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Questions about
paying my bill
Questions about my credit
file |
This is an attempt
to collect a debt from a debt collector
and any information obtained may be
used for that purpose. The information
on this page is general information.
Would you like help with your credit
file? |
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Take
Charge of Your Credit |
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| Questions
about paying my bill |
| Can I pay my bill online? |
| How may pay with
a check or savings account draft over
the phone? |
| How do I sign up for
a recurring automatic withdrawal from
my checking or savings account? |
| Can I pay with my credit
card? |
| Why
should I put a collection balance
on my credit card? |
| What credit cards do you
take? |
| How do I sign up for a recurring
automatic charge to my credit card? |
| How
do I know you won't take more money
than authorized? |
| How
do I stop recurring or post dated
checks or credit card payments over
the phone? |
| Can I do a payroll deduction? |
| Do I have to pay the interest? |
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| Questions about
my credit file |
| Does the
account go on my credit file? |
| Do you give extensions
so that an account will not go on
my credit file? |
| My
credit file is shot, what is the difference
if one more shows? |
| Will my account
be removed from the credit bureau
when I pay in full? |
| How
do I remove collection accounts from
my credit file? |
| Which credit bureaus
do you report to? |
| How often
do you report to these credit bureaus? |
| Should I
pay a company to help me fix my credit
file? |
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| Learn
more about your credit by going to
the following site : |
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Take
Charge of Your Credit |
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| Can
I pay my bill online? |
| Yes—at www.americollectpay.com A user-id and password may have been provided to you on a notice. If you do not have that user-id and password, pleaes call our office at 1-800-838-0100 and we may provide you one. We also accept checks, transfers from your
checking or savings accounts, MasterCard,
Discover, American Express, and Visa
over the phone. |
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| How
may I pay with a check over the phone? |
There is no
additional charge
from Americollect if you pay with
a check over the phone.
You can pay from your checking or
savings account by calling 1-800-838-0100
Would you like to have this amount
come out on a recurring basis?
Disclaimer: Americollect
has the right to accept or reject
your payment arrangements. You
have the right to cancel the automatic
withdrawal at any time - call 1-800-838-0100
or email us collector@americollect.com.
(If you are emailing our office, you
are granting us express permission
to use email as a communication with
you.) |
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| How do I sign up for a recurring automatic
withdrawal from my checking or savings
account? |
There is no
additional charge from
Americollect if you pay with a check
over the phone.
You can pay with a recurring automatic
withdrawal from your checking or
savings account by calling 1-800-838-0100.
- What check number would you
like to use?
- What is the account number?
Enter ALL
of the numbers on the bottom of
check from
left to right.
- Whose name(s) are on the checking
account? Spell out as it appears
on the check.
- What is the name of bank or
credit union?
- What is the first date you want
the money to come out of your
account?
- How much do you want to come
out on a recurring basis?
- How often would you like this
amount to come out: Weekly, Every
two weeks, or Monthly? Type your
answer here:
- If you chose Weekly or Every
two weeks - What day of the week
would you like the withdrawal
to happen: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday or Friday? Type your
answer here:
- If you chose Monthly, what date
of the month (e.g. the 14th) would
you like the withdrawal to happen?
Type your answer here:
- Would you like the withdrawals
to continue until your balance
is paid in full?
- What is your address?
- What is your phone number?
- What is your file # or account
number or the name of the creditor
you owe the money to?
- Is this a deduction from a checking
or savings account?
Disclaimer: Americollect has the
right to accept or reject your payment
arrangements. You have the right
to cancel the automatic withdrawal
at any time - call 1-800-838-0100
or email collector@americollect.com
(If you are emailing our office,
you are granting us express permission
to use email as a communication
with you.)
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| Why
should I put a collection balance
on my credit card? |
All new accounts
listed with Americollect have 30 days
from the date they are listed with
Americollect before they are placed
on your credit file. It only makes
sense, to SAVE your credit file from
having collection account on it. Ask
yourself this question. Which option
would be better? A new collection
account on your credit file for SEVEN
YEARS or increasing the balance on
your credit card. Paying down a credit
card looks much better than a paid-in-full
collection account on your credit
file.
Yes, you may have to pay interest
on your credit card but in the long
run it is better for your credit and
many of our clients add interest any
way. |
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| What credit cards do you take? |
We accept MasterCard,
Visa, American Express, & Discover.
There is no additional charge
from Americollect if you pay with
a credit card.
You can also pay online at www.americollectpay.com A user-id and password may have been provided to you on a notice. If you do not have that user-id and password, pleaes call our office at 1-800-838-0100 and we may provide you one. We also accept checks, transfers from your
checking or savings accounts, MasterCard,
Discover, American Express, and Visa
over the phone.
Disclaimer: Americollect
has the right to accept or reject
your payment arrangements. You
have the right to cancel the automatic
withdrawal at any time - call 1-800-838-0100
or email us |
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| How
do I sign up for a recurring automatic
charge to my credit card? |
Call us at: 1-800-838-0100. There is no
additional charge from Americollect
if you pay with a credit card.
- What numbers are on the card?
- Whose name appears on the credit
card? Spell out as it appears
on card.
- What type of a card is it?
- What is the expiration date?
Month/Year
- What date do you want the first
money to be charged to your account?
- How much do you want to be charged
this time?
- How much do you want to be charged
on a recurring basis?
- How often would you like this
amount to come out - Weekly -
Every two weeks or Monthly? Type
your answer here:
- If you chose Weekly or Every
two weeks - What day of the week
would you like the withdrawal
to happen? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday or Friday. Type
your answer here:
- If you chose Monthly,
what date of the month would you
like the withdrawal to happen?
