United Recovery Systems, now Alltran, is one of the larger contingency debt collectors in the country. My experiences dealing with them have all been consistently professional. The feedback I get from consumers we coach to negotiate and settle with Alltran paints them as easy to communicate with.
United Recovery has had a handful of collection companies under their management or brand. JC Christensen and Associates (JCC) and Enterprise Recovery Systems (ERS), are good sized collection companies. There are a few more smaller companies too, and now they have all been co-branded under Alltran.
Between URS and the other brands they manage, they collect unpaid credit cards, personal loans, student loans and other debts.
Credit card collections with United Recovery Systems.
Most of the unpaid credit card bills URS collects will be charge off debts. These are accounts that banks have made early efforts to turn around or collect on, but could not. Banks typically wait until they charge off your account before sending the debt to United Recovery to see what they can collect.
But just as happened in your situation, banks can also place accounts with debt collectors like URS prior to charge off, and I am seeing more of that these days with Chase, and of course Citibank (AMEX has long had this practice).
How long it has been since you last made a payment to your bank can make a big difference in the type of settlement you can negotiate with United Recovery and other collectors.
Pre charge off accounts cannot usually be settled with payments that exceed a 94 day time period. That is regulatory guidance the banks have to follow when settling for less on accounts not charged off. The collection agency has no influence on that. This payment limitation may not be an obstacle on accounts URS is collecting that have been charged off.
I am not a big fan of settling for less with monthly payments when it can be avoided, but it is a helpful tool to put a deal together you can afford, or can enable you to settle more than one debt at a time.
Negotiating and settling with Alltran (URS).
Because your account has not yet charged off, it could mean you are unable to optimize your savings with Alltran. There are exceptions, but my experience is largely that charged off accounts can be approved for lower settlement offers. It is possible to see a great savings outcome with a debt collector like Alltran prior to credit card charge off, I just find it more likely after your account is charged off by your lender.
Here are some reasons why you may see a great settlement outcome with Alltran no matter how long it has been since you last paid your credit card:
- Your hardship meets a certain criteria.
- You are not viewed as a good collection target.
- The creditor softened their collection goals.
- Alltran needs to meet some goals.
Those are elements that can go into any collection agency negotiations.
Is your current inability to pay on this and other debts related to an ongoing and long term hardship? I find these scenarios a bit easier to negotiate when my talking points will be the same 6 months from now.
If you are not paying on other unsecured debts, and that fact appears on your credit reports, you are often viewed as a lower collection target. This can be offset by other accounts being kept current, like a mortgage or car payments, and certainly is the case when you are making timely payments to other credit cards.
Check out this brief video I put up about negotiating settlements with URS or any of the Alltran companies.
Alltran has there own collection goals to meet. That can mean you could see a better settlement savings at the end of the calendar month, or nearer the end of collection placement (when Alltran will have to give the account back to Citi). You can ask a debt collector at Alltran how long they will have the account for. You could say something like:
I have been unable to pay on my account because I had my hours cut. I cannot commit to any amount of monthly payments, but if I can get an extra shift, or am able to borrow money from my brother, I might be able to call you back and get this worked out. I read an article on line that says debt collectors can change from one month to the next. How long can I call this number and reach you about my debt?
Collection accounts do not regularly change hands from month to month after charge off, but if your account is say, 5 weeks from charge off and Citi yanks your account from Alltran at that time to send to a different agency, it can appear that way.
My following questions are as much for you to answer in the comments below, as they are for anyone wanting to resolve a debt that Alltran is collecting.
How long has it been since you last made a payment on this account?
Do you have other accounts in collection, or that are a few months late, showing on your credit reports?
How many, and what types of accounts, are showing up as current on your credit?
What caused the inability to keep current on your debt(s), and for how long do you anticipate that situation to persist?
How much money can you raise in a lump sum in order to settle the account?
Anyone evaluating their options to resolve a debt with Alltran is welcome to post in the comments below for feedback. You can also call and speak with me about your situation at 800-939-8357, choose option 2.
