Advanced Collection Bureau on Your Credit Report? Fight Back and Win

Advanced Collection Bureau is listed on your credit report, and you don’t know why. Maybe you were doing a routine check of your credit or applying for something like a loan or credit card, and this information was flagged. You have no idea what the company is, you’ve never done business with them, and you want it off your credit. There are steps you can take if you’re in this situation.

What Is Advanced Collection Bureau?

Advanced Collection Bureau is a third-party debt collection agency. Third-party debt collectors aren’t creditors. Creditors are companies you are familiar with when you do business with them. Creditors, for example, might be a bank or financial company, credit card issuer, loan company, or services provider, including a provider of medical services. 

If someone doesn’t pay their bills, the original creditor might eventually give up on trying to collect it. Then, they can outsource collections to a company like Advanced Collection Bureau, or they might sell the debt. If another company buys the debt, they’ll try to collect enough back to make a profit.

Third-party debt collectors have to follow specific rules that don’t necessarily apply to original creditors or first-party collectors.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is relevant to third-party collectors. The FDCPA puts limits on what debt collectors can and can’t do. Under the FDCPA, a debt collector isn’t legally allowed to call repeatedly or call too often within a certain period of time. This could constitute harassment, which the FDCPA is meant to protect consumers against.

The FDCPA also says that debt collectors can’t call early in the morning or late at night or talk about your debts with someone who’s not you, such as your employer or family members.

Under the FDCPA, debt collectors must be transparent and forthcoming about the debts they’re trying to collect, and they cannot use threats or profanity, nor can they misrepresent who they are and what they’re legally able to do.

Why Is Advanced Collection Bureau Calling Me?

Some people won’t get calls at all from Advanced Collection Bureau. Instead, their first introduction to this company name is on their credit report. Other people will get calls and may wonder why. If this company is trying to call you, it’s most likely that they believe you owe a debt and are trying to collect it, but whether or not you actually owe the debt in question is important to figure out.

Who Does Advanced Collection Bureau Collect For?

This company collects for companies in a variety of industries.

Is Advanced Collection Bureau a Scam?

Advanced Collection Bureau isn’t a scam; they’re a legitimate company licensed as a debt collector. While the company is legitimate, that doesn’t mean the information on file is always correct, nor does it mean you owe the debt they’re attempting to collect.

Debt collection is notorious for errors. These errors can occur with the original creditor. For example, they might have the wrong payment or balance information on file for your account, and then they pass this on to a debt collector. There are also situations where debt collectors don’t get all of the information about a consumer, so they try to fill in the gaps and find the debtor using tactics known as skip tracing. 

During this process, it’s easy to get identities mixed up. You could be getting calls from Advanced Collection Bureau about a debt belonging to another person altogether, and they often share a similar name or social security number to yours.

There can be other mistakes in the process as well. For example, credit bureaus can mix files up or report wrong information.

Reviewing your credit reports with the three bureaus regularly is important to look for errors or signs of fraud.

Also, while Advanced Collection Bureau isn’t a scam, there are a lot of negative reviews about the company from consumers that are important to be aware of.

Some consumers say Advanced Collection Bureau reported negative information to all three credit bureaus, and even after they disputed it, these things remain. Consumers say the financial burden of having Advanced Collection Bureau on their credit report has left them unable to move forward financially and do things like renting or buying a home or rebuilding their credit even though the reported information was an error.

Quite a few people say that the debt Advanced Collection Bureau is contacting them about isn’t valid for various reasons and that they’ve not been able to get a response from the company when trying to learn more about their debt.

When a collections report is listed on your credit, it shows potential lenders that you were behind on your payments. With payment history making up an estimated 35% of your credit score, there will be a big impact if you have Advanced Collection Bureau listed there.

You may struggle to open new credit cards or get loans, and you could be sued if you don’t proactively deal with an account in collections. If a debt collector files a suit against you and wins, they could take funds directly from your bank account or garnish your wages to pay the debt.

What’s the Best Way to Deal with Advanced Collection Bureau?

If you see this company on your credit report or get calls from them, the first thing you should do is talk to a consumer protection attorney. Because of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have rights, including the right to dispute incorrect or invalid debts. A consumer protection attorney can help you get more information about debt and outline the best steps.

Consumer protection attorneys can also dispute the debts on your behalf and deal with Advanced Collection Bureau from start to finish throughout the process, ensuring it’s adequately resolved.

Contact Fair Credit Today

If you’re ready to move forward financially and otherwise without Advanced Collection Bureau on your credit report, or you want to stop their calls, Fair Credit can help. We’re consumer protection attorneys specializing in safeguarding your FCRA rights, so reach out for a free case review.