“NCA” on a credit report usually means National Credit Adjusters, LLC, a debt buyer in Hutchinson, Kansas. The name can be unfamiliar because NCA did not make the original loan: it bought, or took over servicing of, an account that began with another lender. If what NCA reports about that account is wrong, federal law lets you dispute it and, in some cases, sue over it.
Who National Credit Adjusters is
National Credit Adjusters, LLC says it has bought consumer accounts since 2002 and calls itself a “licensed receivables management organization that purchases and services consumer credit accounts.” It says it acquires charged-off accounts from fintech lenders, installment lenders, credit unions and specialty finance companies. A 2018 CFPB consent order and a 2016 Connecticut consent order, each of which NCA agreed to without admitting or denying the findings or allegations, describe NCA as a Hutchinson, Kansas company that bought and collected consumer debts, including payday loans.
NCA lists its mailing address as PO Box 3023, Hutchinson, KS 67504, its phone as 888-768-0674 (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central) and its NMLS Entity ID as 922821. Its website states that its communications are “from a debt collector.”
How an NCA account appears on your credit report
NCA says a National Credit Adjusters tradeline on your report “means we have acquired your account,” and that it furnishes account ownership, relevant dates and balances to the credit bureaus. The Connecticut order required NCA to ask TransUnion, Experian and Equifax to delete tradelines it had placed with them, so an NCA account can show up with any of the three.
The name on the entry is often shortened. A federal complaint that lists the accounts on a consumer’s Experian file names NCA accounts as “National Credit Adju” and “Natcreadj,” and bankruptcy creditor lists filed in several federal courts pair “NATCREADJ” with 327 W. 4th St., Hutchinson, Kansas, the office address given in the Connecticut order.
The original lender may still report its own entry; NCA says it cannot change or delete what the original creditor furnished. Check your reports from all three bureaus.
The Connecticut order on NCA tradelines
In September 2016, NCA agreed, without admitting or denying the allegations, to a consent order with the Connecticut Department of Banking. The Department said NCA had collected in Connecticut without a license and had bought and tried to collect 1,254 small loans carrying interest above the state’s 12% limit, which Connecticut law treats as void when made by unlicensed lenders. NCA agreed to refund $66,151, reduce about $1.3 million in remaining balances to zero, and send TransUnion, Experian and Equifax a request to delete the tradelines for those accounts. The order covered Connecticut accounts only, and it treated the balance and the credit report as separate steps.
What to check on an NCA entry
A bureau must delete or change only information that is inaccurate, incomplete or cannot be verified (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(5)(A)), so an NCA account that is yours and correctly reported can stay. The CFPB’s list of common credit report errors gives the checks for a bought account:
- An account that is not yours. The CFPB lists accounts belonging to someone with the same or a similar name, and accounts opened through identity theft. NCA’s own dispute form offers “This is not my debt.” as a reason. See identity theft on a credit report and mixed credit files.
- The wrong balance. The CFPB lists an incorrect current balance, and NCA’s form offers “The amount is wrong.”
- A paid account still shown as owed. NCA says a paid-in-full status typically appears within 30 to 45 days of payment and that it asks the bureaus to delete its tradeline 60 to 90 days after an account is satisfied. See paid off but still on your credit report.
- The same debt listed twice. The CFPB lists “same debt listed more than once, possibly with different names.” Because NCA cannot change the original creditor’s entry, a dispute about that entry goes to the bureau and the original creditor.
- A delinquency date that is too recent. The CFPB lists an incorrect date of first delinquency. Compare the date on the NCA entry with your records from the original lender; a later date makes an old debt look newer. See the re-aged debt pattern.
The reporting rules NCA works under as a collector
Contact before reporting. Under Regulation F, a debt collector may not furnish information about a debt to a consumer reporting agency until it has spoken with you about the debt in person or by phone, or has mailed or emailed you about it and waited a reasonable time for any notice that the message was undeliverable (12 C.F.R. § 1006.30(a)(1)).
