“NCA” on a credit report stops people cold because the abbreviation could be anything. On most reports it is National Credit Adjusters, LLC, a debt collection company in Hutchinson, Kansas — and if you have never heard of it, that is normal, because you never did business with it. It acquired a debt someone says you owe.
What National Credit Adjusters is
National Credit Adjusters is a debt collector and debt buyer — its own website offers “portfolio acquisition services” to creditors, meaning it purchases portfolios of past-due accounts and then collects them, and the Better Business Bureau lists it as a collections agency based in Hutchinson, Kansas. When it buys a debt, it can report that debt as a collection account on your credit reports under its own name, which is how “NCA” appears on a file for a debt that started somewhere else entirely.
The errors to look for
Purchased debt is where credit reporting goes wrong most often, because the account has changed hands — sometimes more than once — and the paperwork does not always follow. Look for: a debt that is not yours at all; a balance larger than what you owed; a debt you already paid or settled still reporting as open; a debt so old it should no longer appear on the report; and the same debt reported twice, once by the original creditor and once by the collector, in a way that misstates what you owe.
How to dispute an NCA entry
With the credit bureaus. Dispute in writing with each bureau showing the entry. The bureau generally has thirty days to investigate, and the company that reported the debt must investigate what is forwarded to it. Keep copies and proof of mailing.
With the company. National Credit Adjusters publishes a consumer contact on its own website — PO Box 3023, Hutchinson, KS 67504, telephone 888-768-0674 — along with pages on credit reporting and disputes. You can also demand validation of the debt itself; our free debt verification letter template covers how.
When the dispute fails
If a collection entry comes back “verified” and it is still wrong — not yours, the wrong amount, too old to report — the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you a claim against the furnisher, the bureaus, or both. Damages can include your concrete losses, the harm to your credit, and statutory and punitive damages for willful violations. The fee provision is written into the Act: in a successful action the costs and reasonable attorney’s fees are recoverable from the defendant, as determined by the court. That is why this work is handled on a contingency basis rather than billed by the hour.
You pay nothing unless we win.
Where your situation fits
Our guide to removing collections from a credit report covers the steps in order, our directory of debt collectors and furnishers lists the companies that report, and if a dispute has already failed, our FCRA lawsuit page sets out what comes next.
Have your report reviewed
The Kim Law Firm represents consumers in Fair Credit Reporting Act cases against debt collectors, debt buyers, and the credit bureaus. Send us the report page showing the entry and we will tell you whether we see a claim. Our FCRA attorney page covers how these cases work.
Contact us to have your credit report reviewed.
Admitted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; available to appear pro hac vice in other federal courts.
This page is about credit reporting accuracy. The Kim Law Firm is not affiliated with National Credit Adjusters, LLC, and this page is not a complaint about that company. It describes how collection entries can appear on credit reports and the rights consumers have when an entry is wrong.