- Joe:
29 Feb 2016 I last made a payment in either October/November. I would have to go back and see. I have two student loans that I pay on as I can. Sometimes I need to apply for forbearance in order to keep them from having late fees. I have a mortgage, student loans, and a car payment currently, No other credit card debt. I had a number of conditions come up which made payments difficult for several months. I am in a better place now to handle a monthly payment, but the odds of me coming up with a large lump sum are low at this moment in time. The amount I owe is less than two thousand total. Should I try calling Citi and asking them to take over my loan if I can meet some criteria to make larger payments and bring my account back up to current or should I ask URS the same? - Michael Bovee:
29 Feb 2016 You can call Citibank first and find out if you can bring your account current. If that is not an option you could call United Recovery and find out what they will accept monthly. Post an update with what you learn. - Beverly Banister:
30 Jun 2016 I last made a payment to Citibank in October, and it was turned over to 1 company and now United Recovery has it. They offered a settlement of $660 of the $1900 owed. I was able to get the extra money I got into this situation because of a misunderstanding of their Safeguard program. I thought after 24 months of verified unemployment the debt would be erased. Now that sounds good to be true. They never sent me my safeguard policy for me to review. I am now employed, but I wonder if I can request that the debt company not Report to my credit report in exchange for the payment? - Michael Bovee:
01 Jul 2016 United Recovery Systems will have zero ability to change how Citibank reports to the credit bureaus. But once you settle with United Recovery, Citi is required to to furnish only accurate, complete, and up to date info to Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. This means your credit report will be updated to show a zero balance owed. A resolved collection account on your credit reports is all you can expect, and all that you need to reach other finance and credit goals. Your credit score will bounce back. In other words, you cannot typically do a pay for delete (check out this video for a clear understanding). Is this the only debt you have to resolve? - Rick:
07 Sep 2016 I owe 20,000 on a credit card with Chase and it has gone to alltran. How much of this is lowest do you think they will accept? Thanks! - Michael Bovee:
08 Sep 2016 Settlements with Alltran can vary based on how big of a collection target you appear to be. Call in for a consult and I can get a clear impression of settlement targets. You can reach me at 800-939-8357, ext 2, or fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column so we can email each other and set up a time to talk. - JoeTina:
11 Oct 2016 Hi Michael, I have a few accounts that have gone into collections and one of them being webbank. The balance is just over 1400. Today my spouse accepted a phone call from someone who said they were from alltran. We did receive a letter saying that alltran is collecting for lvnv funding who purchased the debt. I called the original creditor Gettington and they said the account was charged off to Resurgent. My spouse afraid and not knowing what to say reluctantly agreed to send 25 dollars a month until January when we sell our 2 old cars we don't need and then attempt to settle. However, we have spoken to a few people who told us this was a huge mistake as now alltran will likely not want to accept a settlement in January since they see we are willing to make a payment. We are unsure how to proceed with this. The agreement my spouse made didn't specifically state what it was for and the person we spoke to said a letter isn't necessary as the "debt dunning letter" is proof enough. We are scared that if we don't send the 25 dollars by the end of October things will get bad as the lady said, "Keep in mind that if you miss any of the payments of 25 dollars by the end of the month, the balance will be due in full immediately." - Michael Bovee:
13 Oct 2016 You are not at risk of things escalating from Alltran. Alltran is a contingency debt collector. They are not going to sue you. But Resurgent does place accounts with attorneys. You will still be able to settle with Alltran in the beginning of 2017, when you are more prepared. And while agree that sending the $25 can be viewed as a waste, you do buy a certain level of comfort that the account is not going to go to court in the immediate future. Piece of mind has price many of us are willing to pay in these situations. - JoeTina:
13 Oct 2016 I appreciate the response. I have been trying hard to figure out how to handle all my accounts in collections. I have 11 cards altogether. 2 of which are current (Cap1). The other 9 cards have since been charged off and some have started sending into collections. The total defaulted amount is estimated to be around 9000 dollars. I have worked on saving money to offer settlements as I can, but unsure how to approach them. I was advised by a friend to try and settle the larger balances first as those are the risk for litigation. This is a snap of what I am dealing with at the moment. Do you think it is beneficial to deal with the larger accounts first as they are more likely to move towards litigation? My fear is that Alltran will refuse to settle with me in January since I am already paying them 25 dollars a month. I was advised by some people to avoid making any payments to creditors until I have a better lump sum and slowly work through them. I'm just scared that if I wait that long, I risk getting sued. Just my situation is currently impossible to actually settle these all at the moment. Some of the collection agencies that I've been contacted by so far are MRS, Alltran, National Enterprise, Credit Control, RGS, American Coradius Gettington - Now with Resurgent - Alltran Collecting (Biggest Balance) 1450 Synchrony GearCard (I believe either Client Services or RGS has this one) - 1370 CreditOne - 1260 (Midland Funding has bought it) 1st Premier - 1200 Bank of America - 1200 Synchrony - Amazon - 960 Merrick - 800 First National 1 - 600 First National 2 - 400 ---- Open Lines and Current Capital One - 600 Capital One - 600 Discover -- 2800 - Michael Bovee:
