paid medical debt was removed from her credit report.

What happens if you're sued for medical debt?

If a medical provider or debt collector sues you, follow these crucial steps:

First, file an Answer to the lawsuit. This prevents a default judgment, which could lead to wage garnishment or bank levies. Solo helps you create and file this Answer document properly.

Interestingly, Greg suggests that negotiating after a lawsuit is filed can sometimes yield better results: "Once you can get an attorney involved, I've found you can usually get a better deal in negotiating a settlement."

Why? Attorneys want quick resolutions. They don't want to spend days in court proving you owe the debt. When you file an Answer and show you'll fight the case, they become more willing to negotiate.

Settle your medical debt for less with SoloSettle.

Can collectors garnish Social Security for medical debt?

Good news for Social Security recipients: your benefits are generally protected from medical debt collectors. The key is keeping your Social Security income separate and being careful about where you store your money once you receive it. Greg warns about this caveat:

"Social Security is typically protected…but if you take that money and then you hold it in a bank account...they could potentially do a bank levy."

Medical debt vs. regular debt: Key differences

Medical debt differs from credit card debt in several important ways:

• It often results from emergencies, not voluntary spending
• Credit bureaus may weigh it less heavily than consumer debt
• Paid medical debt often gets removed from credit reports entirely
• Some states have special protections for medical debt

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Remember: even if medical debt doesn't appear on your credit report, collectors can still sue you. "The credit reporting is different than the debt collecting," Greg emphasizes. "They can still take you to court."

The bottom line? Don't ignore medical debt. Whether through hospital charity programs, payment plans, or settlement negotiations, there are always options. And if you're sued, responding properly with Solo's tools gives you leverage to negotiate a better deal.

Transcript

Hannah (00:35):

Hi everybody. We're really excited for the special guest, Greg Anjewierden. Greg is the owner and CEO of Debt Brief, which is a debt resolution company that can help you if you've been sued for debt and he's also an attorney, so he's got lots of experience in this world of debt and medical debt, especially because, correct me if I'm wrong Greg, but I believe you used to do medical debt collections for a law firm. But yeah, I wanted to give some time briefly to Greg to introduce himself. Also, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Hannah Locklear. I am on the solo team and we have a mission to help people resolve debts and settle their debts, especially if they've been sued. So with that being said, I wanted to give you a moment, Greg to introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about DebtBrief and your experience in the debt collection industry.

Greg (01:24):

Yeah, thanks. I'm Greg Anjewierden. I do have a company debt brief. I did use to do a lot of debt collection for medical providers. I've sort of shifted my focus now, started this company debt brief, so now I provide resources to people that are being sued by debt collectors that when maybe they can't afford an attorney, I've got other options for them, helping them with forms and coaching, which is why I'm helping out with Solo here because I really believe in their mission and what they do and really fighting back against the debt collectors and giving yourself the best chance you've got against them.

Hannah (02:06):

Awesome. Thank you so much Greg again for joining. It's great to have you. Greg has an awesome perspective and insights into this debt collection process. Wanted to ask you a little bit about medical debt as the title implies Medical Debt 1 0 1, how to protect your finances and credit if you owe medical debt. So my first question for you is, does medical debt affect your credit score?

Greg (02:32):

So I'm going to have maybe a long answer on this. It definitely can affect your credit score, so if that medical debt ends up on your credit report, it's going to affect the credit score. Now sometimes with some of these credit bureaus, they might weigh medical debt less than other types of debt and that makes sense, right? Because I mean if you get in an accident and you have to go to the hospital and you have this big bill that you can't afford to pay, that's kind of different in measuring your credit worthiness as opposed to somebody who went out and got a credit card and just went shopping and spent $10,000 and didn't pay it back. Those are two different kinds of things and so I think the medical debt can be weighed less than some of that consumer debt, but it can still affect it. There's other recent rules that have been changed, so I think the threshold now is $500 of its medical debt under $500. Now I believe it's not reportable to the credit bureaus anymore. I'm not exactly positive on that exact amount just off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure that that's correct

Hannah (03:43):

To give some insight too, from what I understand, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is a federal agency that helps protect consumers who are dealing with debt, it is actually right now a little uncertain what the future of that agency will be. Because of the new presidency and the new Trump administration, they have made some executive orders to shut down the agency, which would leave consumer rights and consumer protection rights up in the air. And so the whole future of that is a little bit uncertain, but last year one of the big moves that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was trying to make was to prevent medical debt reporting on credit reports. So that was a big one, and I think you're right Greg, if your medical debt is $500 or less, usually it would not appear on your credit report at all. But that was a big push that the CFPB was making to prevent medical debt from being a part of the credit report at all. But with the new Trump administration, things are a little bit up in the air for now because we don't even know how much longer the CFPB will continue to exist. If it does, hopefully it will exist because I do think that it can help protect consumers to a certain extent, but things are a little bit crazy right now in terms of medical debt and credit reporting.

