The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice; instead, it is for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not be current. This website may contain links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser; we do not recommend or endorse the contents of any third-party sites. Readers of this website should contact their attorney, accountant or credit counselor to obtain advice with respect to their particular situation. No reader, user, or browser of this site should act or not act on the basis of information on this site. Always seek personal legal, financial or credit advice for your relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney or advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between the reader, user, or browser and website owner, authors, contributors, contributing firms, or their respective employers.
Credit.com receives compensation for the financial products and services advertised on this site if our users apply for and sign up for any of them. Compensation is not a factor in the substantive evaluation of any product.
Dealing with a debt that’s gone to collections can be confusing enough, but what happens if you lose the notice? Credit.com recently received the following question from one of our readers who had just this issue:
I received a notice that a collector was seeking a judgement but have misplaced the notice and have no way to communicate with the collector. How can I find out before it’s too late? — Dan
The quickest and easiest way to find the contact information for the collector is to order copies of your credit reports. As long as the collector has reported the collection to the credit reporting agencies, your credit report will disclose the collector’s name, mailing address and contact number.
Under federal law, you’re entitled to free copies of your credit reports from each of the three credit reporting agencies once every 12 months.
In some cases, a debt collector may only report to one of the three major credit reporting agencies, so you may need to check all three of your credit reports (from Equfiax, Experian and TransUnion), just to be safe. We suggest checking all three of your credit reports at least once a year, regardless.
If you’ve already claimed your annual freebie, you’ll have to pay for copies of your credit reports, but in this case it’s worth paying the $7-$9 charge in order to locate the contact information rather than risking even more damage from a default judgment.
If you have more than one collection in your credit report, which can often happen if the collection has been sold repeatedly, then it may be a little more difficult to figure out which collector actually owns the debt and pinpoint which collector would have sent the initial notice regarding the judgment hearing. In this case, you may need to reach out to more than one collector to find out which collection agency currently owns the debt.
In the end, it’s best to do whatever you can to address the collection summons. If you fail to appear in court or respond to a collection summons, the judge will have no choice but to award the collection agency with a default judgement against you. If this happens, it gives the collector additional options to collect, “including wage garnishment or the ability to take money from your bank account depending on your individual state laws,” says Gerri Detweiler, Director of Consumer Education for Credit.com. “Worse, the collector may be able to add attorney’s fees, court costs, or interest to the balance. In some cases, the balance can double or triple due to these additional costs,” adds Gerri.
If you’re facing a collection lawsuit, we highly recommend the following resources from Credit.com. Not only will they help you deal with aggressive collectors, they’ll also help you better understand your options and possible outcomes:
Image: iStockphoto
May 30, 2023
Managing Debt
September 7, 2021
Managing Debt
December 23, 2020
Managing Debt