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How to Remove Bonneville Collections from Your Credit Report

By:
Money Staff
7 min read

Is Bonneville Collections bringing you down? If the name above has popped up on your FICO credit report recently, most likely a bill has slipped through the cracks. The bill collector could also be contacting you by mistake.

This can be exceptionally frustrating, as debt collection agencies are notorious for their repeated phone calls. Whatever the case, having a collections account reported to the credit reporting agencies can result in incessant phone calls, letters and a lower credit score.

What is Bonneville Collections?

Despite Bonneville’s aggressive collection methods, the agency is not a scam.

Bonneville Billing and Collections, Inc., is a sizable third-party debt collection agency that has been collecting consumer debts nationwide for decades. The Professional Practices Management System has certified the agency, and its managing president is Virgil Toller. Headquartered in Ogden, Utah, the operation has been in business since 1980. The company might also appear on your report as BBC or simply Bonneville.

It earned a C rating by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), logging 26 in the last three years. The most common complaint was Bonneville didn't make it easy to talk with its employees.

It collects debt for businesses in multiple industries, including:

In addition to debt collection, the agency offers several additional services to its clients in the industries above. These include check recovery services, web access and legal resources for collecting on complex delinquent accounts.

Three ways to remove Bonneville Collections from your credit report

Contacting a debt collection agency isn’t an experience most people look forward to, but it’s a necessary one. With the easy steps below, you can get the collection agency removed from your credit report in no time:

1. Ask Bonneville to validate your debt

Will Bonneville truly sue or go through with wage garnishment?

Unfortunately, yes, it can follow through with lawsuit threats. However, you have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and can use it to protect yourself. The FDCPA requires that debt collectors present proof of the debt. However, you must request it within 30 days of the initial contact.

Bonneville’s appearance on your credit report could be an error, one that a debt validation letter could help to clear up. Even individuals who owe the requested debt can find success with this strategy, since the agency might not have the information it needs to charge you. You can use a debt validation letter template to request this information.

If Bonneville is unable to substantiate the debt, it will take you off its call list. It will also have to remove the entry from your credit report.

If you’re still within the 30-day dispute period, it’s well worth a shot to send in a debt validation letter.

2. Arrange a pay-for-delete agreement with Bonneville

If Bonneville has been calling you for more than a month, it could be time to make a payment. Unfortunately, simply paying the amount you owe and moving on probably won’t help your credit score much.

Instead, you should negotiate a pay-for-delete agreement. This is where you make a payment in exchange for Bonneville’s removal from your credit report. Most debt collection agencies will even accept a payment that’s only a portion of the full amount owed, so you should be able to negotiate a lower payment.

It’s important to handle these negotiations in writing so that you have plenty of documentation. If there’s still no change to your credit report 30 days after you submit a payment, check back with Bonneville. Remind them to delete the account with the three major credit bureaus.

3. Hire a professional for credit repair

The methods above should get you the results you’re looking for, but there is another option. You can hire a credit repair company or a law firm specializing in credit repair. These companies are highly skilled at getting entries removed from your credit report and boosting your credit score.

If you act quickly, you could improve your credit today and set yourself up for financial success in the future.

How does Bonneville Collections work?

As a third-party debt collections agency, Bonneville pursues payment on outstanding debts. It does this for government agencies like the IRS and for thousands of businesses with uncollected consumer debts. Debt collection agencies purchase debts at low rates and profit off any repayment they can collect. Companies can also hire them and earn a percentage of whatever payments the agencies successfully collect.

Bonneville shows up on your credit report as a “collections account,” where it can stay for seven years after your delinquency. Even if you pay Bonneville the amount you owe, the account can remain on your credit report and continue to do damage. The agency can also call, email and mail letters to you until you make arrangements with them.

Here is the important contact information for Bonneville collections:

Address:

6026 S. Fashion Point Drive
South Ogden, UT 84403

Phone Number: 801-621-7880 or 1-800-660-6138
Website: www.bonncoll.com

Dealing with Bonneville Collections

Bonneville Collections has received several complaints from debtors. It has over 200 complaints between the BBB and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. People complain about Bonneville’s communication methods, its faulty reporting and its failure to respond to disputes.

With these complaints in mind, you should brush up on the FDCPA. This act requires Bonneville to treat people respectfully during the collections process. It should also adhere to guidelines in its communication practices.

One advantage guaranteed under the act is your right to communicate with Bonneville by letter. This will stop Bonneville Collections from harassing you and provide proof of your interactions in case you need it later.

Update: This article has been updated to reflect current contact and corporate information for Bonneville Collections. BBB complaints and ratings for Bonneville Collections have been updated and unverifiable information has been removed.

Disclaimer: This story was originally published on July 7, 2020, 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/

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