Short answer
Arrow Financial Services closed up shop. The Resurgent Capital Management, Sherman and LVNV brand picked up a good portion of the Arrow debt portfolio. If you are trying to resolve or settle an old Arrow account or judgment, start with LVNV customer service at 888-665-0374.
Key points on this page
- Arrow Financial Services was once a major buyer of charged off credit card debt, and one of its more aggressive collection methods was using the courts.
- There is little public information about who bought the Arrow portfolio, but the Resurgent, Sherman and LVNV brand is confirmed to have taken a good portion of it.
- To trace and resolve a former Arrow account, reach out to LVNV at 888-665-0374.
- Default judgments happen when a summons and complaint gets ignored, or when someone never knew they were being sued. Those judgments can then be collected on, or sold off to another debt buyer.
- The two situations that usually force this search are mortgage underwriting asking for old judgment debt to be resolved, and a home sale that needs clear title, including a short sale.
Arrow Financial Services was once a major player in buying up bad debts like charged off credit card bills. One of the more aggressive ways Arrow sought to collect on old unpaid credit card debts was to use the courts.
Debt buyers like AFS send some of the debts they buy up on the cheap to an attorney debt collection law firm. Arrow and other bad debt investors rely on the fact that 90% or so of people are not sure about how to deal with a debt collection lawsuit.
People get served a summons and complaint on an unpaid credit card bill and tend to put their head in the sand. What winds up happening when the lawsuit gets ignored, or where a person was not aware they were being sued (it happens), is a default judgment is entered. Those judgments can then be collected on, or even sold off to another debt buyer.
Arrow Financial closed up shop. Where did the debt go?
In just the last week I have gotten a couple of questions on and off line about how to find where Arrow Financial Services judgment debt has gone. In all cases the requests were related to:
- Someone trying to qualify for a mortgage and underwriting suggests they cannot approve a new loan, or the approval on a new loan will have an increased likelihood of success by settling old judgment debt.
- Someone trying to sell a home and satisfy or settle the judgment debt in order to pass clear title. Even if the home owner is trying for a short sale.
It is difficult to find much public information about who purchased the Arrow portfolio, or portions of it. According to a person I spoke with last week, they have a former arrow judgment account that they tracked to LVNV now owning.
LVNV is a Large Debt Collection Agency
LVNV is part of the Resurgent Capital Management and Sherman Acquisitions brand. I was able to confirm that Resurgent/Sherman/LVNV brand did pick up a “good portion” of the Arrow Financial Services debt portfolio.
If you are looking for how to resolve or settle Arrow Financial Services debts, start by reaching out to LVNV. You can reach them by calling their customer service at: 888-665-0374.
If you have any questions or concerns about resolving an old Arrow Financial Services debt with LVNV, or another debt collector, or having trouble finding who has your debt, post questions and comments in the comments below for feedback.
Yes I have and they don’t have anything on me the account was first with peach direct back in 07 I tried paying them directly but they said they sold it to arrow I’m trying to buy a house and this is hurting e I tried to get peach direct to send me a paper saythey sold the account but have not had any luck with that don’t know what else I can do
Mitchell – Here is an alternative way to look at dealing with this:
Peach direct sold the debt. This means they are not owed any money and if they are reporting on your credit report, should be showing a zero amount owed to them. Please verify in a comment reply that they are/are not reporting, and if they are, if there is an amount showing as owed.
It sounds like it is the Arrow Financial Services credit reporting entry that is the problem. With them being closed, and assets sold off (we must assume all assets sold), any entry on your credit report showing money owed to Arrow Financial Services must also be assumed to be incorrect.
With that in mind, you could file a dispute with the credit reporting bureaus stating you do not owe Arrow Financial Services and demand for the entry to be removed. Just a statement that simple will suffice. No need to go into histrionics and Arrow Financial being closed. Send your disputes certified mail return receipt. The credit reporting agencies will respond to your dispute in writing within 30 days of receiving your dispute. If it comes off, great. If it does not, post an update and lets take it from there.
Who else may have purchased some of arrows accounts I have one that I’m try to clear up that was sold to arrow from peach direct and I tried to settle with them but with no luck
Mitchell – Can you provide a little bit more detail about what you tried to do and when this was?
I have not identified any additional purchasers of the Arrow Financial Services Portfolio. Have you reached out to LVNV at the number in the original article above?
Trying to clear a title. The transcript of judgment references Arrow Financial and Foster & Garbus, attorneys. I contacted Foster & Garbus, they told me to contact Resurgent. I have done so, but Resurgent does not have the debt? Have you found any other companies that may have the debt?
Gert – I have not identified any other purchasers of the Arrow Portfolio. What is the date the court shows the judgment in favor of Arrow Financial Services was entered? What state do you live in?
The date of the judgment is 7/17/2007. I am in NY.
