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  1. Credit
  2. Collections

How to Remove Paragon Revenue Group from Your Credit Report

By:
Money Staff
7 min read

Paragon Revenue Group will appear on your credit report if a creditor hires it to help collect an outstanding debt. Having a collection account on your credit report can damage your credit score and affect your financial opportunities in the future.

It’s best to deal with debt collectors and collection accounts sooner rather than later. This article provides guidance on how to remove Paragon Revenue Group from your credit report.

What is Paragon Revenue Group?

Paragon Revenue Group is a medium-sized debt collections agency with its headquarters in Concord, North Carolina. Originating in 1986, it’s a DBA of John Barry & Associates, Inc.

Paragon Revenue Group primarily collects debt on behalf of companies in the healthcare industry. It boasts a team with extensive experience in collecting debt throughout every stage of the healthcare cycle. If you have medical debt, Paragon Revenue Group may contact you.

Paragon Revenue Group is legit, but that doesn’t mean that it’s pleasant to work with. The company has about 144 complaints in the last three years against it on file with the Better Business Bureau. The majority of these pertain to violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which is legislation that prevents harassment and abuse by debt collectors.

Will paying off Paragon Revenue Group help your credit?

Unfortunately, you won’t get rid of a Paragon Revenue Group entry by paying it — it’ll still appear as a paid account. Once you have a collection account on your credit report, it’ll continue to damage your score until you remove it. Future lenders will see that your debt moved to collections, and they’ll consider this when making loan decisions.

Because lenders will still consider it a negative entry, a paid collection account can continue to damage your score for up to seven years. The only way to prevent this is to get Paragon Revenue Group to remove it before you make any payments.

How to remove Paragon Revenue Group from your credit report

The following steps will help ensure the removal of Paragon Revenue Group from your credit report once and for all:

Send a debt validation letter

The first step to take when dealing with debt collectors such as Paragon Revenue Group is to send a debt validation letter to ensure that the agency has the correct information regarding your debt. Even legit companies can make mistakes, and often, inaccurate information passes from the original creditor to the debt collector. You can remove the debt entirely if the information regarding the collection account is inaccurate, and you have the right to validate this information under the FDCPA.

In your debt validation letter to Paragon Revenue Group, ask the agency to confirm information such as the name of the creditor and the date of the credit activity. If you don’t know how to write a debt validation letter, there are templates on the internet to guide you.

It's important to confirm the date of the activity on your account because there’s a statute of limitations on debt. Each state has a statute of limitations that limits the period of time a debt collection company can pursue a debt. You can get an old debt dismissed if the statute of limitations expires.

Communicate in writing

Your next step is to request that Paragon Revenue Group communicate with you in writing only. Dealing with debt collectors is often challenging. They may make an agreement over the phone and not follow through on it, showing a lack of accountability.

By communicating in writing, you are holding Paragon Revenue Group accountable for its promises. This can also help to prevent overt harassment and abuse.

You can write to Paragon Revenue Group at:

Paragon Revenue Group
216 Le Phillip Ct.
Concord, NC 28025

The FDCPA allows you to dictate how you would like debt collectors to communicate with you. You can specify that they only communicate with you via U.S. mail. If they refuse to do this, let them know that they’re in violation of the FDCPA and hang up. You can send them a cease-and-desist letter if they continue to call you.

Negotiate a settlement

If you determine that a debt belongs to you, you can negotiate a pay-for-delete settlement. A pay-for-delete settlement is when a collection agency agrees to delete the collection account from your credit report if you pay the debt.

Collection agencies may not tell you, but they’ll often settle for less than the full balance. Start by negotiating with Paragon Revenue Group to pay half of the debt and get a deletion. Once you reach an agreement, get it in writing and make your first payment.

After 30 days, check your credit report with the three major credit bureaus. If the account no longer appears, continue making payments. If it does, contact Paragon Revenue Group and remind the agency of your written agreement.

Work with a professional

If you have trouble getting results, consider working with a professional that can analyze your credit report, dispute inaccuracies and deal with any dings. Credit repair companies help consumers remove inaccurate, unauthorized, fraudulent and damaging information from their credit reports. They do the unpleasant work for you so that you can focus on reaching your financial goals.

It's important to find a reputable credit repair company that has your best interests in mind. Some will take your money and do nothing to help fix your credit report. Do your research before committing to work with a specific company.

Dealing with Paragon Revenue Group

Dealing with debt collectors is never convenient and almost always unpleasant. However, there are ways to deal with them and ensure the removal of collection accounts from your credit report. By following the steps above, you can get Paragon Revenue Group off your back and clean up your credit report.

Update: This article has been updated to reflect the current number of BBB complaints against the Paragon Revenue Group. Unverifiable information has been removed.

Disclaimer: This story was originally published on July 6, 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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