Greg (05:01):

And I want to add one thing to that. I agree with everything you said, it definitely is in flux. The other thing that I see in regard to medical debt and credit reporting that most people don't understand is that the credit reporting is different than the debt collecting. The credit reporting is just like, okay, this stuff gets reported, and that credit score helps you determine what kind of interest rates you can get, what kind of loans you can get, et cetera. Even if the medical debt is not on the credit report, it is still collectible. They can still take you to court. So I don't want people to get confused and be like, oh good, it's not going on my credit report. I can get away with not paying this. Oh no, they will still sue you and come after that money even if it is not reportable or even if it is reportable and it's not on the credit report. So that's I think an important distinction to make when it comes to medical debt and credit reporting as well.

Hannah (05:55):

Oh yeah, I completely agree. Even if it doesn't affect your credit, it doesn't mean that it won't affect you legally and there can still be repercussions if you don't pay the medical debt. So that's a really great point to point out. So thank you for that. My next question is very much related to this and it is, how long does medical debt typically stay on your credit report?

Greg (06:14):

Yeah, I think this one, like most debts stuff cycles off that credit report every seven years. So it's going to be on there now. So you can I guess make the decision, I'll just wait it out and after seven years it's going to come off. You can go to the credit bureaus and try and show them that you don't owe this debt or that maybe shouldn't be on there and get it removed. You can get it removed sooner. In that regard, I believe one of those rules that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has made recently is that if the medical debt is paid, it gets removed. So a lot of times with other debt like consumer debts, if it gets paid late or if it gets paid in part or it's settled, there's a notation made that it wasn't just paid in full on time. But I believe with medical debts, even if it's paid late, you can get it removed in that way for medical specific debts.

Hannah (07:08):

Yeah, because like you said, medical debt is just different in nature compared to credit card debts where you're intentionally going out and spending money, whereas with medical debt oftentimes it's an unexpected expense that you have to incur. So that's a very good point as well, and I think there are a lot of factors that will influence how much it will affect your credit report, perhaps the amount of debt. Correct. Would you say that's true

Greg (07:33):

How it will affect your credit report?

Hannah (07:35):

Well, does the amount of medical debt that you owe affect your credit report differently if you owe a lot, for example, versus maybe a few hundred dollars? Do you think it makes a difference on,

Greg (07:45):

I don't know the answer to that for certain in regard to medical debt on a credit report, my guess is that on medical debt it's just going to be weighed less. Probably the amount is less important as opposed to consumer debt where the amount is Definitely, I mean the amount definitely matters in consumer debt on your credit report, probably less so on medical debt.

Hannah (08:09):

Okay, yeah, that's a good point. Alright, well next question is what is the smartest way to negotiate medical debt? Because according to my understanding, it is a bit of a different game than negotiating credit card debt or other types of debt. So what in your opinion is the best way to negotiate specifically medical debt?

Greg (08:27):

So the first thing I'll say, this is not going to be across the board, but there are a lot of medical providers that understand the issue with medical debt. Even if you've got insurance, maybe you've got a high deductible plan or whatever, you could still get up to a $10,000 bill if you have some emergency surgery or something. So I think the first thing that you want to do is reach out to that specific provider and see if they have any kind of charity plans or even if you might not qualify for a charity plan, you might still be able to get on an interest fee payment plan. A lot of medical providers, especially hospitals will do that. Maybe they'll say for three months or five months, we'll spread this out, no interest, you can pay it. So I think that is the first thing you should do is see if your specific medical provider will give you some kind of plan like that.

But let's say you're kind of past that point, hasn't been paid, you couldn't pay it, you're now being sued. I think the best thing you can do at this point is first of all, you need to engage in the defense of your case. So that's like using solo suit to file your answer so you don't get a default judgment and then just start engaging in the case and defending the case the best way you can, which is going to give you a little bit of leverage to negotiate because once they see that look, you're engaged, you're not rolling over, you're going to fight this, they've got to spend some time at this point, you can reach out and start to negotiate the debt. You can also use solo settle, which is a really great tool so that maybe you don't feel comfortable negotiating with the attorney for the hospital or the doctor or whoever. And solo settle is going to be a really great way to do that. But I think what you need to do is you need to be engaged in the defense of the case and then find your points of leverage and then negotiate from there.

