How to Remove IC System from Your Credit Report
If you're getting annoying calls or letters from IC System collection agency, and they are negatively impacting your peace of mind, there are ways to resolve this problem. In this article, you’ll discover the most streamlined and effective way to remove IC system from your credit report. The tips are quite easy to implement and are your best defense against harassment from IC System. If you want to stop the letters and calls, you should take immediate action.
Table of Contents:
- Is IC System a legitimate company?
- What are your rights?
- Get everything in writing
- Request debt validation
- Negotiate a settlement
- Seek professional help
Is IC System a legitimate company?
Founded in 1938 by Jack and Ruth Erickson, it’s a big player in the debt collections industry, so you’re dealing with experienced collectors. IC System generally purchases debts from third-party companies for pennies on the dollar and then attempts to collect on them to turn a profit. This is common practice for collection agencies, and many times, they have the wrong information. The debt they are contacting you about might not even be yours.
What are your rights?
As a consumer, you have rights. All the information shared below is legal and safe to follow. Unfortunately, many people don't know their rights, so they aren't quite sure how to deal with collection agencies. However, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) outlines your rights, and these laws dictate how collection agencies must operate when they collect a debt.
If IC System continually contacts you to collect a debt, you should notify the company that you know your rights under the law. Many times, this stops a collection agency from harassing you about your debt and causes them to behave professionally.
Get everything in writing
To begin the process of removing IC System from your credit report, you'll need to write a letter. This letter will be a formal request that the collection agency contacts you only via regular post i.e., snail mail. You have the right to make this request, and it will help you establish a paper trail between you and the company.
It's much better to correspond with IC System by mail than by phone because collection agency representatives might not follow through on agreements that they make with you over the phone. With a paper trail, IC System representatives will only be able to promise what they plan to deliver, so always request written communication. You should send all letters via registered mail so there will be a record that IC System received your letter.
Under the guidelines of the FDCPA, IC System must conduct itself in an ethical way when attempting to collect on a debt. The FDCPA doesn’t allow collection agencies to harass you. When you send this letter, you'll reinforce these boundaries.
Request debt validation
In your letter, you should also request that the company provides you with proof that the debt in question is rightfully yours. This is a debt validation request, and you should send it as soon as you can. If IC System is unable to validate your debt, the law mandates that it must cease all attempts to collect from you and remove the entry from your credit report.
If the company responds to your debt validation letter, review all the documents that IC System has provided as proof that the debt is yours to ensure the information that they have provided is accurate. It's possible that the data isn’t sufficient to prove the debt. In many cases, collection agencies don't get much information about the debts they purchase. So, you should look at the information they have provided to see if any facts are missing or any information is inaccurate.
If you find an issue, you should open a dispute with the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They will then have 30 days to perform an investigation.
Negotiate a settlement
If the debt is rightfully yours and IC System has the data to prove it, you can try to negotiate repayment terms. You may be able to negotiate a deal whereby you pay less than you owe. Since IC System probably spent a lot less than the total debt amount when it bought your debt, it may be willing to take less than you owe because it may still make a profit even if you don’t pay the full amount.
You can start the negotiations by offering to pay 40% to 50% of the total debt amount. You should negotiate via snail mail rather than on the phone or by email. When you're negotiating the deal, you can stipulate that IC System must remove the negative entry from your credit report when you pay the agreed amount.
Once the company sends you a letter agreeing to your terms, you can pay what you owe. Send this payment in the form of a check, along with a letter that formally requests that IC System remove the debt from your credit report, as per the terms of the repayment agreement. Don't grant the company access to your bank account.
After 30 days have passed, write another letter asking if IC System removed the negative entry from your credit report. In the letter, request that they remove it immediately, if they haven’t already done so.
IC System contact details:
Physical address: 444 Highway 96 East, P.O. Box 64378, St Paul, MN 55164-0378
Phone: 866-628-7811 (medical) or 800-279-7244 (other)
If you would rather have a professional deal with IC System and forget about the whole thing, you could contact a credit repair company, such as Credit Saint, which will take care of you. Credit Saint can get the collection company to remove the entry from your credit report quickly.
Update: This article has been updated to reflect IC System’s current contact information.
Disclaimer: This story was originally published on October 19, 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/