Wilshire Consumer Credit on Your Credit Report? Fight Back and Win

All consumers are encouraged to check their credit reports at least once a year. You get a free report annually, so take advantage of this. You might also check your report before applying for credit, only to see negative information under Wilshire Consumer Credit. 

There are also instances where you might get phone calls from this company, but you’ve never heard of them before. The company could tell you you owe money, yet you’re unfamiliar with them.

How should you get Wilshire Consumer Credit off your credit or make them stop calling you?

Consumers have legal rights under two important federal laws. The first is the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FCRA determines how creditors and lenders see your credit history and report certain information. The FCRA also determines how long information can stay on your credit. The goal is to ensure the three primary credit bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax are accurate and transparent in collecting consumers’ credit information.

As part of the FCRA, you can dispute errors if they’re on your credit history. This could be the case with Wilshire Consumer Credit. You can submit a dispute with both the creditor and the bureau reporting the information. Before doing so, it’s best to speak with an FCRA attorney, who can advise you on the right steps to take and help you avoid a worsening situation. 

Another law, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, strictly limits what debt collection agencies can say and do when they contact you, even if you legitimately owe a debt.

What Is Wilshire Consumer Credit?

Wilshire Consumer Credit provides consumers loans, including title and auto loans. The company works primarily with people with poor credit who might not qualify for other financing.

If you’ve checked your credit, and they’re on there, it could be reported as a collections account.

Who Does Wilshire Consumer Credit Collect For?

Wilshire Consumer Credit isn’t a third-party debt collector. Instead, they’re a first-party collector. 

Is Wilshire Consumer Credit Legitimate?

Wilshire Consumer Credit isn’t a scam. Despite having a lot of consumer complaints against them listed online, they’re legitimately a financing business. Wilshire Consumer Credit is based in California. 

How to Verify a Debt with Wilshire Consumer Credit

If you start to get calls from Wilshire Consumer Credit or any other debt collector, don’t agree to do or pay anything until speaking to an FCRA attorney who can work to validate the debt and, if necessary, dispute it. If Wilshire Consumer Credit doesn’t provide detailed information about the debt, which is known as a debt validation, then you may not be obligated to pay. 

The debt validation notice should provide full account details on what the company is trying to collect. Without this, you cannot know whether a debt is yours.

It’s very common for financial companies to get information mixed up with other consumers or have wrong balances or dates of payment. 

You should also check your three credit reports with each of the bureaus to see what’s listed there. The information can vary, and many companies don’t report to all of the bureaus, so make sure to get copies of all three of your reports.

Disputing a Debt with Wilshire Consumer Credit

If you’ve received a validation notice and believe some or all of the debt this company is contacting you about is inaccurate, an FCRA attorney can start the formal dispute process if that’s what they believe is best in your situation. 

When a debt is disputed, the company must typically investigate thoroughly within 30 days. In some cases, the company might have up to 45 days to complete an investigation after receiving a dispute notice. Then, the company has to report what they find within five days after they complete an investigation. 

If a portion of a debt is wrong, or the entire thing isn’t yours or is incorrect, it should be removed from your credit report. Common reasons the information could be wrong include:

• The balance or payment information was reported incorrectly—for example, maybe late payments were reported, but you can show that you made them on time.
• You could have a similar name or Social Security number to someone else, and your credit information gets mixed.
• A debt could be reported as charged off by the creditor even though you paid it in full.
• The incorrect information could come directly from something Wilshire Consumer Credit has on file, or it could occur at the credit bureau itself.
• The information may need to be disputed directly with a credit reporting agency as well as the collection agency, 

Dealing With Debt Collectors: What Are Your Rights?

Along with the right to dispute wrong information and have full transparency from companies reporting debts, you also have other rights. Even if you legitimately owe a debt that Wilshire Consumer Credit is contacting you about, there are limitations on their behavior.

Because of a law, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors can’t use harassment or threats. Debt collectors can’t call you at certain times of morning or night or more than a particular number of times in a seven-day window. When debt collectors contact you, if they aren’t compliant with the FDCPA, you may be able to take legal action. You can also send a cease-and-desist letter. If you do, the debt collector has to stop contacting you but can still take legal action to recover a debt if you owe it.

How to Get Wilshire Consumer Credit Off Your Credit Report

You might need legal help to remove them from reports at the three credit bureaus, and there may be opportunities to recover compensation. Fair Credit can help, and whenever possible, it’s best to contact us as soon as you hear from a potential debt collector or see a collections account on your credit history. 

We’re a team of FCRA attorneys who can review your case for free, so reach out today. You don’t have to live under the cloud of Wilshire Consumer Credit and can exert your legal rights. We can outline the right steps needed to remedy your specific situation.