Hannah (10:20):

Yeah, I think that those are a lot of really good points and I would say and want to emphasize the fact that you really need to engage if you're being contacted about a medical debt or if you've been sued, the worst thing that you can do is ignore it because it's not going to go away and ignoring it could lead to bigger problems like wage garnishment, liens on your property, other things like that. So the most important thing that you can do if you're being contacted about, if you're being contacted by a debt collector is communicate with them, engage with them, and in many cases they will work with you. But yeah, that's just the first step is just make sure that you do not ignore it. So

Greg (10:58):

I want to add a caveat to that though. I think it's okay to ignore in certain circumstances if you are strategically doing so, and let me give you an example. So maybe they're just going to be contacting you and pestering you first and you respond to them and you try and negotiate something, they're not coming to a number that you're okay with or that you're capable of paying, haven't been sued yet. I think at that point you could strategically say, look, I'm cutting off the communication with you. And because they can't garnish your wages or any of these things unless they take you to court, you've already engaged, you've already tried to settle at that point, I think it might be okay in some circumstances to cut off the communication, wait for them to sue you, and then reinitiate the communication because you've given yourself a little bit of leverage. Again, they've sued, they've had to sue you, they're having to spend more time and more money and you answer. So they're not going to get a default judgment. Now you reengage at that point. I think that's actually a good strategy.

Hannah (11:54):

So let me get this clear. If you've reached out and you've tried to negotiate and it's not going anywhere, you're not finding an agreement, you can stop communications for a bit, see if they take legal action and if they do then file a response to defend yourself at that point, I guess where could it potentially go from there? If the debt really is valid and you do owe it, do you feel like after they file a lawsuit it's easier to settle? Is that what you're saying? For medical debt specifically,

Greg (12:24):

I think a lot of times it is. This isn't going to qualify for every single person in every situation, but I think it is a little easier to settle at that point and for a couple reasons. First, before they file suit, you're probably dealing with a debt collector. What you think is a debt collector, some person calling you and harassing you, those people can be difficult to negotiate and deal with. And in my experience, it is usually easier to negotiate with an attorney. And the reason for that is the attorney is going to be busy. Their job isn't necessarily to pester you. Their job is to get the money and the attorney doesn't want to go spend a full day in court in a trial with you to prove that you owe this. They don't want to spend a half a day drafting a motion for summary judgment to get this money from you. They are looking at it very economically in comparison with their time. So once you can get an attorney involved, I've found you can usually get a better deal in negotiating a settlement.

Hannah (13:27):

So it might actually be easier in some ways to negotiate with the attorney because they just want to get the money and they don't want to spend a lot of extra time negotiating, playing phone tag, putting you on hold while they figure things out. They just want to have a straightforward conversation where they can settle before they can actually, before they actually have to show up in court and fight it in court.

Greg (13:48):

And that's why it's important for you to file your answer and engage in the case because every time you're filing something, they're spending time and if you're showing them, look, I'm going to spend all this time on this case, they're saying, oh, this is not how I wanted this to go. I wanted a quick default judgment and a wage garnishment. So they may be willing to work with you more on that number so that they can spend less time on you and move on to the next person that's not doing what you're doing.

Hannah (14:15):

Very interesting. I think that's a good point. I mean, especially if you've been sued, it's always smart to file your answer or you can draft and file an answer on our website solo suit.com. Our software can help you personalize your answer so that it fits your case details and it also will provide you with the proper legal language that you need to be able to defend yourself. And then we also help you file it with the courts so we can help file and draft an answer in all 50 states. But yeah, that's a really good move always, if you've been sued, you definitely always want to file an answer to avoid the default judgment. Awesome. Well, it was a new perspective for me, Greg, to hear that in some cases it could be good to stop communications if you're not getting anywhere with it and then wait for the lawsuit to be filed because then once you negotiate with a lawyer, they just want a quick settlement. So that's a very interesting perspective. Thank you for sharing. Well with that, I think it would be a good time then to open up for questions for our viewers. So I'll go ahead and read those out loud and then Greg, we'd love to hear your thoughts on those questions. First is from Wilbur, it says, hello, can a debt collector come after my social security and the small pension that I get

Greg (15:30):

On social security? No, social security is typically protected and probably not on the pension as well, but there's a caveat to that. It's not like it's not going to be like a wage garnishment where they go and just take the social security before you can get it. If your wages are garnished, they go to your employer and that money is taken away before it ever gets to your paycheck. But if you take that money and then you hold it in a bank account, you've just got a checking account, say they could potentially do a bank levy or a bank garnishment and they'll do that, and it's a little bit different than a wage garnishment because it doesn't always just, they just take it every time it hits it. But usually in most states, the way it's going to be is they get that bank levy and they do it on the bank, and then the bank just goes and takes boom, everything out of the bank account minus what they're statutorily required to keep there in your state, and then the rest of that money's gone and goes to the collector.

