Rausch Sturm on Your Credit Report? Fight Back and Win

Are you getting phone calls from Rausch Sturm? Maybe you checked your credit and had no idea they were reporting negative information to one or more of the three main bureaus. If you find yourself in these situations, it’s easy to feel intimidated and stressed out, especially if you don’t know why it’s happening.

You can take steps to effectively deal with Rausch Sturm and get them off your credit report.

What Is Rausch Sturm LLP?

Rausch Sturm is a debt collection agency, and they’re third-party debt collectors. The third-party debt collection process usually includes the following steps:

• After a period of not making on-time payments to a creditor, the internal collector of the company will usually start contacting you.
• When you’re talking to the company’s internal collectors, which is first-party collection, it’s a good time to try and settle your debt.
• If you don’t settle the debt at that time, the lender or creditor will assign it to a third-party agency.
• When the debt is first assigned to a third party, the original creditor still owns it, so if it’s recovered, they get the money and pay the collector a fee.
• Another debt collection phase can also occur, where the original creditor writes off the debt.
• When debt is written off, it’s sold cheaply to a debt buyer who keeps trying to collect it.

Rausch Sturm falls somewhere in the middle of this process. Banks and creditors hire this company to collect outstanding debt.

Who Does Rausch Sturm Collect For?

Rausch Sturm collects across different industries, including:

• Student loans
• Auto lenders
• Commercial lenders
• Banks
• Credit card companies
• Utility providers

Why Is Rausch Sturm Calling Me?

If Rausch Sturm calls you, they believe you owe a debt. Don’t ignore the calls because even if you don’t owe the debt or there’s been a mistake, the company can sue you if you don’t take action. Rather than ignoring the situation or hoping it will go away, contact a consumer protection attorney specializing in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. An FCRA attorney can dispute a debt on your behalf and advise you of the best steps to take, given your specific situation. 

Is Rausch Sturm a Scam?

This company is legitimately a debt collection agency and isn’t a scam.

Disputing a Debt

There are a lot of reasons that Rausch Sturm could be trying to contact you about a debt that’s not yours or that’s inaccurate in some way. They could, for example, have the wrong information from the creditor you originally had an account with. This happens all the time, so you could be getting calls about a debt that was never yours or that you paid on time and in full. 

If the original creditor passes the wrong information to Rausch Sturm and you ignore their calls and don’t dispute it, it can be reported on your credit as a collections account.

The original creditor could have listed your payment dates incorrectly, or the same debt could have been listed more than once.

There are even situations where people’s financial information gets mixed with yours, so you might be dealing with the fallout of a debt that belongs to another person entirely. For example, if you share a name similar to someone else’s, their information could be included on your credit report, including a delinquent account. The same can happen when people have similar Social Security numbers.

The following are the steps an FCRA attorney can take to dispute a debt on your behalf. 

• Contact Rausch Sturm and request debt validation if they haven’t already provided it.
• The debt validation should include information about the original creditor and the account this third-party company is contacting you about.
• Review the debt validation carefully. 
• You may not be responsible if Rausch Sturm doesn’t validate the debt.

Because of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Rausch Sturm must investigate your dispute within 30 days—in some cases, they might have 45 days to complete it. Then, the company should report the findings of the investigation. 

Then, any or all of the wrong information should be deleted from your credit report. The company should stop calling you.

Stop Phone Calls From Rausch Sturm

If you receive debt validation from this company and believe the debt they’re contacting you about is correct, you can try to negotiate a settlement or payment plan, but before doing that, it’s still best to talk to an FCRA attorney. 

Bad debt information typically comes off your credit report after seven years. Even while waiting for it to be removed, it becomes less impactful on your credit score over time. If you have negative information listed on your credit report, try to do things that will raise your score, like making on-time payments on other open accounts. 

You still have rights when you owe a debt. Third-party debt collectors like Rausch Sturm can’t do certain things when they contact people because of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

For example, Rausch Sturm can’t use harassment or profane language when they call you. Third-party debt collectors can’t be deceptive. They have to be honest and forthcoming about why they’re calling, the fact that they’re debt collectors and your rights. Rausch Sturm and other debt collectors can’t threaten you or intentionally disrupt your life by calling you too early or late in the morning or at night. 

If you’re dealing with calls from Rausch Sturm and want them to stop, send a cease and desist letter. They have to comply, even though you’re still legally responsible for the debt they’re attempting to collect.

How to Get Rausch Sturm Off Your Credit Report

Fair Credit is a team of FCRA consumer protection attorneys. We can help you deal with Rausch Sturm and ensure your rights aren’t violated. We dispute incorrect debts and deal with  debt collectors in a way that will be most effective for you, given your specific situation. Contact us as soon as you hear from a debt collector for a free case review, and we can advise you of the appropriate steps.