What a collector can and can't do. What a settlement really costs you. How long any of it stays on your credit. No jargon, no upsell — just the answer, and the source it came from.
31 guides
Credit Reports & Scores
Every tradeline field on your credit report, explained in plain English: statuses, the payment-history grid codes, and the dates that decide when items fall off.
May 27, 2026 · 13 min read
Credit Reports & Scores
Soft pulls never touch your credit score. Hard pulls typically cost fewer than five points and stop counting after a year. Here's who sees each, and when it matters.
May 21, 2026 · 6 min read
Credit Reports & Scores
No scoring company publishes a fixed point drop for a collection. The size depends on where your score started, and FICO's research shows higher scores fall further.
May 19, 2026 · 7 min read
Credit Reports & Scores
Federal law gives you a free reinvestigation of any credit report error: the bureau has 30 days and must delete what it can't verify. Here's how to file.
May 14, 2026 · 13 min read
Letters & Templates
A free goodwill letter template for an accurate late payment, plus an honest look at when creditors say yes, who to send it to, and what to use instead.
May 12, 2026 · 14 min read
Credit Reports & Scores
Pay for delete still happens, just less than advertised. Who actually agrees, how to ask in writing before you pay, and what to negotiate when they say no.
May 7, 2026 · 13 min read
Credit Reports & Scores
Wrong entries can be disputed off for free under the FCRA. Accurate ones mostly can't be removed early, whatever the ads say. What works, and what's illegal to promise.
May 5, 2026 · 17 min read
Your Rights
Where to report a debt collector: the CFPB, the FTC, your state attorney general, and when a private FDCPA lawsuit is the route that actually pays damages.
April 28, 2026 · 7 min read
Debt Collectors
You can make collection calls stop today, verbally for one channel or entirely with a written letter. What each option costs, and the exact letter to send.
April 23, 2026 · 12 min read
Your Rights
A collector can call your job until you say your employer forbids it, and can contact family only to locate you, never to discuss the debt. Here is the exact line.
April 21, 2026 · 8 min read
Your Rights
Regulation F presumes a debt collector violates federal law after seven calls in seven days about one debt, or any call within seven days of a conversation.
April 16, 2026 · 8 min read
Debt Collectors
Jefferson Capital Systems is a Minneapolis debt buyer that collects card, auto, phone, and utility debts. Check the two creditor names and the itemization first.
April 14, 2026 · 7 min read
Debt Collectors
LVNV Funding buys charged-off debts and lets servicers like Resurgent collect them. What the tradeline means, what to verify, and how to settle it properly.
April 9, 2026 · 12 min read
Debt Collectors
Portfolio Recovery Associates bought your old account and collects it as the owner. Here's the exact sequence to follow before you pay or negotiate anything.
April 7, 2026 · 11 min read
Debt Collectors
Midland Credit Management is Encore Capital Group's U.S. debt buyer. Who they are, what the CFPB has required of them, and how to negotiate a settlement.
April 2, 2026 · 11 min read
Credit Reports & Scores
A charge-off is an accounting status on your original account; a collection is a separate account someone else reports. You can have both, and still negotiate either.
March 26, 2026 · 7 min read
Debt Settlement
With cash in hand, a DIY settlement takes weeks to two months. Saving toward the lump sum is the real clock, and company programs run years by design.
March 24, 2026 · 7 min read
Debt Settlement
Forgiven debt of $600 or more is generally taxable income, reported on Form 1099-C. How the insolvency exclusion and Form 982 can shrink or erase that tax.
March 19, 2026 · 14 min read
Letters & Templates
Three copy-ready settlement letters: the opening offer, the counteroffer, and the confirmation that locks terms in writing, plus how to mail each one safely.
March 17, 2026 · 14 min read
Debt Settlement
A lump sum almost always settles for less. A plan is easier monthly but riskier: on many agreements one missed payment voids the deal and revives the full balance.
March 12, 2026 · 9 min read
Debt Settlement
Yes, but the missed payments that got you here already did most of the damage. What a settled account really says, and what rebuilds a credit file afterward.
March 10, 2026 · 13 min read
Debt Settlement
Consolidation is for people who can still repay in full at a better rate. Settlement is for people who can't. Here's how to tell which side of that line you're on.
March 5, 2026 · 15 min read
Debt Settlement
There's no universal number. Your settlement percentage is set by who owns the debt, how old it is, whether you can pay a lump sum, and how well they can document it.
March 3, 2026 · 13 min read
Debt Collectors
Three kinds of company can hold your debt. Which one you're dealing with decides who can take your money, who can sue, and how far the balance can move.
February 26, 2026 · 16 min read
Statute of Limitations
Most states give a creditor three to six years to sue over an unpaid debt. Here is every state's deadline, what restarts it, and how the defense is actually raised.
February 24, 2026 · 28 min read
Debt Collectors
A collection letter can be one of four different documents, and each needs a different response. How to tell them apart, what to send back, and what never to say first.
February 19, 2026 · 13 min read
Credit Reports & Scores
Seven years plus 180 days, measured from the date you first fell behind on the original account. Not from when the debt was sold, and not from when you pay it.
February 17, 2026 · 9 min read
Your Rights
A collector must send a validation notice with an itemized balance, and you get 30 days to dispute in writing. Here's what that forces them to do, and what it doesn't.
February 12, 2026 · 13 min read
Your Rights
Debt collectors can call you, but not before 8am or after 9pm, not more than seven times in seven days, and never with threats. Here's the full list of limits.
February 10, 2026 · 10 min read
Debt Settlement
A step-by-step guide to settling a debt yourself: what to offer, who to offer it to, what to get in writing before you pay, and the traps that cost people money.
February 5, 2026 · 12 min read
Debt Collectors
A missed payment becomes a collection account after about 180 days. Here's the full timeline, what changes when your debt is sold, and what to do first.
February 3, 2026 · 10 min read
Felix negotiates with your creditors for you. Checking what you qualify for is free, takes about two minutes, and uses a soft credit pull that never touches your score.
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