Disputed means marked disputed. A furnisher that has been told you dispute an item may not report it without noting the dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(3)). The FDCPA separately bars a debt collector from communicating credit information it knows or should know is false, “including the failure to communicate that a disputed debt is disputed” (15 U.S.C. § 1692e(8)).
The seven-year limit. A bureau may not report an account placed for collection or charged off that is more than seven years old (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4)). The period begins 180 days after the start of the delinquency that preceded the collection or charge-off (§ 1681c(c)(1)), and a furnisher reporting such an account must give the bureau the date of delinquency (§ 1681s-2(a)(5)(A)).
How to dispute an NCA collection
Through the credit bureau. Write to each bureau showing the entry, say exactly what is wrong, and enclose copies, not originals, of your proof. The credit dispute letter guide walks through it. The bureau must reinvestigate free of charge, generally within 30 days, notify NCA within five business days, and send you the results in writing (15 U.S.C. § 1681i). Once the bureau forwards your dispute, NCA must investigate, review what the bureau sends, report back, and modify, delete or block what is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)).
With NCA. NCA’s online dispute form lets you choose a reason and ask for the original creditor’s name and address. The debt verification letter guide covers asking a collector for its account records in writing. Federal rules require a furnisher to reasonably investigate a direct dispute sent to the address it specifies and report the results within the period a bureau would have (12 C.F.R. § 1022.43). That rule, like § 1681s-2(a), is enforced by government officials rather than private suit (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(c), (d)), so send the bureau dispute as well.
If it came from identity theft. NCA says you can send an FTC identity theft report, a police report or a fraud affidavit. The CFPB says that with an identity theft report from IdentityTheft.gov, proof of identity and a letter identifying the entries, a bureau must block the fraudulent information within four business days (15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2(a)). A furnisher that receives an identity theft report generally may not keep furnishing that information (§ 1681s-2(a)(6)(B)).
When an NCA error becomes a legal claim
If an NCA entry was not yours or not accurate, you disputed it with the bureau, and it came back verified, the law may give you a claim:
- NCA’s investigation (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)) of a dispute the bureau forwards to it.
- The bureau’s reinvestigation (§ 1681i) and its accuracy procedures (§ 1681e(b)).
- False credit information (15 U.S.C. § 1692e(8)), including failing to communicate that a debt is disputed.
For a negligent FCRA violation, the statute provides actual damages plus attorney’s fees (§ 1681o); for a willful one, actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages as the court allows, and attorney’s fees (§ 1681n). FCRA suits must be filed by the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after it occurs (§ 1681p). Under the FDCPA, an individual may recover actual damages, additional damages of up to $1,000 as the court allows, and costs and a reasonable attorney’s fee; suit must be brought within one year of the violation (15 U.S.C. § 1692k).
I handle these cases on contingency. The cases I have filed include a debt buyer that kept reporting a collection after it lost in court and collection accounts that belonged to a similarly named person. NCA sits alongside Jefferson Capital, LVNV Funding, Portfolio Recovery Associates, Midland Credit Management and the rest of the debt collectors and furnishers directory. The guide to removing collections from a credit report covers the steps in order; if a dispute has already failed, see the FCRA lawsuit page.
Have your NCA entry reviewed
Send me the report page showing the NCA or NATCREADJ entry, anything NCA sent you, and whatever came back after your dispute, and I will tell you whether I see a claim. The FCRA attorney page covers how these cases work. Contact the firm to have your report reviewed.
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This page is about credit reporting accuracy. The Kim Law Firm is not affiliated with National Credit Adjusters, LLC (NCA), Jefferson Capital, LVNV Funding, Portfolio Recovery Associates, Midland Credit Management, Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, or any lender named on this page, and this page is not a complaint about any of them. Court filings and regulatory orders are cited for what they state; nothing here is a finding by any court against any company. This page describes how collection accounts can appear on credit reports and the rights consumers have when an entry is wrong.