Viking Client Services on Your Credit Report? Fight Back and Win

You’ve just checked your credit report, or maybe you’ve applied for credit, like a new credit card or loan, and you see there’s a collections account listed under Viking Client Services. You’ve never heard of them before, so why is this happening? This is all too common for consumers, and it’s frustrating, overwhelming, and potentially even intimidating.

Your credit report contains all the information about your history of making on-time payments, the status of credit accounts, and your overall credit activity.

You have more than one credit report, and credit reporting companies are also known as credit bureaus. A lender will use the information on your credit report to decide if they will loan you money and, if so, what your interest rates will be. Lenders also use these reports as they determine if you meet their current standards for your existing credit accounts. Otherwise, they might close your current accounts or lower your credit limit. 

If your report is affected by Viking Client Services, it can drop your score and have far-reaching effects on your finances.

So how can you get Viking Client Services off your credit report and stop their phone calls?

Why Does Viking Client Services Call Me?

Viking Client Services calls you if they think you owe a debt. They’re a third-party debt collector. Companies will hire third-party debt collectors to recover debt on their behalf. Viking Client Services isn’t a creditor, so they don’t offer loans or financial products. That’s probably why you aren’t familiar with their name if they call or you see them on your credit report.  

Is Viking Client Services Legitimate?

Viking Client Services isn’t a scam. They’re a real company that has been in business since 1969, located in Eden Prairie, MN.

Who Does Viking Client Services Collect For?

Viking Client Services collects for businesses in different industries, including:

• Credit card issuers
• Auto loans
• Installment loans
• Legal judgments
• Healthcare

FDCPA Compliance

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is law at the federal level limiting what companies like Viking Client Services and other debt collectors can and can’t say and do. Under this federal law, a debt collector can’t use harassment by phone or any other form of communication to try and collect a debt.

Debt collectors can’t intentionally contact you at times or places that are inconvenient or threaten you as part of their collection tactics.

Contacting an attorney can help enforce FDCPA compliance if a company isn’t following the guidelines under the law. You might still be responsible for paying a debt, but you won’t have to deal with unsettling phone calls. 

How Do I Know If a Debt Is Legitimate?

In some situations, Viking Client Services might call you about a legitimate debt. Your options include working out a payment or installment plan or waiting until the debt expires after seven years and comes off your credit report but don’t make agreements until you talk to a legal professional. 

Anytime a collections account is listed on your credit, or you’re getting calls, the first thing you should do is contact a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) attorney. 

Errors on credit reports can occur if the original creditor submits the wrong information to a credit bureau or debt collector. For example, your balance or payment information could be wrong.

Your information could be mixed up with someone else’s, especially if they have a Social Security number or a name close to yours.

A debt could be listed as new, even though it’s old, or you could be the victim of identity theft.

An FCRA attorney can work on your behalf to contact Viking Client Services, find out whether a debt is fully or partially incorrect, and then take the next best steps in the given situation. If you don’t contact an FCRA attorney before attempting to contact Viking Client Services, the situation might get worse. 

Disputing a Debt with Viking Client Services

An FCRA attorney can submit a dispute with Viking Client Services on your behalf and properly manage all the steps of the process. According to the FCRA, when a dispute is submitted, the company reporting the debt or negative credit information is required to do an investigation. That investigation should be completed in 30 days in most cases. In rare situations, the company might have 45 days to complete its investigation and report its findings. 

Once disputed information is investigated, if it’s incorrect in any way, or the entire debt isn’t yours, it should be deleted from your credit report, and you should stop receiving calls. 

Unfortunately, debt collection agencies don’t always comply with the FCRA or make it clear to consumers what their rights are, which is why it’s best to talk to an attorney before taking any other steps. 

Getting Viking Client Services Off Your Credit Report

While in theory, disputing the debt if it’s not yours or you don’t owe it should mean the collections account with Viking Client Services is wiped from your credit report. You might, however, check it and find out that’s not actually what happened if you tried to dispute it on your own. 

There are several common reasons a debt could be lingering on your credit report when it shouldn’t be, and it’s not always easy to get it removed. The company listed on your report might not be responsive to your requests, or they could simply not follow through with removing the information.

You actually have three different credit reports because there are three bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Make sure you check with all three because the reported information can be different. Even after a successful dispute, you might still find Viking Client Services listed on one or more of your credit reports. 

In all of these scenarios, your best option is to work with an FCRA attorney.

Fair Credit Can Help

If you’re dealing with Viking Client Services and ready to get this company out of your life and off your credit, we can help. Fair Credit is a team of FCRA attorneys offering free case reviews to help you move forward without the cloud of a collections account affecting you financially.