Have an issue with Wakefield & Associates? Need help?
Are you being harassed by a debt collector? Is someone from Wakefield & Associates contacting you every day, or multiple times per day by phone, mail, email, or Facebook? Are they threatening to sue? We explain all about Wakefield & Associates, how they operate, what debt they buy, and what to do if they contact you.
Wakefield & Associates is a debt collector. The company was founded in 1946 and since that time they have specialized in the medical Recovery Services industry adding to their firm skills like debt collection, bad debt management, and accounts receivable management.
You should absolutely pay Wakefield & Associates if you owe a legitimate debt. They are a legitimate company. However, even legitimate companies have been known to sometimes act unfairly and violate things like the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). So if you have been harassed or treated unfairly, consider filing a complaint or working with an attorney.
Yes, Wakefield & Associates is a legitimate company.
Wakefield & Associates is not a junk debt buyer.
Don’t assume you can ignore Wakefield & Associates. If you continue to ignore them, they can sue you in court to get the money back.That said, even though they are a legitimate company, Wakefield & Associates sometimes makes mistakes or violates the most recent FDCPA regulations about when and how they contact you. If this happens, you can share your complaints with outside attorneys or file complaints with the government. You can get legal help to sue the collection agency if that is insufficient.
Wakefield & Associates collects for credit card companies, student loans, rent, and medical providers.
If Wakefield & Associates is calling you and you don’t think you have debt, you need to send them a request for validation. You only have 30 days from the first time Wakefield & Associates contact you in order to do this. It’s quite common for mistakes to happen, especially when big debt collectors are given dozens of accounts at the same time. They might not verify the authenticity of the information, including contact information which could be outdated. Once you send this request, they have to stop all collection attempts until they respond. If they don’t follow the law during this timeframe or they can’t prove the debt is legitimately yours, they have to stop collection attempts. If they don’t, you can send them a communication called insufficient validation.
Similarly, if you have an account you’ve already paid, but Wakefield & Associates is still calling, they might be working with outdated or incorrect information. You want to check your records and specifically verify that the delinquent account you already paid is no longer listed on your credit score. If it is, then you have to work with the credit reporting agencies to get it removed. At the same time, send a request for validation to Wakefield & Associates.
As a debt collector, some of the laws that Wakefield & Associates must follow include the FCRA, the FDCPA, and the TCPA.
That alphabet soup stands for the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which gives you rights to help ensure your credit report remains accurate; the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which protects you from being abused and deceived by debt collectors; and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which limits robocalls and other telephone spam.
If you think any of these consumer protection laws may apply to your situation, tell us about it.
If you believe the debt Wakefield & Associates is calling about has expired, you want to do the same thing: check your records and at the same time, send Wakefield & Associates a request for a validation letter. The statute of limitations is different for each type of debt so you want to make sure it is accurately removed from your credit report. Wakefield & Associates might think they are collecting on a legitimate debt when they aren’t, or they never bothered to check in the first place. If there was a mistake, they should be updated but if the debt has expired, you can send them a cease communications notice. An attorney can help you with this.
There are a lot of different ways you can try to settle for less. As a debt collector, the people who work for Wakefield & Associates get paid a bonus when they settle an account. So, if you are close to the end of the month, or any type of timeframe where their bonus structure has increased, the employees might be more willing to make a settlement if it gets them money right away.
If you owe a legitimate debt, the best way to get rid of Wakefield & Associates is to settle with them. If you don’t think you owe any money, you can ask Wakefield & Associates for a validation letter. These are all things that attorneys can help you with.
Yes, Wakefield & Associates can sue you even if the account they are calling about is inaccurate. This is why it’s so important for you to respond and send that validation letter request immediately.
Matt Laws owns Wakefield & Associates.
The current CEO is Matt Laws.
Wakefield & Associates is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. However, they also have locations in Colorado, Missouri, Wyoming, and New Jersey.
Wakefield & Associates buys debt from credit card companies, student loans, unpaid rent, and medical providers, primarily.
Employees are paid an hourly wage and they get a commission.