Gert – thanks. judgment debt in NY with a lien generally requires the lien to be renewed in 10 years, so you are a ways from that. What can happen with passing clear title to real estate is that title/escrow will hold back somewhere in the neighborhood of 150% of the judgment balance. This would tie up funds until the judgment is resolved, or the lien fails to get renewed. But it would still allow the transaction to close and address the clear title concern.
Thsnk Mike! I was hoping to clear it up so i could close an estate. I will keep searching. Thanks for your time!
My husband has a judgement on an account with Arrow Financial Services through the debt collecter/lawfirm Machol and Johannes. Wages have been garnished a few times over the past few years to help satisfy the judgement. After the last garnishment was processed, we contacted Machol and Johannes several times to find out the balance of the account so we can just settle it, but no one has been able to tell us how much is owed. My employer just sent them a check for the amount withheld during the last garnishment, but according to the state website, it was not disbursed.
Since I was not getting anywhere with Machol and Johannes, I decided to search for Arrow Financial and found this thread.
Is it likely that Machol and Johannes is holding these funds now that Arrow has closed? What will happen to them and what is the best course of action to track down where his account has landed?
Alison – You have a unique issue with an Arrow Financial judgment that has not been brought up yet. I want to be certain I understand what is happening.
Arrow Financial hired Machol and Johannes to sue your husband to collect a debt.
Arrow ended up with a judgment.
When was the judgment in favor of Arrow Financial entered with the court?
Who was the original creditor on this debt?
What is the balance still owed?
What state are you in?
You mentioned that the Arrow Financial Services judgment has resulted in wage garnishment a few times. I assume that is because there have been job changes over that period of time.
You also mention that your employer sent a payment in relation to the garnishment.
Were you named in the original lawsuit by Arrow Financial, or was it only your husband named?
You mention that you checked the state website and that the last payment sent has not been dispersed.
When was the last payment sent?
Have you contacted the court to inquire about the balance remaining owed?
I would encourage you to first contact the court and ask where those payments are being disbursed. It would be good for them to confirm with you that Machol Johannes is receiving them or not.
Tracking down where the account has landed can be made easier if you post the answers to my questions above.
Thank you for your reply. To answer your questions:
– The judgement with Arrow was entered in 2/2006
– The original creditor was listed as Bank One/Whitehall
– I do not know the balance still owed, and have tried to get that info from Machol and Johannes. I was told by a Machol & Johanness rep in 8/12 (during a garnishment period) that the remaining balance was $3227. On 1/10/13, my employer sent &2400 (garnishment withholdings) to them made out to Arrow Financial Services – I live in Washington state
– There have been a few 60 day judgements in place to pay toward the balance, but no job changes.
I was not named in the original lawsuit, but since Washington is a community property state, and my husband is currently unemployed, my wages have been garnished.
I have not tried contacting the court, but will do so.
The first we learned of the judgement was in 2010 when my employer received notice to garnish wages. We would like to just take care of this and move on.
Alison – With the goal of paying this off and moving on with your financial future, I would suggest getting the balance still owed on the judgment from the court itself and inquire as to where to deliver that payment in person. Show up with a certified bank check, get a receipt, and also be sure that a satisfaction of judgment gets filed with the court.
If only it were that simple. I live 200 miles away from the court. There is also the issue of the $2400 sent to Machol & Johannes by my employer. The court is showing no record of payment being received, and Machol & Johannes aren’t returning my calls. Paying the judgement without that $2400 applied will be difficult.
Alison – I see. I assumed your garnishment was being paid through the court (even though your comment reply was clear that your employer sent the funds to the Machol firm). I am signing off for the night. If you can post a reply with the area of Washington the court is in, and the area you are in, I will look up some resources for you to check into.
update – after talking a few times with a rep for M&J, I expressed my concern over Arrow being reported as closed on the BBB website, and my employer’s previous payment being applied to the judgement. Their representative told me that they would not garnish again, and I could make voluntary paryments. Again – I wanted some confirmation from them that the payments would be applied to the judgment, but got nothing. Just now my employer was notified of a new garnishment for the remaining balance. SO very frustrating. Any advice?
Alison – I had a consult with a couple dealing with an Arrow Financial Services judgment earlier this week. Husband and wife have been very diligent in tracking down additional correspondence. They have provided me with copies of letters etc., that I will be tracking down now and after the holiday weekend. I would like to speak with you to supplement some of what I am doing. Are you up to consulting over the phone briefly? I would like to drill into the details you have. Your willingness to help me may lead to helping others dealing with Arrow issues. Post a comment reply if you are. I will email you my contact info.
Yes, I am willing to speak over the phone.