So no, they're not going to take your social security, but depending on how you, I guess, store or save your money, they could still potentially try and get at it, if that makes sense. So you got to be careful about where you're keeping your money. These are all going to be different laws depending on the state as how much has to be left in there, whether they can take it out of the bank, et cetera. But you don't have to worry about your social security not making it to you, but you do need to worry about keeping that money safe once you get it.

Hannah (17:08):

Awesome. Yeah, and according to my understanding in most states, but again, like Greg said, every state is different. Every state has unique laws, but in most states, most social security income is protected from wage garnishment. But I do think it's important if you have other funds or savings to make sure you're watching those and be careful where you put your money. The next question is from Noel. It says, wasn't there a recent ruling weakening medical debt collection standards on January 7th of this year, the CFPB? It looks like they finalized their rule to remove medical bills from credit reports. So that was kind of what we were discussing earlier. This might be a good resource for you, Noelle, to get you an answer to your question, but yeah, Greg, do you know anything off the top of your head about that?

Greg (17:59):

Yeah, so I don't know of any ruling weakening collection standards, so I'm not entirely positive what this person is asking. So if I'm getting this wrong, let me know. But what I think she's probably saying is exactly what we were talking about earlier where it has weakened what medical debt can go into your credit report, but the credit reporting is different than the collections part of it. So I'm not aware of any ruling that has actually weakened the collections part of it. I'm only aware of the ruling that has weakened the credit reporting part of it,

Hannah (18:37):

And that's, I would agree. I haven't heard of anything that prohibits specific medical debt collection practices, but the credit reporting, definitely there's been a lot of action taken by the CFPB to prevent that. So I remember the Trump administration recently moved to disband the CFPB and everything regarding that is a little bit up in the air right now, and I'm not sure how it will affect their recent ruling to ban medical debt on credit reports. So we'll have to, I guess, wait and see what happens there. The next question is from Mel. It says, I've heard that the CFPB will stop the whole medical debt reporting due to new leadership, but is it true that California residents will not have medical debt despite the changes? I think this is a similar question to the previous one, and I think the resource that I shared would probably be helpful in finding the answer to that. Do you have any thoughts, Greg, though?

Greg (19:31):

That's my same thing and I really, it is something that I encounter every time I talk to somebody about credit reporting. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I get the question like, well, it's not on my credit report. Why are they suing me? You've got to remember that credit reporting and debt collecting are two separate things that are happening in regard to the same debt, but they're two different processes. So yeah, not aware of anything that says in California they can't collect medical debt from you. Maybe there's something new that I haven't heard of, but I haven't heard anything like that.

Hannah (20:10):

From what I can tell, there are some protections in place for consumers when it comes to medical debt. Some of them involve reduced medical care. The cost can be reduced if you are eligible in certain instances, the credit reporting timeframe. So the amount of time that hospitals have to report your debt to the credit bureaus if they're still able to do that.

Greg (20:35):

I want to add too, this goes to what we were talking about earlier as to when you asked the question, the smartest way to negotiate medical debt and I brought up, there may be certain charity programs and things, and in California there are going to be some income limits and things and surprise bills where maybe you don't have to pay them. And so just generally across the board, can we say that medical bills can't be collected in California? No. But based on your income and your situation, there might be some things that would allow you to get out of paying that bill and that would be a case specific thing for you that you'd need to research, if that makes sense.

Hannah (21:18):

Yeah, and I think there's so many factors that are at play that oftentimes it is a case by case situation and you have to do some research depending on the factors of your particular case before you'll know really what the answer is. I also wanted to say just from a personal experience, I had a baby a couple of years ago, and as a part of that, I incurred some medical debt because of the services that were provided during the birth and things got a little crazy with my insurance. But one thing that I learned throughout the process of having my first big medical bill was that if you reach out to the hospital and offer them a lump sum payment upfront, so instead of setting up a payment plan, if you have some money saved up and you want to just get rid of the debt, you can often offer to settle for, I dunno, a percentage of the full amount, maybe 60 to 80% and just say, Hey, I can pay this off today if you'll cut the cost down for me.