If you have recently checked your credit score and saw something labeled “Wakefield & Associates” on your credit report, your account that was sent to collections is likely labeled as delinquent. If you have a delinquent account that you settle with Wakefield & Associates, it will remain on your account for seven years with a zero balance. However, if you are working toward a settlement with Wakefield & Associates you or an attorney can negotiate for a “tradeline deletion” to have the account removed from your credit score entirely.
A lawyer isn’t a requirement, but a lot of people feel more at ease if they have a lawyer to help field the phone calls and other communication with Wakefield & Associates. Instead of you being the center of multiple phone calls, text messages, or social media communication attempts each day, that gets sent to your attorney’s office. Your attorneys know when your rights have been violated, how to follow up if they have, and what letters to send when mistakes are made.
The FDCPA uses the word “verify,” but some other organizations use the word “validate.” No matter which word is used, it can mean two things. First, You “validate” a debt by sending a letter to Wakefield & Associates officially asking them for information that would confirm the validity of the debt. You or an attorney must do this within 30 days from the first time they contact you.Second, Wakefield & Associates then “validates” the debt on their end by providing you with this information. Once they get your letter they have to legally stop any attempts to collect on the debt until they have verified the debt. If they don’t follow the law or they are unable to verify it, they have to stop bothering you. Once they receive your letter you should get a response within 30 days.
How long it takes for you to settle with Wakefield & Associates is based on your situation. If you respond immediately, the debt is yours and you know that, and you are able to offer an agreeable settlement, you can have the issue dealt with in a matter of months. Trying to prove that there was a mistake, the account isn’t yours, or negotiating for a lower settlement because of financial hardship might extend that process.
What you offer is based on your financial situation. On average companies try to collect between 40% and 80% of the total amount you owe.Can a creditor sue you? Can they take all the money in your bank account?If you ignore attempts to contact a legitimate debt, yes, Wakefield & Associates can sue you but in order to take money from your bank account, they need a default judgment against you. You won’t just wake up one day with no warning and have all your money taken away.
You can ignore Wakefield & Associates, but you shouldn’t. If they are contacting you because your current phone number is associated with a delinquent account even though the account is not in your name, or you think the debt has expired, it’s still better to respond to them rather than ignore them. You only have 30 days from the first point of contact to prove mistakes like this and if you continue to ignore them, you can leave yourself liable to a lawsuit.
When debt collectors get an account, they also get the contact information that goes with it which generally includes your phone number, mailing address, and possibly your email address. They can use this information to find you on social media as well.
As of right now, Wakefield & Associates doesn’t let you pay by check directly on their website, but you can use a credit card payment online.
Long-term, paying off your collections accounts will improve your credit score. The longer you postpone paying off any debt, the longer it stays on your credit score listed as a delinquent account.
Debt will go away when it expires. This may or may not be at the 7-year mark. The reason for this is that the expiration date, or statute of limitations, is different based on the type of debt and the state. Once qualifying debt expires, collections agencies can’t sue you to get the money back or threaten to sue you. They might still try to ask you to pay unless you send them a cease communications letter after confirming the debt is expired.
If you file for bankruptcy, your debt doesn’t just go away. With bankruptcy, you have to choose the type (or chapter) which best fits your situation. There are very strict requirements for each type of bankruptcy. If you are overwhelmed by debt and being harassed by debt collectors or debt buyers, you might very well be better off trying to settle with them rather than use bankruptcy because bankruptcy brings with it a much more significant hit to your credit score, has very strict requirements, and if you fail at any point, your case gets thrown out and you are responsible for paying all of your debt in full. Bankruptcy can take 5 years or more whereas negotiating for a percentage of the total debt you currently owe with Wakefield & Associates might not take nearly as long.
If your debt has been paid off without going to collections, is expired, or inaccurate, you can have it edited or removed from your credit score by contacting credit reporting agencies. If, however, it was sent to collections and you reach a settlement with Wakefield & Associates, in order to get it removed from your credit score you have to negotiate for a tradeline deletion as part of your settlement. In this situation Wakefield & Associates contacts the credit reporting agencies on your behalf to have the account removed entirely. If you don’t do this, it stays on your credit report for 7 years after you pay it off.
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