Credit
How to Remove Comcast Collections From Your Credit Report
Have you gotten phone calls or letters in the mail from Comcast Collections?
If so, you most likely have an old Comcast bill you forgot to pay when you canceled the service.
Or maybe you got behind on payments and Comcast cut your service. Or maybe you never paid off that dial-up modem you rented back in 1998.
Whatever the case, a Comcast collection account can hurt your credit score unless you deal directly with this debt collector.
Even if your Comcast bill has been “charged off“ you still need to resolve this problem.
Comcast Collections is not a scam. If you’re getting these calls, you need to take action.
Unless you remove this negative entry from your credit report, your credit score could suffer for years.
Remove Comcast Collections From Your Credit Report
Third-party collections agencies — along with collections departments at lenders and utilities — have a terrible reputation.
This goes with the territory. Nobody enjoys being called repeatedly, especially during lunch or on the weekend, for any reason.
When the person on the other end of the phone is a debt collector, the situation grows even more frustrating.
And when you can’t afford to pay off the past due balance, you may feel entirely helpless.
Step 1: Don’t Panic and Don’t Pay
The first step when you start hearing from Comcast Collections — or any other collection agency — is to set aside your feelings of frustration.
They won’t help you solve this problem.
Collections agents hope you’ll get frustrated and overwhelmed and just pay off the balance so the account will go away and the phone calls will stop.
Even if you can afford to pay off the balance due, know that doing this won’t automatically delete Comcast Collections from your credit report.
This negative item could still hurt your credit score for years into the future, even if you do pay off the entire balance.
Instead of paying off the bill or getting frustrated, move on to Step 2.
Get a Free Copy of Your Credit Report
Step 2: Establish Snail Mail Communication
If Comcast collections has called you, call the agency back and tell its representative you understand your consumer rights as outlined in the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.
Then, let the representative know you wish to communicate only in writing from this point on. Federal law gives you this right. The company will have to adhere to your request.
As you can see, the process of stopping calls to your home and/or workplace won’t be difficult.
Most consumers simply don’t know they have this right.
Collection agencies know this, so some of them keep calling until they are told not to.
After you exercise your right to communicate only by mail you’re ready to start the process of removing the collection from your credit report.
Step 3: Write a Debt Validation Letter
A debt validation letter requests that Comcast show proof the debt is indeed yours. Federal law gives United States citizens this right, too.
If Comcast can’t prove the debt is yours, they’ll need to stop all communications with you and remove its entry from your credit report.
Don’t wait to send your debt validation letter. You should send it within 30 days of your first contact with Comcast.
If you don’t send your debt validation letter within 30 days, Comcast can assume you’ve accepted responsibility for the debt.
After you send your letter, Comcast should respond with information about your debt within 30 days. Once you receive the response, you’ll need to review the information to find out if it’s correct.
Look for any type of error you can find. For example, look for an old address, an incorrect account number, or an inaccurate date of service.
Scour the information for errors and for omissions which can also be catalysts for the credit bureaus removing your negative items from Comcast.
If you find problems, write a letter to Comcast detailing the errors and/or omissions. Then, ask for the errors to be fixed.
If Comcast can’t fix the errors, you have a case for deletion. If it can correct the errors, Comcast will do so and you’ll need to move on to Step 4.
Step 4: If the Debt is Rightfully Yours, Negotiate a Payoff
If Comcast proved you owed the debt — or if you didn’t ask for debt validation in time — it’s time to negotiate the deletion of your negative items.
I recommend negotiating directly with Comcast Collections.
Offer Comcast one half of the balance due in exchange for Comcast removing its negative items from your credit report with all three credit bureaus.
You will probably need to haggle some on the phone. This is why I recommend starting by making a phone call in this case.
(You can start by calling this phone number: 1-800-XFINITY. But be prepared to be transferred or redirected a couple times to someone who can help.)
If the representative agrees to your deal over the phone, ask for a written letter that details the repayment amount and terms (removal of the entry from your credit report upon receipt of payment).
Don’t make your payment until you get the letter. After you receive it, write a check and mail it out to them. Never share your credit card or bank account number over the phone.
Check back after 30 days (by letter) to see if your entry was removed. Make sure all your Comcast account’s negative items are removed, including late payments and missed payments.
Get a Professional to Handle Comcast For You
If you don’t want to deal with Comcast Collections, or if you need your credit repaired quickly, I suggest you consider hiring Lexington Law Credit Repair.
This is a professional credit repair company staffed by paralegals and attorneys who know your rights.
They know how to negotiate with collections agencies and credit bureaus because that’s all they do.
This kind of professional help averages around $100 a month in subscription fees, but it can save you all sorts of time while repairing your credit score a lot faster.
Check out their website.
Ads by Money. We may be compensated when you click on this ad.
Ad
Find Locally Licensed Experts Select your state to get started Hawaii Alaska Florida South Carolina Georgia Alabama North Carolina Tennessee RI Rhode Island CT Connecticut MA Massachusetts Maine NH New Hampshire VT Vermont New York NJ New Jersey DE Delaware MD Maryland West Virginia Ohio Michigan Arizona Nevada Utah Colorado New Mexico South Dakota Iowa Indiana Illinois Minnesota Wisconsin Missouri Louisiana Virginia DC Washington DC Idaho California North Dakota Washington Oregon Montana Wyoming Nebraska Kansas Oklahoma Pennsylvania Kentucky Mississippi Arkansas Texas Get Help from Lexington Law