Type your answer here:
- What is your address as it appears
on your credit card billing statement?
- What is your phone number?
- Enter your file # or account
number or the name of the creditor
you owe the money to?
Disclaimer:
Americollect has the right to accept
or reject your payment arrangements.
You have the right to cancel the automatic
withdrawal at any time - call 1-800-838-0100
or email us |
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| How do I know you won't
take more money than authorized? |
That
is a good question. Here are our answers
for both credit card and checks over
the phone.
- We have been
in business since 1964.
We are not about to risk our license
to zap a couple of extra bucks
from your account.
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| How
do I stop recurring or post dated
checks or credit card payments over
the phone? |
If the payment
is supposed to come out today.
CALL US 1-800-838-0100.
Other methods of stopping payment
include:
In any case, ask for the Americollect
representative’s first and
last name. This is a good rule to
follow whenever you call about any
financial information.
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| Can
I do a payroll deduction? |
Yes.
This is a wise thing to do.
It builds a consistent repayment history
with our office. Every payment is
reported to the credit bureau, constantly
improving your credit file.
We can send you receipts so you can
compare your payroll deductions to
our account balance. We have
the form that allows the payroll deduction.
Employers generally like payroll deductions
instead of court ordered garnishments
because they are easier to compute
and the employer is not under a court
order with a payroll deduction. Our
communication with your employer is
confidential and we only show them
your balance, not to whom you owe
the money.
To pay with a payroll deduction call 1-800-838-0100
Disclaimer:
Americollect has the right to accept
or reject your payment arrangements.
You have the right to cancel the payroll
deduction at any time - call 1-800-838-0100
or email us |
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| Do
I have to pay the interest? |
| Yes. Under
the condition of the statutes we are
charging the interest, you must pay
it. As you know, the quicker
you pay the balance, the less the
interest you will be charged.
As per normal accounting procedures,
we apply your payments to the accrued
interest first, then the principal. |
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| Does the account go on my credit
file? |
| No. We give
everybody 30
days from the date the account
was first listed with our office before
we list it with the credit bureaus.
Our goal is not to put a collection
account on your credit file; our goal
is to help you get the debt paid.
Contact us to ask for
an extension.
There are times when your account
may be given more than 30 days without
even asking, but we encourage you
to call. If you don't call you
won't know. Please remember,
that we may or may not grant the extension
depending on the account. Call
us 1-800-838-0100 or email
collector@americollect.com
(If you are emailing our office, you
are granting us express permission
to use email as a communication with
you.) |
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| My credit file is
shot, what does it matter if one more
account shows? |
| Yes it does matter!
The fewer accounts placed on your
credit file the better the score.
One more account listed on your credit
file will decrease your score.
Pay the accounts that are about to
go on your credit file or those accounts
that are likely to go legal.
The more accounts you have paid in
full on your credit file, the better
it looks. Call us if you have
any questions 1-800-838-0100
or email collector@americollect.com
(If you are emailing our office, you
are granting us express permission
to use email as a communication with
you.) |
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| Would
you like to learn more about your
credit file? |
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Take
Charge of Your Credit |
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| Will
my account be removed from the credit
bureau when I pay in full? |
| The Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA states we must
report what is true and accurate.
If the account was sent to Americollect,
placed on your credit file and later
paid, then we must report what happened.
We cannot delete your account. Negative
collection accounts stay on your credit
file seven years from the date of
delinquency, but positive credit stays
also stays on your credit file after
you have built it up. For example,
if you had positive credit from paying
off a car loan, you would want the
positive payments to show after you
paid it in full, and they do. Websites
& companies that charge to tell
you how to remove things from your
credit file may be charging you for
poor advice. If you want to improve
your credit file, contact Americollect
at 1-800-838-0100 or email collector@americollect.com
(If you are emailing our office, you
are granting us express permission
to use email as a communication with
you.) |
| Click
below to learn more about your credit
file. |
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Take
Charge of Your Credit |
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| How do I remove collection
accounts from my credit file? |
| Time. Negative collection
accounts stay on your credit file
seven years from the date of delinquency.
The only way to remove them is with
time. You can put your own consumer
statement on your credit file that
explains why you have the accounts.
We recommend that you explain what
happened in a matter-of-fact way and
try not to give a one-sided explanation.
Don't surprise your lender—tell
your lender how many collection accounts
are on your credit file. You will
need to contact the credit bureaus
(Name the Credit Bureaus here) for
their procedures regarding consumer
statements. |
| Would
you like to learn more about your
credit file? |
|
|
Take
Charge of Your Credit |
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| ^Top |
| Which credit bureaus do you report to? |
| We report to the
three major credit bureaus: TransUnion,
Experian and Equifax. |
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Take
Charge of Your Credit |
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| How often do you report to these
credit bureaus? |
| We report each credit
bureau every 30 days. The credit bureaus
update your credit file shortly after
that. We report every payment you
make, which makes your credit report
look better. If you are trying to
get a loan and need a payment history
more quickly, please contact us at
1-800-838-0100 or collector@americollect.com
(If you are emailing our office, you
are granting us express permission
to use email as a communication with
you.) and we will try
to help you. |
| Would
you like to learn more about your
credit. |
|
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Take
Charge of Your Credit |
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| Should I pay a company to help
me fix my credit file? |
| In
general NO. There are
many services out there that charge
you for things that you can do for
free. It is useful to learn
how to manage your credit file on
your own. It is quite simple.
A good way to start is the link below. |
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Take
Charge of Your Credit |
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