If you pulled your credit and found an unfamiliar tradeline with the name McCarthy Burgess & Wolff, you may wonder who they are and how they got on your credit report. You may even wonder if it’s fraud.
Fortunately, it’s not fraud, but unfortunately, they are a collection agency who bought one of your old debts and now they want you to pay it. Even worse, their presence on your credit report can destroy your credit score.
It’s important to know how to remove McCarthy Burgess & Wolff from your credit report.
What Debts does McCarthy Burgess & Wolff Buy?
Collection agencies like McCarthy Burgess & Wolff buy debts you defaulted for over 90 days. Companies like credit card companies, utility companies, and student loan servicers sell their old debt to MB&W for less than their value to get it off their books.
MB&W then tries to get the full amount from you – that’s how they make a profit. The problem is having MB&W on your credit report is damaging to your credit score. While you may owe the debt, it’s important to remove McCarthy Burgess & Wolff from your credit report.
Here’s how.
Validate the Debt
Start by validating the debt. You have 30 days from the date they first contact you to do this. Request the debt validation in writing and ask some or all of these questions:
- What is the name on the account?
- What’s the account number?
- What’s the original balance?
- What’s the outstanding balance?
- When was the last payment made?
- Who is the original creditor?
The more questions you ask, the more likely it is that MB&W won’t be able to validate the debt. If they can’t, they must delete it from your credit report. They have 30 days to respond to your request. If they don’t, you can dispute the debt, using the step below.
Disputing the Tradeline on your Credit Report
If you missed your chance to validate the debt or MB&W couldn’t validate it, your next step is to dispute the debt with the credit bureau.
This is how you remove McCarthy Burgess & Wolff from your credit report. Like debt validation, do this in writing but this time you’re writing to the credit bureau that’s reporting the debt.
In your letter, state the reasons you’re disputing the debt. You have the right according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to dispute any information that’s incorrect or unfair on your credit report. Go through the tradeline carefully to see what to dispute. If you don’t have a copy of your credit report, you can get a free copy here.
If you have nothing to dispute, your next step is to ask for a pay-for-delete agreement.
Ask for a Pay-for-Delete Agreement
Your final step in removing MB&W from your credit report is to ask for a pay-for-delete agreement. As the name suggests, you’ll pay the bill (which you’d have to do anyway), but in exchange, you’ll ask them to remove McCarthy Burgess & Wolff from your credit report.
This is called a Pay-for-Delete agreement. You agree to pay a negotiated amount and they agree to remove the tradeline from your credit report. Before you agree to anything, understand that you can negotiate the amount you pay. MB&W paid only a fraction of the amount that you owe, so there’s room for negotiation even if they make it think like there isn’t.
When you reach an agreement, get it in writing before you pay them. If you agree verbally and never get it in writing, there’s nothing to prove that they agreed to remove the collection from your credit report. Even if you pay it, the tradeline will continue to hurt your credit moving forward.
Have a Professional Remove the Collection
Lastly, if you’re the type of person who would rather have a professional handle it and just be done with the whole thing, I suggest you check out Lexington Law Credit Repair. They’ll take care of you, and honestly they usually get negative items removed quicker than if you try to do it yourself. Give them a call at 1-844-331-6062 or Check out our review of their service.