13 Oct 2016 How long ago did Midland get your Credit One account? - JoeTina:
13 Oct 2016 They actually acquired my creditone and amazon on the same day which was sometime last month. The letters I received from creditone and amazon stated September 15th on the letter, but midland itself has not contacted me. I was looking through your blog and noticed quite a few others have run into this with midland purchasing their accounts. This is one of the reason I am conflicted. Should I deal with Alltran or wait until Midland contacts me and deal with them. Either way my balances above 1,000 were the ones I am stressing over the most as they are in the amounts that are worth litigation. - Michael Bovee:
14 Oct 2016 If it were me I would resolve the Midland accounts before Alltran. Can you afford to resolve more than one account in the next 60 days? - JoeTina:
14 Oct 2016 Even though I've already talked to alltran? My spouse panicked when they called and basically agreed to send 25 dollars a month until January to renegotiate settlement. Which I'm not sure if it is a mistake or not. Unfortunately I cannot afford to offer any lump sums until funds become more readily available in January. Recently sent 2 kids off to college and spouse became unemployed. We plan on selling the 2 old cars our children will no longer need as they are in college out of state. As for alltran they are collecting for Lvnv and I've read in places that they can be as aggressive as midland? I'm at a lost as to how to approach this what appears to be a mountain of debt. I know in the grand scheme of things the amounts aren't that bad, but I'm afraid I one will proceed with litagation before I can get to them. Some have told me I'm at risk for being sued as I have some current accounts. - Michael Bovee:
14 Oct 2016 Call me on Monday and I will go over things in more detail and make some recommendations. There is more flexibility I will cover with you then. You can reach me at 800-99-8357, ext 2, or fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column. I will email you to set up a time to speak next week. - JoeTina:
28 Oct 2016 Hi Michael, I tried to call you, but for some odd reason my calls were being blocked by my phone carrier. There is an issue with my account and they are working to resolve it. I just wanted to update you a little. First National recently contact me (or their collection agent did), I managed to negotiate the 400 dollar balance down to a 120 dollar settlement. My spouse ended up sending that 25 dollar to alltran with a letter reaffirming what the agent said, "This is a payment towards the account at the end of each month until February of 2017 where as agreed further renegotiation will take place." I'm not sure if this was a mistake or not, but it gave her piece of mind so I'm not going to cry over spilled milk. We haven't been contacted by Midland yet, but sure they will eventually. We're hoping if they do we have some time to sell our kids cars. I have a question regarding all of these collections. Do you think if I managed to settle most of them or all of them by the end of the year, my credit will be able to rebound within one to two years? I don't anticipate making any mortgage purchases or anything soon, buti in the event in lets say 3-5 years we want to buy a house. Will these items hurt me? I do still have a few accounts open that are current, 2 capital ones, 1 discover, and student loans. - Michael Bovee:
31 Oct 2016 If you have resolved collections by end of year, or close to it, and are consistent with credit building for a year or two after that, your credit will be in shape to the point you can qualify for a home loan. Just remember that there is more to a home loan than your credit score. - JLR:
05 Jan 2017 Hi Michael, I'm looking for some advice for my 71 year old mother. My father passed away about a year ago leaving her with just one social security check... She lives on a tight budget with a fixed income and has spent the last 10 months or so trying to get everything caught back up from an error where she made one of her more substantial monthly payments twice in one month. Long story short, she fell behind on a few of her "less important" bills, had to cut her house and cell phone off, etc. One of the bills she fell behind on was a Sears card. She doesn't have any recent charges on it. She made her last payment in Sept of $150 and shortly after received a letter that the account had been transferred to Alltran. At this point I am trying to help her navigate this debt collection process, but am struggling due to high pressure of the Alltran collector and my limited ability to communicate with my mother-in-law (she lives out in the country with no Internet access, etc). She is able to pay $100/month until the balance is clear, but of course in the meantime the account is racking up late payment charges, interest, etc. On my latest conversation with the debt collector, he wanted the first payment today, along with her checking account details to withdraw that payment. I explained that I didn't know if she could actually start the payments today due to some other unforseen bills from her gas company (another long story), and I would have to check with her...to which he responded that he probably couldn't hold that deal for as long as it would take to communicate with her and get it set up. My questions: 1 - Based on my mother's age and income, does it make sense to make this kind of payment arrangement with Alltran while Sears continues to tack on adjustments? 