And oftentimes hospitals will work with you to accept less than the full amount. That's not always possible for everyone. So I didn't do that personally in my case, I didn't have hundreds of dollars to give right away. But I do think that that's an option if you are dealing with medical debt and you just want to resolve it and be done with it. Some hospitals will accept a percentage upfront if you can pay a lump sum. All right. Let's see. Next question is from Savage San. Hello there, it says, what if they file a motion for summary judgment and then you want to negotiate for settlement, but they don't want to settle for less than 80%. How should I proceed with negotiation if the debt is $6,000? So it sounds like maybe you've been sued and the plaintiff has filed a motion for summary judgment. You're being sued for $6,000 and you're trying to negotiate after the summary judgment motion has been filed and you're trying to get them to settle for less than 80%. Greg, any tips on negotiating this?

Greg (23:18):

Yeah, definitely. Okay, so you can always control what you do on the case and you can control the settlement offers you, you can't control how far they come down. So medical providers or debt collectors, whoever are going to come down a lot for you, some of them might say, we're not coming down below 80%. We will not. Or I've seen somewhere. They're just like, we will not take anything less the full amount. We will not negotiate with you. It happens right now you're faced with a motion for summary judgment. You can't settle it. So what do you do? I think the first thing you got to do is you need to fight that motion for summary judgment, right? And summary judgment means they've laid out the facts in their motion and they say, Hey, the defendant doesn't dispute any of these facts. And so judge, we don't need to have a trial to determine who's telling the truth.

Just look at these facts and tell us if they owe or not. And then the judge rules and enters judgment or not to defeat a motion for summary judgment. You file a memorandum in opposition, and the key to winning that is you need to show that their facts are different than your facts. You need to turn it into like a he said, she said. So if the judge looks at it and says, well, the debt collector's saying this, but the defendant is saying something different and I can't decide who's telling the truth, so I have to deny the motion for summary judgment and then we'll set the case for trial. So if you can defeat that motion for summary judgment, it is likely that they will come down from that 80% number because now they have to go to trial. They're going to have to bring a witness who can testify to the authenticity of the documents and things, right?

It's just going to be so much more work and money for them. So you will likely get them to come down a number if you can defeat the motion for summary judgment. Now, if you owe the money and they've got all the proof in that motion, it can be hard to defeat a motion for summary judgment. So then you say, well, how do I get it down? If I can't defeat it? You're going to fight it as best you can file the opposition, try and reengage to negotiate. They still won't come down. You're going to fight that motion all the way through. Now, let's say the judge enters summary judgment against you. You don't get a trial, you've lost the case. They now have a judgment. You got to remember that a case can be settled at any time, including after judgment is entered. So you fight that summary judgment, you lose, they have a summary judgment against you.

They've still got to get the money from you. So maybe at this point, if you have a W2 income, they can garnish your wages, but they're going to be limited to 25% of your take home pay. That's not going to be probably a lot. And so maybe you can give them an offer to incentivize them like we just talked about with the hospital. They'll give them a bigger lump sum so they don't have to chase it down every month. If your employment isn't secure, go find another job and make them chase you from job to job. Or maybe you work for yourself and you don't get a W2 income. They can't garnish your wages. Maybe you're hiding your money in different bank accounts, or you put the money in a bank account for your spouse. It's just hard for them to get the money. Now you can reengage and say, ah, you already have the judgment, but you don't have the money. So now maybe they're willing to come down because they've seen that it's harder to get the money out of you. So I don't know. That's kind of a long answer, but I think what you want to do is you always want to fight and continue to negotiate while you're up until the point where you lose and then you still keep negotiating. And the worst thing that can happen is they get the judgment, they garnish your wages, they take 25% of your take home, pay you until they hit the $6,000.

Hannah (26:56):

Okay. I feel like that was a really helpful answer. We did get into the legal realm a little bit, and so I just wanted to give a disclaimer that yes, Greg is an attorney and solo. We offer legal resources, but none of this constitutes as actual legal advice because we're not your attorney and we can't give you legal advice if we don't represent you. But this is extremely helpful because what I love what you said, Greg, is that you can negotiate a settlement at any stage of the process, even after a judgment is filed. Even after you've lost the case, you can still negotiate because it might make it easier for the law firm and the collector to get the money if they settle instead of having to go through the whole garnishment process. So don't give up hope because a motion for summary judgment has been filed against you. There are still lots of opportunities for you to settle. I would also add that if that has been filed in the case, the motion for summary judgment and they're willing to accept 80% settlement, in some cases, that might actually be a really fair and good settlement. So you might consider accepting it. Well, I think that that is going to be our last question, but Greg, did you have any other things that you wanted to say about debt brief or the debt resolution process?

