If you’re hearing from NCO Financial, you likely defaulted on a debt. NCO Financial buys ‘old debts’ from creditors for less than their value and tries to collect on the bill, typically for the full amount.
If you’re getting phone calls from NCO, they are probably also on your credit report. Now you not only have a defaulted debt on your credit report, but a collection too. It’s important to know how to remove NCO Financial from your credit report fast so it doesn’t do more damage than already occurred.
Fortunately, it’s not as hard as it sounds, just follow these simple steps.
Hire a Credit Repair Agency
If right off the bat you’re tired of feeling harassed by NCO Financial, you can hire a professional credit repair agency to handle them for you. Everything the credit repair agency does is what you could do, but they know exactly what to look for and how to handle it.
Like we said earlier, they can get a little aggressive and it may feel like they are harassing you, which no one should deal with – so getting help right away may be the answer.
If not, there are several ways you can handle them yourself.
Communicate in Writing
First, never communicate with them over the phone. The representatives can get downright tough making it hard to determine what’s allowed and not allowed because you’re so flustered.
Instead, have all communication via written letter through snail mail. Not only will this give you time to process what they say, but it gives you the paper trail you need to dispute the debt.
There are a few ways to dispute it:
- If you don’t think the debt is valid, request a debt validation letter. In writing, ask NCO for proof of the debt, including the name on the account, the account number, balance, and last payment date. They must respond in writing within 30 days of your request. If they don’t, you can write to the credit bureaus and provide proof that they didn’t validate the debt.
- If the debt is valid, but they didn’t report it correctly on the credit report, dispute it. The Fair Credit Reporting Act ensures that all information on your credit report is fair and accurate. If you don’t feel the tradeline from NCO Financial is legit or fair, dispute it in writing to the credit bureau and include as much proof as you can why it’s unfair or inaccurate.
Negotiate an Agreement
If you take the steps above, you still may owe the debt. If it’s yours, removing NCO Financial from your credit report doesn’t eliminate the need to pay the bill.
If they are still on your credit report, it’s important to not only negotiate a settlement amount, but also an agreement that NCO will remove the debt from your credit report. It’s called a pay-for-delete agreement. All it means is you agree to pay the amount NCO will accept (usually less than the full amount) and they agree to remove the tradeline from your credit report.
Again, get the agreement in writing. Don’t pay them until you have proof in writing. After you pay the debt (only pay via check, don’t share your bank account information), make sure they removed it from your credit report by pulling your credit after 30 days pass.
If NCO still shows up on your credit report, dispute the debt with the reporting credit bureau. Provide the proof that NCO agreed to remove the debt from your credit report upon payment and the credit bureau will remove it for you.
That’s why the paper trail is so important. If or when NCO Financial doesn’t hold up to their end of the bargain, you have proof of what they promised and can make them follow through by enlisting the help of the credit bureaus or even a credit repair agency.
Remove NCO Financial from your Credit Report Quickly
A collection can damage your credit score quite a bit. If it’s combined with a bad payment history, you could lose 100+ points on your credit score, so it’s important to know how to remove NCO Financial from your credit report.
Using the steps above, you should be able to get it off your credit report quickly. If you can’t do it yourself, hire a reputable credit repair agency and let them do it for you.