How To Remove Commonwealth Financial Systems From Your Credit Report?

The third-party debt collection agency, Commonwealth Financial Systems, Inc (CFSI), is situated in Dickson City, Pennsylvania, and has been in business for 19 years.

Their services and core focus extend to an outspread range of clients, including commercial, debt buyers, financial, government, healthcare providers, and retail.

You may notice the appearance of CFSI in your credit account history listed as a collections account. This may occur due to missing a payment. These entries will be registered in your report as the following:

• CFSI
  
• CFSI collections
  
• Commonwealth collections
  
• Commonwealth finance
  
• Commonwealth financial
  
• Commnwlth fin

What is Commonwealth Financial?

A Pennsylvania-based debt collection agency Commonwealth Financial Systems was founded in 2001 and had operations nationwide offering the following services:

• First-party hiring
  
• Check collections
  
• Third-party collections
  
• Skip tracing
  
• Billing and invoice services
  
• On-site collections
  
• Reporting to credit bureaus

Is Commonwealth Financial a Fraud?

CFSI is not a scam and is a registered authorized debt collection agency and a part of the American Collectors Association. 

The CEO and director of operations of Commonwealth Financial are members of the Mid-Atlantic Collectors Association.

Although a legitimate company, CFSI, like other collection agencies, has been a part of many controversies and complaints. The agency is not accredited by BBB (Better Business Bureau); however, 440 complaints have been lodged against CFSI with BBB from 2019 till 2021. 

It should be noted that though CFSI is not a scam, imposters may ask for payments from you using their name.

Write to their address for a free consultation regarding disputing errors on your credit report.

245 Main Street

Dickson City, PA 18519

Or dial (800) 848-2170

The Practice To Stop Commonwealth Financial Systems From Calling You

CFSI will call, email, or mail you if you have any outstanding debt(s) to pressure you into paying it off.

Their representatives will constantly contact you until the debt is paid off unless proven that the debt isn’t yours or negotiation is made with them or your initial creditor. 

Additionally, a debt verification letter can be sent to CFSI to temporarily stop them from contacting you.

Debt Verification Letter

This letter is an official appeal compelling the debt collector to give proof and verification of a debt, and the letter should be sent out in less than 30 days of their first attempt to reach out to you.

Why Do You Need a Debt Verification Letter?

Following are the benefits of sending out a debt verification letter:

1. After a debt verification letter is sent, third-party debt collection agencies cannot contact you by law until they give evidence of an outstanding debt of yours.
   
2. Documents provided by collection agencies like CFSI will assist you in determining whether the debt is legitimate and will give you a better insight into the debt. A debt not recognized by you should never be paid.
   
3. Your debt may be successfully deleted from your credit history if a collection agency cannot provide details regarding the debt.

Look Out For The Statute Of Limitations

The documents provided to you by a collection agency may depict that the debt has superseded the statute of limitations and will now be known as a “time-barred debt.” 

This refers to the legal limit set for paying off debt, after which a company cannot legally sue or contact you for not settling the debt.

The time limit set for most debts varies between three to six years, but the particular period is based on conditions like the state you reside in. The accurate way to verify this is to check with your state’s legal officer via their website or contact email.

Steps To Remove Commonwealth Financial Systems From Your Credit Report

There are two steps to recover your credit score if it’s being affected due to CFSI debt(s).

1. Dispute your debt with the three credit bureaus

The debt should be immediately disputed if it doesn’t belong to you. A credit dispute letter should be sent out to those credit bureaus showing CFSI on your report to dispute a debt-free of charge.

Request a free credit report from the three significant credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to determine which credit bureau the dispute letter should be sent to.

If you do not receive a response from them within thirty to forty-five days, they are required by law to remove the negative item under consideration in your report.

2. Negotiate and Reach An Agreement With Commonwealth Financial Systems

Getting rid of CFSI on your credit report will be strenuous if the debt is valid and has existed for less than seven years. At this point, it is best to pay off your debt as it will increase your credit score even if you are unable to dispute the negative item listed.

There are, however, negotiation strategies that can be implemented as a last try to get rid of CFSI on your credit report.

Pay for delete:

You can persuade Commonwealth Financial Systems to remove the derogatory mark in the trade of paying the debt. These negotiations can be done by sending a pay-for-delete letter to them.

Goodwill deletion:

An alternative strategy can be executed after paying off your debt. You can request CFSI to remove the negative mark off your credit report once the account is paid off by sending them a ‘goodwill letter.’

Debt settlement:

A debt settlement can be negotiated if CFSI accepts less than the full amount owed to them to curtail their losses.

How To Deal With Commonwealth Financial Systems Harassment

CFSI representatives will constantly contact you until the debt is paid off or settled unless proven that the debt isn’t yours, or you ask them not to contact you.

There are, however, limitations as to how they can go about contacting you.

Curtailments on CFSI

CFSI must stick to the rules and orders stated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when collecting payments from borrowers. This federal law prohibits collection agencies from misconduct and breaching your rights.

CFSI customer support representatives also need to comply with the rules stated in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It is practical and advised to be familiar with these laws so that things are much easier for you if legal action needs to be taken against them.

Can CFSI Be Sued For Harassment?

CFSI can be sued if you can prove their violation of rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. 

$1000 will be received as compensation for statutory damages for every violation and an additional payment for any loss sustained by you as a consequence of the violation. The legal fee, such as attorney and court fees, will also have to be paid by CFSI.

Additional Collection Agencies

• CBE Group
  
• CMRE Financial Services
  
• Cavalry Portfolio Services
  
• Cavalry SPV I, LLC
  
• Coast Professional
  
• ConServe Collections
  
• Credence Resource Management
  
• Credit Bureau of North America (CBNA)
  
• Dynamic Recovery Solutions
  
• Enhanced Recovery Company

Takeaway

It is necessary to be aware that a collection account remains on your credit history for about seven years, lowering your credit score thereon.

If the collection agency takes things by law, they can garnish your wages till the time the debt is fully paid. Therefore, CFSI or any alternative collection agency’s claims should not be disregarded as collection accounts only worsen with time.

If the several ways of cutting out Commonwealth Financial Systems debt from your credit history fail, look into hiring a professional credit repair service to do the work for you.