Greg (28:11):

Yeah, so you can find all of my stuff@debtbrief.com. Again, I know SOLO is really good. If you need to file an answer, I highly, highly recommend Solo Settle if you want to try and negotiate your debt. What I do at Debt Brief is I've got some of these other forms that you can have there. For example, you need to file an opposition to a motion for summary judgment. You can find that form@debtbrief.com as well as I do one-on-one consultations where I provide instructions, sort of a one-on-one class where I teach you how to take the case from beginning to end. So you can find all that information@debrief.com.

Hannah (28:55):

Yeah, if you guys have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at support@solosuit.com. We're happy to answer your questions and try to point you in the right direction. Greg, I want to say huge thank you for your perspective for sharing your experience and answering these questions and doing so very helpfully. So thank you so much.

Greg (29:14):

Thank you. And thanks to Solo for having me.

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• Aldous and Associates
• Alliance Collections
• Alliance One
• Alliant Capital Management
• Alpha Recovery Corp
• Alltran Financial
• Alltran Health
• Alorica Inc.
• Amcol Clmbia in Court
• American Coradius International
• American Profit Recovery
• American Recovery Service
• Americollect
• AmSher Collection Services
• Apelles LLC
• AR Resources
• ARC Collections
• ARM Solutions
• Arrow Financial Services
• ARS National Services
• ARSC Debt Collectors
• ARS National Services
• ARstrat
• AscensionPoint Recovery Services
• Asset Acceptance LLC
• Asset Recovery Solutions
• Associated Credit Services
• Atlantic Credit and Finance
• Atradius Collections
• Automated Collection Services, Inc.
• Autovest LLC
• Avante USA
• Avantus
• AWA Collections
• Balekian Hayes
• Bay Area Receivables
• BCA Financial Services
• BC Services
• Benuck and Rainey
• Berlin-Wheeler
• Bluebonnet Financial LLC
• Bonneville Collections
• Bull City Financial
• Bureaus Investment Group
• Cach LLC
• Caine and Weiner
• Capio Partners
• Capital Accounts
• Capital Collections
• Capital Management Services
• CardWorks
• Carmel Financial/New Coast Direct
• Cavalry SPV I LLC
• CBCInnovis
• CBCS Collections
• CBE Group
• CBV Collections
• CCB Credit Services
• CCS Collections
• CCS Offices
• Central Mediation Services
• Central Portfolio Control
• Cerastes LLC
• Choice Recovery
• Choice Recovery Inc
• CKS Financial
• CKMS Financial
• Client Services
• CMRE Financial Services
• COAF
• Coast Professional
• Comenity Bank Debt Collection
• Commonwealth Financial
• ConServe Debt Collection
• Consumer Collection Management
• Contract Callers Inc
• Convergent Healthcare Recoveries
• Convergent Outsourcing
• Couch Conville & Blitt
• Covington Credit
• CRDT First
• Credco in Court
• Credence Resource Management
• Credit Bureau Systems
• Credit Control Corporation
• Credit Management Company
• Credit Management LP
• Credit Systems
• Credit Systems
• CSIEZPay
• CTC Debt Collector
• CVCS Debt Collection
• Cypress Financial Recoveries
• D&A Services
• Daniels, Norelli, Cecere & Tavel P.C.
• DCM Services
• Debt Recovery Solutions
• Delanor Kemper & Associates
• Department Stores National Bank
• Direct Recovery Associates
• Discover Collections
• Diversified Adjustment
• Diversified Consultants
• Diversified Recovery Bureau
• DNF Associates, LLC
• Dodeka LLC
• DRS Credit
• Dynamic Collectors
• Eagle Loan
• Eagle Accounts Group, Inc.
• Eastern Account System
• EduCap
• Ellington and Associates Collections
• Encore Capital Group
• Enerson Law
• Enerson Law LLC
• Enhanced Recovery Company
• EOS CCA
• ERC Collections
• ERSolutions
• Estate Information Services
• Equable Ascent Financial
• Everest Business Funding
• Executive Credit Management
• Faber and Brand
• Factual Data
• Falls Collection Service
• FBCS
• FCO Collections and Outsourcing
• FIA Card Services
• fin rec svc (Financial Recovery Services)
• First Federal Credit Credit Control
• First Financial Bank
• First Portfolio Ventures LLC
• First Progress
• FirstPoint Collection Resources
• Firstsource Advantage
• FMA Alliance
• FNB Omaha
• Forster & Garbus
• Franklin Collection Services
• Freedom Plus
• Freshview Solutions
• Frontline Asset
• Frost Arnett
• Fulton Friedman & Gullace LLP
• Galaxy International Purchasing, LLC
• GC Debt Collection
• GC Services
• General Revenue Corporation
• GLA Collections
• Glass Mountain Capital
• Glasser and Glasser
• Global Credit Collection Corp
