Who Is the "Collection Bureau of America?" The Collection Bureau of America, AKA "CBA", is a third party debt collection company. They do not provide very much contact information on their website. Phone number is as follows: CBA Phone Number: 888.306.2045
Know your rights before you talk to CBA
Anxious to settle a debt with CBA and move on with your life? Be careful not to rush into any raw deals that will leave you with a spotty credit report.
Debt collectors must adhere to debt collecting laws. The U.S. Fair Trade Commission has many publications online for your perusal. Also, contact your State's Attorney General's office if you think you might be a victim of illegal debt collection tactics.
Most people want to run and hide when the Collection Bureau of America calls them day and night. While you might feel scared and intimidated, ignoring the collection agency isn't going to make your problem go away and it certainly isn't going to help your credit score.
However, before you strike a deal such as a settlement or payment plan, take the time to educate yourself on how to deal with collection agencies. You will feel less threatened if you know where the Collection Bureau of America stands.
Whether you seek the assistance of a professional or you decide to take on the collector and the three major credit bureaus yourself, you need to take an active role in getting the matter resolved.
Is the Collection Bureau of America Really Your Debt?
Before you agree to anything, let's make sure this is really your debt! Calmly, ask the debt collector to mail you documentation proving that this is your debt. Also, certify mail them a letter asking them to validate the debt. Keep copies of everything! This will take a couple of weeks and perhaps some back and forth communication. Be patient. You need everything in writing.
Often you can remove the credit report collection just with proper debt validation!
Use the Statute of limitations Against CBA
The Statute of limitations is civil code and each state has their own. The statute of limitations refers to an amount of time allowed to legally enforce a debt. If CBA is suing you for a debt after the statute of limitations has expired it is your burden to bring this to their attention. Again, know your rights and educate yourself or hire a credit repair professional to do your homework for you.
How Will CBA Report the Debt to the Credit Bureaus if You Pay?
This is really important. It's possible to have derogatory accounts taken off your credit report completely. It requires a lot of paperwork and diligence and is sometimes a high wire act with the collection agency.
You want your debt paid (either in full or a lesser negotiated amount) but most importantly you want these words to appear on your credit report, "Paid as Agreed". Not "Charge Off". Not "Settled". If you are in a position to pay the debt, ask (in writing) CBA to either remove the account entirely from your credit report or ask them to report the account as, "Paid as Agreed".
Get written documentation that they will submit it to the credit bureaus in this manner. Keep the documentation and follow up with the credit bureaus.
It will be a slow, possibly frustrating process and you will save yourself many headaches if you ask Lexington Law Firm 1-800-232-2903 to resolve the matter on your behalf. I used Lexington Law for debt validation which erased several debt collection agencies from my credit history. Whatever you decide, don't just stick your head in the sand!
"I just want to share with you my story about how my credit situation. If you are someone struggling with bad credit, then I was walking in your exact same shoes...
And today - if you look behind me - this is the house that I bought.
So, obviously my credit situation has changed.
Basically, while I was in college I ran up my credit cards and acquired a lot of unmanageable debt which destroyed my credit rating.
About a-year-and-a-half ago when I went to try to buy a house, the banks laughed at me and made me feel bad about what happened in college. (They basically implied that I was a deadbeat SCUMBAG even though it really wasn't all my fault).
I knew that I had to fix my credit, but didn't know how to do it myself so I went to Lexington Law.
Now, literally within several months, I was able to purchase a $300,000 new home without any trouble at all obtaining a mortgage.
So instead of going into banks with bad credit and being looked at as a scumbag, the banks were more than willing to help.
In fact, when I applied for my mortgage and the banker ran my credit, he came back and was saying...
"Wow! Sure thing sir. We'd love to help you out."
Lexington Law literally changed my life.
I went from being the person who has bad credit to being the person who is living in what I consider my dream home at age 29.
Some examples of the things that were on my report that are now gone were: all sorts of charge offs, collections, and I even had credit report judgments listed against me (which I heard is one of the worst things you can have on your credit.)
I had basically every kind of negative listing shy of a bankruptcy.
Lexington Law has raised my credit score at least 237 points. I just checked my FICO score which is now a 737. When I started with Lexington Law, it was below 500!"
I encourage anyone struggling with bad credit to pick up the phone and give Lexington Law a call.
It was super-encouraging to see my credit score improve each month as the negative items were deleted from my credit reports. I thought some of the bad credit was permanent since creditors misled me into believing that delinquent information would stay on my credit report for the next seven years.
However, through their dispute process and "goodwill interventions," Lexington Law proved it is possible to remove any questionable negative item. (it is the same as pleading 'not guilty' in a court of law).
Additionally, the paralegal assigned to my case showed me other credit rebuilding techniques such as:
Deleting the negative credit items like charge offs and the credit card judgment, combined with the credit rebuilding techniques, rapidly improved my credit score. In fact, in month two my score went up 74 points!
After living with bad credit for so long, it was really encouraging to see that I was making progress in the right direction.
Not only did the attorneys at Lexington Law show me results, they also provided excellent customer service along the way. If you are someone who enjoys that "personal touch", then you may like how Lexington Law assigns a paralegal to your case.
My paralegal (Stephanie) was always available to discuss the status of my case over the phone and email. Even though I didn't expect or ask for it, my attorney would also periodically give me a call to check in.
Here are some strategies Lexington Law used to delete the really stubborn bad credit - such as the credit card judgment:
You can also access you case online anytime you like. (I enjoyed logging in just to see all the deletions!)
If you are struggling with a bad credit score because of negative credit items, then I truly hope that you start repairing your credit today. I know how humiliating bad credit is and I know how easy it is just to 'sweep it under the rug' and pretend it will go away on its own.
I realize that your situation is probably a little different than mine, however, Lexington Law has already deleted questionable charge offs, a credit card judgment, late payments, collection items, and inquiries from my credit report and raised my credit score to a 737!
Here is a shot of my credit score online last month -:
To get started repairing your credit, call Lexington Law today direct at:
1-800-232-2903 (toll-free)
Or, if you want a Lexington Law paralegal to call you, click here.
