How to Remove BC Services from Your Credit Report
If a company called BC Services has been calling you demanding payment, you may be a little confused. Who is this company? How did they get my information?
BC Services is a third-party debt collector. If you owe money to a healthcare provider, it may hire BC Services to get you to make payments on a debt. BC Services is a legitimate company whose debt-collection activities can detrimentally affect your credit score.
To legally collect a debt from you, it must first report the debt to the major credit bureaus. This opens a collection account on your credit report, which can cause your score to drop as much as 100 points.
Collection accounts are bad news for your credit score and loan prospects. Lenders see such accounts on your reports and make loan decisions based on them. You may not be able to get loans and credit cards because of collection accounts.
The best way to simultaneously stop calls from BC Services and improve your credit is to remove the collection account from your credit report.
What is BC Services?
Founded in 1925, BC Services is a small debt collection agency headquartered in Longmont Springs, Colorado. It has approximately 10 employees at its headquarters location and is managed by president Steve Boettcher. BC Services mainly services health care providers. You are likely to hear from it if you have an outstanding debt with a hospital or medical professional.
Much like other debt collectors, BC Services is not a welcome presence in many consumers’ lives. In recent years, it has accrued 27 complaints from the Better Business Bureau in the last three years and 18 complaints in 2021 from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects consumers from aggression and intimidation by debt collectors. BC Services’ major issue, however, is that it appears to have trouble adhering to these guidelines. If you believe that BC Services has violated your rights under the FDCPA, contact the CFPB and BBB and file an official complaint. The CFPB will investigate the situation, and you may even be eligible for a damages payout.
Steps to get BC Services off your credit report
Here are the three steps to take to get the collection removed from your credit report and get BC Services out of your life:
- Know your federal rights
- Debt validation
- Negotiate a settlement
Know your federal rights
Collection agencies don’t want you to know this, but the law protects you from their harassment. If you hear from BC Services, the first thing to do is understand your federal rights.
The FDCPA limits what debt collectors can do and say when pursuing payment. It prevents the use of intimidation, harassment, deception and obscenity as a means of coercing customers into paying up.
BC Services tends to disregard FDCPA rules because it assumes you simply don’t know any better. It knows you won’t report it to the CFPB if you don’t know your rights in the first place. Here are some of the things BC Services cannot legally do when pursuing a debt:
- Use obscene or profane language
- Call at unreasonable hours
- Fail to respond to debt validation requests
- Threaten physical violence
- Intimidate you with legal action they can’t take
- Threaten criminal charges
- Call after you’ve requested written communication
If BC Services does any of the above when trying to collect a debt, you have a right to report it to the CFPB. You can also work with a lawyer and pursue financial damages if the abuse is sufficiently extensive. The purpose of the FDCPA is to keep the debt collection process fair and professional. Remind BC Services that you are aware of your rights, and call it out if it oversteps its bounds.
Send BC Services a Section 609 letter
Beyond limiting collection tactics, the FDCPA also grants you the right to verify your debt with BC Services and the credit bureaus. This is known as “debt validation” and aims to stop you from paying a debt that isn’t yours. Debt validation is an important step that many neglect. It can identify any issues or errors on your credit report and remove them before they take a toll.
BC Services may have false information on your collection account, which means you can have it removed from your record entirely. But you need to act fast and make your request official.
To request debt validation, start by writing a debt validation letter. Fill in the blanks with information from your account, and send it to BC Services within 30 days of its first contact with you. BC Services should respond to your request within a month of receiving your letter. If it cannot provide validation, it must contact the credit reporting agencies and remove their account from your credit report.
You can contact BC Services using these details:
550 Disc Drive
Longmont, CO 80503
Phone number: 303-532-3500
Make a pay-for-delete agreement
If BC Services comes back with validation, this is both good and bad news. The good news is that the debt is legitimate, and it isn’t trying to swindle you. The bad news is that you now have to pay up.
Despite this, you can use your situation as an opportunity to work with BC Services to delete their collection account from your credit report. You may even get away with paying less than the full balance.
Known as “pay-for-delete,” this settlement strategy involves negotiating with a debt collector to clean up your credit report. BC Services may be willing to remove their collection account if you agree to pay all or most of your debt balance.
To start the negotiations, offer to pay BC Services around half of the total debt balance. Work with it to come to a compromise on how much to pay in exchange for full account deletion. Once you reach a compromise, ask it to send you the full terms and conditions of the agreement on company letterhead.
This will serve as proof there is an agreement in place. If, in the unfortunate event that the situation escalates to court, you can hand the judge this piece of paper.
BC Services should delete their account within a month of receiving your initial payment. Account deletions take time but shouldn’t require longer than 30 days. If it’s been 30 days and BC Services hasn’t deleted its account, reach out and remind it to uphold its end of the deal.
Ask for help to deal with BC Services
Debt collectors are tough eggs to crack. If you are struggling to reach a settlement with BC Services, it may be time to bring in a professional.
Credit repair companies are professional negotiators that know exactly how to get a collector to delete a collection account. They locate the damaging accounts on your report and work directly with the agencies to remove them. The trick when it comes to credit repair companies is picking the right one. This article recommends Lexington Law due to its track record of success and excellent customer service.
If you’re feeling lost about your credit, you’ve come to the right place. Check out this helpful article to help improve your financial health and boost your credit score.
Update: This article has been updated to reflect the current CFPB and BBB complaints against BC Services and update their current contact information.
Disclaimer: This story was originally published on January 27, 2021, on BetterCreditBlog.org. To find the most relevant information concerning collections or credit card inquiries, please visit: https://money.com/how-to-remove-collections-from-credit-report/ or https://money.com/get-items-removed-from-credit-report/