• Global Trust Management
• GMAC Financing
• Golden 1 Credit Union
• Grant and Weber
• Grant Mercantile Agency
• Gulf Coast Collection Bureau
• Gurstel
• Halsted Financial Services
• Harris and Harris
• Harvard Collection
• Harvest Credit Management
• Helvey and Associates
• Hollis Cobb
• Holloway Moxley
• Hosto Buchan
• Howard Lee Schiff
• H&R Accounts
• HRRG
• Hudson & Keyse LLC?
• Hunter Warfield
• IC System
• Impact Receivables Management
• Innovative Recovery
• Integras Capital Recovery LLC
• Javitch Block
• JHPDE Finance 1 LLC
• JP Receivables Management Partners
• JPMCB card
• Kenneth Eisen and Associates
• KeyBank student loans
• Kinum
• Kirschenbaum, Phillips & Levy P.C.
• KLS Financial Services
• Kramer & Frank
• Lakeside Collection
• Lending Club
• Lincoln and Morgan Kabbage
• Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP
• Lockhart Collection Agency
• LJ Ross Associates
• LTD Collections
• Malcolm S. Gerald and Associates
• Malen & Associates
• Mandarich Law Group
• Mannbracken
• Marcam Associates
• MARS Inc. Collections
• MBA Law
• MCA Management Company
• McCarthy, Burgess & Wolff
• Meade & Associates
• Medicredit
• Mercantile Adjustment Bureau
• Merchants Credit Association
• MGM Collections
• Michael J Adams PC
• Midland Funding LLC
• Mid-South Adjustment
• Monarch Recovery
• Monterey Financial
• Moss Law Firm
• Mountain Land Collections
• MRS Associates
• MRS BPO
• MSW Capital LLC
• Mullooly, Jeffrey, Rooney & Flynn
• Nathan and Nathan PC
• National Collegiate Trust
• National Credit Adjusters
• National Credit Care
• National Credit Systems
• National Enterprise Systems
• National Recovery Agency
• National Recovery Solutions
• Nationstar
• Nationwide Credit
• Nationwide Recovery Services
• Nationwide Recovery Systems
• NCEP LLC
• NCO Financial Systems Incorporated
• North American Recovery
• Northland Group
• Northstar Capital Acquisition
• Northstar Location Services
• NPAS
• NRC Collection Agency
• Oliver Adjustment Company
• Oliphant Financial, LLC
• Oportun
• P&B Capital Group
• PCB Collections Agency
• Palisades Collection LLC
• Pallida LLC
• Paragon Contracting Services
• Paragon Revenue Group
• Payday Loan Debt Collectors
• Pendrick Capital Partners
• Penn Credit
• Perdue Brandon
• Persolve LLC
• Phillips & Cohen Associates
• Phoenix Financial Services
• Pioneer Credit Recovery
• PMAB LLC
• PRA Group, Inc.
• Pressler, Felt & Warshaw LLP
• Prestige Services, Inc.
• Prince Parker and Associates
• ProCollect
• Professional Finance Company
• Progressive Management Systems
• Provest Law
• PYOD LLC
• Quaternary Collection Agency
• RAB Collection Agency
• Rash Curtis and Associates
• Radius Global SOL
• Radius Global Solutions
• Rawlings Company
• Razor Capital
• Real Time Resolutions
• Receivables Performance Management
• Regents and Associates
• Reliant Capital Solutions
• RentGrow
• Resurgent
• Resurgent Capital Services and LVNV Funding
• Revco Solutions
• Revenue Enterprises LLC
• Revenue Group
• RGS Financial, Inc.
• RMP LLC in Court
• RMP Services
• RS Clark and Associates
• RSIEH
• RSIEH
• RTR Financial Services
• Rubin & Rothman
• Salander Enterprises LLC
• Samara Portfolio Management
• SCA Collections
• Scott Parnell and Associates
• Second Round Collections
• Second Round Sub LLC
• Selip & Stylianou LLP
• Sequium Asset Solutions
• Sessoms and Rogers
• Sherman Acquisition
• Sherman Financial Group
• SIMM Associates
• Source Receivables Management
• Southern Management Systems
• Southwest Credit Group
• Spire Recovery Solutions
• SRS Company
• Stark Collection Agency
• State Collection Service
• Stenger and Stenger
• Stillman Law Office
• Summit Account Resolution
• Sunrise Credit Services
• Superlative RM Debt Collector
• Suttell and Hammer
• Synergetic Communication
• Synerprise Consulting
• The Law Office of Michael J Scott
• Trellis Company
• Troy Capital
• TRS Recovery Services
• TrueAccord
• Tulsa Teachers Credit Union
• UCB Collection
• UHG 1, LLC
• Unifin
• Unifin Debt Collector
• Unifund
• Universal Credit Services
• US Bank Collections
• USAA collections
• USCB America
• Valentine and Kebartas
• Valley Servicing
• Vance & Huffman LLC
• Van Ru Credit Corporation
• Velo Law Office
• Velocity Investments
• Viking Client Services
• Wakefield and Associates
• Waypoint Resource Group
• WCTCB
• Weinberg and Associates
• Weltman, Weinberg & Reis
• Westwood Funding
• Williams and Fudge
• Wilshire Consumer Credit
• Wolpoff & Abramson
• Worldwide Asset Purchasing
• www.AutomotiveCredit.com
• Zarzaur & Schwartz
• Zwicker & Associates

