How to Remove Hunter Warfield from Your Credit Report
If you have noticed a company called Hunter Warfield appear on your credit report, you are probably being pursued for an old debt. You may be tempted to make payments to get Hunter Warfield off your back, but this could end up hurting you more than it will help you.
Collection accounts on your credit report can damage your credit score for up to seven years even if you pay them off. The key to minimizing Hunter Warfield’s impact on your credit score is to remove their entry from your credit report altogether.
Check out our in-depth guide to learn how to remove Hunter Warfield from your credit report and get your credit score back on track.
What is Hunter Warfield?
Hunter Warfield is a medium-sized collection agency out of Tampa, Florida. Founded in 2004 in Maryland, they handle a variety of debt including medical, credit card, utilities, property management, and more. They may appear as ‘hwarfield’ on your credit report.
So how does Hunter Warfield make money? They start by purchasing old debt from an original creditor in hopes that they can get you to pay. They often do this by using aggressive tactics such as incessant telephone calls, legal threats, abusive language, and calls to your friends and family. It is for this reason that many people dread working with collection agencies.
Most debt collectors are unpopular with consumers, but Hunter Warfield is more problematic than most. They have nearly 2,000 complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and 540 with the Better Business Bureau (BBB.)
The majority of these complaints are regarding harassment, inaccurate reporting, and failure to validate debts.
How to Remove Hunter Warfield from Your Credit Report
As we mentioned before, the only way to get your credit score back on track is to remove negative entries from your credit report.
The best part is that you may not have to pay for the debt at all if you do it correctly.
These are the essential steps to take to remove Hunter Warfield from your credit report.
Get Everything in Writing
In the age of text and phone calls, it may feel unnatural to communicate through U.S. Mail. However, this is one of the first steps to take to ensure success with Hunter Warfield.
Debt collectors are known for saying one thing over the phone and turning around and doing the opposite. This is because they aren’t being held accountable over the phone. Essentially, it’s your word against theirs.
Under the FDCPA, you are allowed to request how debt collectors contact you. This means that you can specify that they stop calling you and only communicate through certified U.S. Mail. If they try to fight you on this, tell them that they are in violation of the FDCPA and hang up.
Hang on to every communication that you receive from them. This will serve as evidence as you enter into your negotiation process with them. It will also serve as a tool to prevent additional harassment from them; they are not going to verbally abuse you through a letter that you can hand over the CFPB.
Send a Debt Validation Letter
The next step in the process is to send a debt validation letter to Hunter Warfield.
Debt collectors obtain inaccurate debt all the time in the hopes that consumers won’t figure it out and pay up anyway.
However, the FDCPA allows you to verify that the debt belongs to you to ensure that the collection agency has accurate information. If they don’t, the debt is legally dismissed, and you won’t have to pay a dime.
It is vital that you do not ignore Hunter Warfield when they contact you. This will only make things worse. Once you have first contact with Hunter Warfield, you have 30 days to send a debt validation letter. If you wait longer than that, they may not respond to you.
When you send your debt validation letter, be sure to request a return receipt. This is how you can verify that they have received your letter. You should hear back from them in about 30 days with documents and proof that the debt is yours. If Hunter Warfield is unable to validate your debt, they are required to contact all three major credit bureaus and remove the debt.
Negotiate a Settlement
If Hunter Warfield manages to confirm that the debt is yours, your final step will be to negotiate a settlement with them.
The type of settlement that is most common in cases like this is a pay-for-delete settlement. This is when a collection agency agrees to stop report your debt to the three major credit bureaus in exchange for payment on the debt. What you will not hear them say is that they are almost always willing to settle for less than the full balance of the debt.
Start by offering to pay half of the debt in exchange for a deletion. Work from there to come up with an arrangement that both parties can agree to. Once the details are settled, request that Hunter Warfield provide the official agreement in writing. Do not make a payment until you receive this agreement in the mail.
Once the contract arrives, make your first payment to Hunter Warfield. After 30 days, check your credit report with all three major credit bureaus. You should notice that Hunter Warfield’s entry is removed from your report. If it is still there, reach out to Hunter Warfield and remind them of your agreement.
Seek Professional Help
No one looks forward to discussing their debt with a collection agency, but there are ways to go about it to ensure success.
If you prefer not to deal with Hunter Warfield directly, you can always employ the services of a credit repair company.
We recommend working with Lexington Law because of their experience and success in removing negative entries from credit reports.
For more advice on how to improve your credit, be sure to check out some of our popular articles. With the right steps and some time, you’ll have your score back on track.
Does the Law Protect My Rights?
Debt collectors don’t want you to know that you actually do have rights. If you know, then they won’t be able to get away with their awful tactics. In reality, there is legislation in place to ensure that collection agencies treat you with the respect you deserve.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is federal legislation that prevents debt collectors from treating their consumers poorly. It prevents certain practices such as:
- Contacting you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
- Continuing to call you after you specify that they stop
- Harassing you or anyone else in regard to the debt
- Using abusive, aggressive, or profane language
- Misrepresenting themselves or information regarding your debt
- Ignoring a request for debt validation
Before dealing with Hunter Warfield or any other debt collection agency, it is crucial to understand your rights under the FDCPA. You will need to fend for yourself and arming yourself with knowledge of the law is the best way to do that.
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