Has your credit score taken a nosedive because of a collection entry made by Penn Credit? If so, ignoring the company’s attempts to reach you because you aren’t sure if it’s legit isn’t going to work–this company represents a large number of clients.
Once your debt goes to collections, it stays on your credit report for seven years. If your head is spinning because of the dilemma you’re in, you might want to consider approaching a Brooklyn credit repair agency for help rather than taking matters into your own hands.
What Is Penn Credit Corporation?
Penn Credit Corporation is a national debt collection company that recovers the following types of delinquent debt owned by consumers located across the country:
- Medical fees
- Utility bills
- Student loans
- Government loans
- Telecommunication charges
- Toll fees
If you have a debt that was sent to PCC for collection, the company might appear on your Experian or TransUnion credit report as Penn Credit Corp, Penn Collection Agency, Penn Credit PCC Trust, or CBE Collections.
Who Are Clients of Penn Credit?
Penn Credit collects payments for the following creditors:
- Government agencies: It collects amounts owed on waste management bills, water bills, court fees, property taxes, traffic citations, and unpaid parking tickets.
- Private businesses: It collects any type of loans and fees owed to private businesses.
- Healthcare providers: It collects unpaid emergency services, rehabilitation, physician, and hospital bills.
- Utilities: It collects unpaid internet, phone, gas, and electricity bills.
- Education: It collects unpaid student loans.
How Does Penn Credit Work?
Penn Credit either purchases debts from other service providers and lenders at a discount, is employed by other creditors, or enters into business agreements with creditors to receive a percentage of payments they receive (usually 18%).
Once your debt goes to collection, Penn Credit will message, call, or send letters to inform you that it is looking to collect the unpaid balance.
How to Deal With Penn Credit Corporation
Don’t Ignore It
Ignoring Penn Credit will not make your debt disappear. In fact, your head-in-the-sand technique will most likely backfire by forcing the company to take legal action. In the end, you will have to pay it, anyway, so it’s best to deal with it now before interest and fees cause the amount owed to skyrocket.
Request a Debt Validation Letter
A collection agency issues a debt verification letter to provide proof of debt. However, you need to request this letter within the first thirty days after Penn Credit’s initial contact.
Once you send in the request, Penn Credit will stop contacting you until it can provide you with more details. If it can’t find those details, it can ask your credit bureau to remove this debt from your credit report.
Protect Your Consumer Rights
If you feel Penn Credit has violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), you can sue the company for harassment.
However, remember that you’ll probably have to pay some hefty legal fees if you go this route, which might not be reimbursed by Penn Credit if you don’t win the case.
Steps to Remove Penn Credit From Your Credit Report
1. Validate Your Debt
Before paying off your debt, make sure it’s actually yours. You can do this by asking Penn Credit to provide a letter of validation, which it is required to do within a month of your request.
Here’s what you’ll have to do to get this letter:
- Download a debt validation letter template.
- Add your personal information.
- Send the request through the mail.
If the debt was reported in error, it will be deleted from your credit report. It might also be deleted if Penn Credit doesn’t have the information to validate your debt, but that is rare.
2. Negotiate a Payment
If Penn Credit proves that the debt is legitimate, you can negotiate to pay your debt in installments.
Another good strategy is to ask for a discount and start your negotiation at around 50% of the total balance, because sometimes, Penn Credit might consider that amount a win and forgive the rest. If that happens, it will report the payment to your credit bureau and the debt will be removed from your report.
3. Hire a Credit Repair Professional
If your debt is too high or you don’t know how to deal with Penn Credit, it’s best to get professional help from a credit repair company. A representative from The Phenix Group can talk to your creditor on your behalf and can usually have negative entries removed from your report faster than you can.
Time to Face Reality
To improve your credit score, you need to deal with any collections being taken by Penn Credit. Ignoring them might be tempting, but there are ways to get out from under your crushing debts. The first step is to call The Phenix Group and explore all your options.
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