Resolve your debt with your creditor

Some creditors, banks, and lenders have an internal collections department. If they come after you for a debt, Solosuit can still help you respond and resolve the debt. Here’s a list of guides on how to resolve debt with different creditors.

• American Express; American Express – Debt Collection
• Bank of America
• Barclay
• Best Buy Credit Card
• Capital One
• Chase
• Credit One Bank
• Old Navy Credit Card
• PayPal Synchrony Card
• Regional Finance
• Retailers National Bank
• Reunion Student Loan Finance Corporation
• SYNCB/PPEXTR
• Synchrony Bank
• Synchrony Walmart Card
• Target National Bank
• Webbank
• Wells Fargo
• Can I Pay My Original Creditor Instead of a Debt Collection Agency?
• Can I Settle a Debt with the Original Creditor?

Settle your medical debt

Having a health challenge is stressful, but dealing medical debt on top of it is overwhelming. Here are some resources on how to manage medical debt.

• Am I Responsible for My Spouse's Medical Debt?
• Do I Need a Lawyer for Medical Bills?
• Do I Need a Lawyer to Fight Medical Bill Debt?
• Does Bankruptcy Clear Medical Debt?
• How Much Do Collection Agencies Pay for Medical Debt?
• How to Find Medical Debt Forgiveness Programs
• Is There a Statute of Limitations on Medical Bills?
• Medical Debt Statute of Limitations by State
• Summoned to Court for Medical Bills — What Do I Do?
• Summoned to Court for Medical Bills? What to Do Next

Guides on arbitration

If the thought of going to court stresses you out, you’re not alone. Many Americans who are sued for credit card debt utilize a Motion to Compel Arbitration to push their case out of court and into arbitration.

Below are some resources on how to use an arbitration clause to your advantage and win a debt lawsuit.

• How Arbitration Works
• How to Find an Arbitration Clause in Your Credit Agreement
• How to Make a Motion to Compel Arbitration
• How to Make a Motion to Compel Arbitration in Florida
• How to Make a Motion to Compel Arbitration Without an Attorney
• How Credit Card Arbitration Works
• Motion to Compel Arbitration in California
• Sample Motion to Compel Arbitration

Stop calls from debt collectors

Do you keep getting calls from an unknown number, only to realize that it’s a debt collector on the other line? If you’ve been called by any of the following numbers, chances are you have collectors coming after you, and we’ll tell you how to stop them.

• 1-800-390-7584
• 800-289-8004
• 800-955-6600
• 8009556600
• 877-366-0169
• 877-591-0747
• 800-278-2420
• 800-604-0064
• 800-846-6406
• 877-317-0948
• 888-899-4332
• 888-912-7925
• 202-367-9070
• 502-267-7522

Federal debt collection laws can protect you

Knowing your rights makes it easier to stand up for your rights. Below, we’ve compiled all our articles on federal debt collection laws that protect you from unfair practices.

• 15 USC 1692 Explained
• Does the Fair Credit Reporting Act Work in Florida?
• FDCPA Violations List
• How to File an FDCPA Complaint Against Your Debt Collector (Ultimate Guide)
• How to Make a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Demand Letter
• How to Submit a Transunion Dispute
• How to Submit an Equifax Dispute
• How to Submit an Experian Dispute
• What Debt Collectors Cannot Do — FDCPA Explained
• What Does Account Information Disputed by Consumer Meets FCRA Requirements Mean?
• What does “meets FCRA requirements” mean?
• What does FCRA stand for?
• What is the Consumer Credit Protection Act