Have you gotten a phone call from someone claiming to be from Assurant Recovery Solutions? Maybe you checked your credit report and were surprised to see a collections account listed under this name. It’s probably confusing, and your biggest concerns are how to get this off your credit and potentially how to stop the phone calls interrupting your life and peace of mind.
Assurant Recovery Solutions isn’t a scam. They are a legitimate company that acts as a third-party debt collector. The company was previously known as RentCollect Global. As a third-party collection agency, Assurant Recovery Solutions doesn’t offer accounts to customers. Instead, they’re hired by other companies to collect unpaid debts from consumers.
Assurant Recovery Solutions collects for property management companies and landlords. If someone doesn’t pay their rent, the company that owns the property may work with Assurant Recovery Solutions, outsourcing their debt collection.
Assurant Recovery Solutions focuses on debt recovery for multifamily rentals. If you rented a home and didn’t pay for several months or more, the property owner could hire Assurant Recovery Solutions to try and collect from you.
Along with you legitimately owing a debt, another reason that Assurant Recovery Solutions could call you is if there’s a mistake. Mistakes could occur because of the record-keeping of a landlord. There are also frequent mistakes that occur on your credit report itself. For example, your records could have been mixed up with another person's. That person may have a Social Security number or name similar to yours.
There’s also the chance that you’re a fraud victim or that information on your credit report is old and should no longer be reported but is anyway.
The process of debt collection starts when you miss a payment. You usually have 30 days from the billing date to pay. Once this period passes and you’ve missed the original payment, another department at the original company might take over and try to collect whatever you owe.
The company will continue trying to collect what’s owed. While the specifics can vary depending on the company, it might be written off after 180 days of an unpaid bill or debt. When a debt is written off, the original creditor no longer believes they can collect it. Then, they could send it to Assurant Recovery Solutions or any similar debt collection agency.
It’s also possible that the original creditor will contract the debt or sell it in a shorter window of time. You can end up with two negative accounts on your credit report. One is from the original creditor, and the other is from the collection agency.
After a debt goes to a collector like Assurant Recovery Solutions, the creditor sends the original account information to them. They also should send documents to support the account being unpaid.
Third-party debt collectors are supposed to follow strict rules under federal laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Once a debt goes to collections agencies, it’s technically known as debt recovery. The third-party recovery agency should send a demand letter to the debtor, which would let someone know why Assurant Recovery Solutions is contacting them and how much they owe.
While it’s legally required that debt collection agencies provide specific information to consumers, they don’t always comply.
If you’re getting calls from Assurant Recovery Solutions or see them on your credit report, contact an FCRA attorney as soon as possible.
An FCRA attorney can begin the process of disputing your debt, or help you figure out the best next steps to protect your rights.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act, along with providing you the right to dispute debts that are partially or fully inaccurate, dictates how your credit information is reported and used. As a consumer, everyone in the U.S. has the right to accuracy, fairness, and transparency on their credit reports.
The FCRA specifies who can access your credit information, when, and how they can use it. This law says that consumers are entitled to a free credit report yearly from each of the three main reporting agencies.
The law also says that if a dispute is submitted about any information reported by credit bureaus, it has to be investigated within a certain period of time. If the investigation finds that information is, in fact, inaccurate or the information can’t be verified, the FCRA says that information has to be corrected or deleted.
Along with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, there’s the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. According to the FDCPA, consumers have protection against unethical tactics debt collectors could use. Debt collectors can’t use harassment or profane language, for example.
Debt collectors legally can’t contact you during the early morning or after 9 p.m. If you tell them not to, a debt collector can’t contact you at work. They can’t misrepresent any information to you or be deceptive. Debt collectors can't keep contacting you if you send a cease and desist letter.
However, a debt collector can sue you even after sending a cease and desist letter.
With that in mind, it’s important not to ignore anything you get from Assurant Recovery Solutions.
If you want to dispute a debt with Assurant Recovery Solutions, you have the right to do so. An FCRA attorney can initiate the process on your behalf.
If Assurant Recovery Solutions feels that your dispute is valid and they’ve reported negative information to any of the three credit bureaus, they should correct or remove it.
If you need help dealing with Assurant Recovery Solutions, an FCRA attorney is going to be your best available resource.
Fair Credit can help. We’re FCRA attorneys, and we offer free case reviews. Contact us today.
Don't let these companies get away with violating your rights and causing you financial & emotional distress.