2 - Should she provide her checking account information? I'm concerned that they could/would take out more than agreed. 3 - Related to 2 - should she request this arrangement in writing prior to paying? A little more information. She does own a home and some land. It's very old and I'm not sure if it would be worth more than the exemption amount. That is basically her only asset. She has been offered a lump sum settlement by Alltran, but it was more than she could afford. If we can get enough of a discount, we may be able to help her come up with a settlement in a few months...but only if it's a full settlement. The balance is approx $2500 with a $700ish min payment due. - Michael Bovee:
15 Jan 2017 I would try to raise the money to settle the Sears account with Alltran in a single lump sum. I regularly target settlements with Citibank at 35%. But if All tran has this account only in the first couple months she fell behind, you may not be able to get that low a deal. In that case, you may want to wait until the next debt collector gets the account. I would not worry overly much about the pressure and time limit tactics the debt collector at Alltran may use. At the end of the day, they really just want to get this resolved so they can get paid. If you do work out the payment option with them, it is okay these days to give out checking account information and set up payments with legitimate debt collectors. I would want to record the call myself when doing it. Be sure to tell them you are recording the call. Debt collectors like Alltran send out an agreement when settling for less than the full balance, but not necessarily when you are setting up a monthly payment plan for the full balance. - Lynette:
24 Jan 2017 I have a question my account got screwed up by an employee at Macy who set me up on the debt recovery system. I missed one payment and they told me that my account have been canceled. I just received a letter from All Tran yesterday. What should I do. From what I'm reading All Tran may only have it a few then it get sold to someone else. I wrote a complaint letter to Macy I really don't like dealing with debt collector they gave me 30 days to respond. I see its not good to set up a payment arrangement. Please Help!!! - Michael Bovee:
24 Jan 2017 Can you come up with 35 to 40 percent of the Macy's balance in order to settle it for less with Alltran? - Lynette:
24 Jan 2017 do you think that's a good idea. Will they try to come back later and ask for more. - Michael Bovee:
25 Jan 2017 Generally, yes, settling for less with creditors and debt collectors is an ideal solution. You want everything in writing from Alltran before you pay the settlement. They will send the agreement to you as part of their normal work flow. No one should contact you for collection after you settle with Alltran, but if that were to occur, the letter and proof from your bank you paid will put a stop to it. - Jessica:
29 Jan 2017 Hello, I have a few questions reguarding Alltran, specifically relating to a old debt towards a education facility. I have been trying to clean up my debt the last few years to prepare for home ownership.As soon as I acquire my target credit score I will be able to get a VA loan, so a good clean up is crucial. I had contacted the debt collected prior to them being Alltran to try and work out a payment plan. I have being paying a set amount every month for a year towards my debt. What I would like to know is if I can contact them and present a settlement of half what I owe left, and if they would be likely to accept the offer.? Also if they would agree to take it off my credit report? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you - Michael Bovee:
01 Feb 2017 Alltran is not going to do a pay for delete with you. Is it Alltran showing on your credit reports now, or the original creditor? You tend to have to stop sending in money to get a settlement through (though not always). Who are all of the other places you are paying? Were you late for many months before you started back up again? - Anna:
08 Feb 2017 I currently have a collection with Alltran financial. I have made 2 payments since December & the remaining balance is $472. I now have the total amount due & can pay it off but wondered if I have any negotiation power to do a pay to delete? I know it's a shot in the dark. Thoughts? - Michael Bovee:
09 Feb 2017 Alltran is not known to do pay for delete, and they are likely not the ones showing negative on your credit reports. It is likely your original creditor showing up still. Who is that? - Anna:
09 Feb 2017 The original creditor was credit one. The letter I received had alltran at the top but also has lvnv lending. - Michael Bovee:
10 Feb 2017 You can settle with Alltran and prevent later being sued by LVNV Funding. You typically cannot do anything to impact the charge off and zero balance owed credit reporting that Credit One is showing today. You can settle with Alltran and get any current or later credit reporting by LVNV to show as a resolved collection and zero balance owed. Some time in the future we may see paid collection removed. I am working on an initiative about that right now, but that is a work in progress. - Rachel:
21 Feb 2017 Hi, When you say settle at 35%, does that mean they will take your balance minus 35% or you only have to pay pack 35% of what you owe? Thanks! - Michael Bovee:
22 Feb 2017 35% of the balance owed at the time you are settling.