Enhanced Recovery Company, otherwise known as Enhanced Resource Centers or ERC, is a collections agency, and they’re on your credit report because they’ve been unsuccessful at collecting a debt. Eventually, they reported the debt to the three credit reporting agencies.
Compared to some other debt collection agencies, ERC doesn’t own any of the debts it collects. Instead, third-party companies in the telecommunications, utilities, banking, cable, student loans, and financial service industries hire Enhanced Recovery Company to collect debts on their behalf.
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What to Do if You See Enhanced Recovery Company on Your Credit Report
The sooner you deal with the debt that Enhanced Recovery Company is attempting to collect, the better off you’ll be. Otherwise, you can expect repeated calls from the agency, negative marks on your credit report, and even having your property repossessed to repay your outstanding debt.
Here are three steps that can help you avoid these scenarios and move you closer to getting out of debt.
Verify That It Is Legitimate
When it comes to debt collections, the first crucial step is to verify that you owe what they say. Mistakes happen so it could be a mishap on the part of Enhanced Recovery Company, or even on behalf of the reporting agency. In some instances, it could even be a result of identity theft.
The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) gives you the right to authenticate any debt that is being collected and can help you quickly resolve any related issues.
Upon formally reaching out, the agency will send you a debt validation letter containing information about the debt, how much you owe, substantiation that the outstanding balance is accurate, and confirmation that the debt is your responsibility.
Pay It Off
The fastest method to stop Enhanced Recovery Company from contacting you is to pay off the debt. Keep in mind that depending on the circumstances, you may be able to negotiate with the company to reduce the amount you owe if you agree to repay the debt immediately.
Speak With a Credit Counselor
Even if you pay off the debt as soon as you find it on your credit report, collections notices can remain on your report for up to seven years. With the mark on your report, it may be challenging to take out additional loans. Or, you might pay higher interest rates for any loans for which you qualify.
As a result, consider credit counseling, which can help you learn the basics of personal finances, including money management and good spending habits. If you implement their recommendations and boost your financial literacy, it’s possible to avoid putting yourself in the same situation in the future.
It’s crucial to emphasize that, unlike a credit repair organization, a credit counselor’s goal isn’t to improve your credit rating, only to boost your financial knowledge and related habits.
How to Remove Enhanced Recovery Company From Your Credit Report
There are several different methods for removing a company like Enhanced Recovery from your credit report.
Contact a Credit Repair Company
In addition to paying your debt and speaking with a credit counselor, you can also enlist the help of a credit repair agency. These for-profit businesses offer two primary services, both targeted at improving your credit score. They:
- Help you remove inaccurate marks on your report (e.g., a company mistakenly reports a debt that isn’t yours or is the result of identity fraud);
- Contact companies to which you owe a debt and settle for less than the actual amount.
Request a Goodwill Deletion
If you’ve already repaid your debt for Enhanced Recovery Company and you weren’t difficult to work with (i.e., you paid it off promptly and didn’t repeatedly dodge their calls), you can request a goodwill deletion.
In your letter to the company, your goal is to get them to empathize with you. Thus, you can explain the circumstances behind the debt (e.g., a personal or financial emergency, an unexpected change of circumstance), why you missed your payments, and why they should clear the mark from your credit report.
If they agree, ERC will contact each of the three credit bureaus and ask them to remove the negative mark.
It’s important to emphasize that collections companies are under no obligation to remove the mark from your credit report, although many people have used this method successfully.
Send a Pay-for-Delete Letter
If you owed the debt and it wasn’t a mistake, you can send a pay-for-delete letter. In this instance, you’re asking the company to remove a mark from your credit report in exchange for a lower payment than what you owe.
Just like with a goodwill deletion, there are no guarantees that a collections company will agree to delete your legitimate debt, even if you agree to pay.
Will Enhanced Recovery Company Sue Me?
Debt collection agencies like Enhanced Recovery Company don’t enjoy suing individuals, so it’s only likely to occur if you refuse to contact them or pay them the money you owe.
However, once the company files a complaint with a state civil court listing you as a defendant and serves a copy of the complaint and a court summons, they might include interest and legal fees, potentially increasing the amount you owe drastically.
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