Tens of millions of Americans have collections-stage debt.
So if you’ve come across a collections entry on your credit report, you’re far from being alone.
One unfamiliar name you may encounter on your report is Ability Recovery Services.
While finding a collections entry on your report can be stressful, ARS’s calls, letters, and damaging effects on your credit score are simple to stop. You just have to know how to confront the agency.
In the guide below, we’ll break down everything you need to know about Ability Recovery Services so you can improve your credit ASAP.
What Is Ability Recovery Services?
You don’t have to worry about ARS’s legitimacy. Ability Recovery Services, LLC, is a bona fide debt collections agency that has been operating since 2011.
Though the agency is headquartered in Pennsylvania, they collect on consumer debt nationwide.
ARS collects on debts for several types of businesses, including:
- Telecommunications services
- Higher education loans
- Utility bills
- Healthcare debt
- Debt from financial institutions
You can contact ARS at their mailing address below:
284 Main St
Dupont, Pennsylvania 18641
How Ability Recovery Services Works
Curious about the debt collection process? Here’s how it works.
When you fall behind on credit card or loan payments, or you fail to pay your service providers, they can turn your debt over to a collections agency like ARS.
These agencies are either paid to help out with collecting your debt or buy it outright from the lender or provider.
Either way, the credit bureaus will be notified, resulting in a collections entry being placed on your credit report.
This type of entry can negatively affect the payment history component of your credit report, which can bring down your score for seven years, even if a payment is made.
Until you pay ARS or reach an agreement, they can continue to call you and send letters requesting payment.
Read on to learn what it takes not just to stop ARS’s calls, but to get them completely removed from your credit report.
3 Ways to Remove Ability Recovery Services from Your Credit Report
Ability Recovery Services may have lowered your credit score, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.
If you’re ready to get the collections entry removed from your credit report, read on for a few pointers.
1. Request Debt Validation
Your first instinct may be to just pay Ability Recovery Services, but it won’t take the entry off your credit report.
Before you even consider paying ARS, you should ask to see some proof.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act grants you the right to ask for evidence within 30 days of being contacted by the agency.
If you submit a debt validation letter in that timeframe, the agency is obligated to provide you with documentation proving that the debt is actually yours, including important details about the original lender or provider and your account information.
Unless ARS can furnish the documentation it needs to move forward, they’ll have to drop the debt, contact the credit bureaus, and stop contacting you.
This is a solid strategy if you don’t owe money to ARS, but also if you do as there’s a chance your account info could’ve gotten lost in the shuffle.
2. Set Up a Pay-for-delete Agreement
If it’s been over 30 days since ARS began contacting you or your debt was validated, it’s time to settle up.
While just paying the agency won’t help your credit, getting ARS to agree to have it deleted in exchange for a payment will.
Once again, it is vital that you communicate in writing so that the agreement is upheld.
More likely than not, debt collectors will settle for a payment that amounts to only a fraction of what you owe.
This is especially true on older account balances. For example, you might walk away only paying $30 of the $60 you owe on your old cable bill.
After making your payment, you should monitor your credit report to ensure that it is updated accordingly.
3. Get Help from a Credit Repair Company
If you need help confronting Ability Recovery Services, a credit repair company can get the job done.
They could save you hours and the stress of having to deal with a debt collector on your own.
We recommend looking into one of our highest ranked credit repair companies.
These companies are experts at getting negative entries off your credit report, and they come with excellent customer service and affordable services.
Whether you’re buried in debt and don’t know how to start recovering or you simply don’t feel like dealing with a single debt collector, getting assistance from a credit repair company may be right for you.
You could see a quick improvement to your credit score and get the tools you need to maintain a great score in the long run.
Dealing with Ability Recovery Services
Debt collectors like ARS frequently receive complaints about the same types of problems.
Many issues revolve around:
- Reporting: Whether due to an error or identity fraud, faulty reporting can be responsible for a collections entry.
- Harassment: People also complain about debt collectors’ methods, which can sometimes be too aggressive or threatening.
- Debt validation: Other complaints cite debt collectors’ failure to validate debts upon request.
You can find complaints on Ability Recovery Services’ BBB profile or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website.
In light of the grievances above, you should brush up on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
It protects consumers like you, making sure that debt collectors use ethical practices when they deal with you.
Among other restrictions, it limits the hours during which agency representatives can contact you and prohibits them from threatening to take illegal actions against you.
Moreover, you can stop ARS’s calls completely. The wisest course of action when you are dealing with a debt collector is to only correspond with them in writing.
With all of your communications in writing, you should have an easier time disputing your debt or negotiating a payment.