Hi Michael, First thanks for all you helpful information. I have a situation regarding a Credit Card, that went to Aarow, then LVNV. I had a credit card that went into Aarow financial collecctions around 2006. My father had passed away shortly after this. around 2 years later I received some money from his house we had to sell. I had immediatly paid all my collections, debts. etc. I specifically remember paying Aarow financial for the colections because they would call 10 times a day till I finally paid them. I wasn’t till a little over a year ago, we were trying to buy a house and LVNV came up on my credit. I didn’t know what this was till the banker showed me that the same account shows twice on my credit. One shows PAID in FULL, and another shows Bal $986.00. Now, I know 986.00 is not alot to some people, but I’ve already paid them. (I know exactly where I was when I paid them with my DEBIT card. I didn’t want to give them my card over the phone, but they insisted, and said I couldnn’t send a check. Also been paying VERY hi interist on the last 2 vehicles I bought because of them. I refuse to pay them a penny more. I’ve called them a few times and never received an answer, in fact my wife just called them Friday and the only answer they had for it being on my report was, “It might of been because you had 2 addresses since then”. What should I do, we already missed the home we wanted because of this.
Lance – I would encourage you to send a written dispute letter to the credit bureaus that have the LVNV entry showing up. I wouls send a copy of the dispute to LVNV as well. Send all communication certified mail return receipt requested. Your dispute can be something as simple as “account paid in full”, or “account not mine” (it may not be – the entry may have been the result of a mixed file when LVNV bought the debt from Arrow Financial).
It is best to take a copy of the credit report from the agency that is reporting it, and include a copy of the page with the entry you are disputing with the entry itself highlighted.
I would encourage you to pull out your bank statement from the month you paid the collection account off with Arrow. If you do not have a copy you can often go to your bank and request a printout of that months statement. Some banks will charge a buck or two for this. It will be up to you whether you include the proof of payment to the credit reporting agencies and LVNV as part of your initial dispute. You do not have to. It is up to them to investigate and make corrections. Whether you do, or don’t include proof of payment, you will be using that bank statement in the next step if they do not remove the entry.
If this does not get resolved with the dispute method above, update this page with a comment and lets go from there.
My credit report shows that Arrow Financial Services is a current judgement against me. I am looking a purchasing a house soon but with this still being an Open Judgement against me, I believe it is hurting my score as well looks horrible from a bank’s view. I paid this judgement in 2009 when I sold my last home. I have the settlement statement from the sale of the home to prove this. Who do I contact to get this taken off of my credit as an open judgement? Thanks for any help!
Adam – A couple of options to deal with the Arrow Financial entry on the credit report would be:
1. Connect with an experienced attorney and file the records you have showing the judgment as paid with the court in order to get the court record to show the Arrow judgment as paid. Once the court record is corrected, send a copy of the updated court record to the credit reporting bureaus showing the unresolved Arrow account and demand that it be corrected.
2. Take the proof you have showing the judgment was paid and send that attached to a dispute and demand for correction to the credit reporting agencies for correction.
Your correction request with the credit reporting agencies can take up to 30 days for response and/or action.
Be sure to send any dispute via certified mail return receipt requested. Keep a copy of everything regarding this situation. If you do not get this resolved with one dispute it will be time to file come complaints and perhaps even to connect with an experienced fair credit reporting consumer attorney for action.
If it were me in your situation, of the 2 options above, I would personally go with option one to be certain the court record itself is corrected. The reason I say this is that the reporting agencies rely on data that is taken from the courts by third party data miners. If the court where the Arrow Financial Services judgment is entered gets mined again and that info uploaded to the credit reporting agencies, than the incorrect info may just show back up. Getting the court record changed is how to avoid that from happening.
Hi Michael,
I pulled my credit report just as you recommended and I saw two inquries on the report from two firms: Credit Solution Corp and National Credit Adjusters. I called the latter who stated that they did not buy any of the debt from Arrow. I could not get in touch with Credit Solution Corp. This is becoming a research project. My question is what is the debt buyer obligation in buying these accounts and are there any laws regarding not reporting accurate information or updating the owner of the bought debt to the court or credit repoting agencies within a reasonable time after they either sell the debt or close their door? Should I call Sallie Mae who owned a major interest in Arrrow, and bring the complaint to the CPRB? By the way I’m in NYC.
Michael – You bet there are laws that govern reporting only accurate information, but I have so far not read your comments to be related to a furnisher/credit reporting issue. I have read the issue to be one where you have a judgment that Arrow Financial got; it resulted in a property lien; you are selling and need to resolve the lien to pass title. You may have credit reporting concerns to clear up too, but the priority is the lien. Have I got the gist of the issue correct?
Calling Sallie Mae on this would likely yield nothing, but man would I like for you to surprise me if you do call and learn something helpful.
I am not certain what filing a complaint with the CFPB would yield. If my outline of the gist of things above is on point, your issue is a court judgment that resulted in a lien by a now defunct debt buyer. There is no one to target in your complaint that has a pulse.
Judgment debts get sold to other bad debt investors in the normal course – even by companies still operating. This type of debt has a higher value in the market because the collection enforcement heavy lifting is already done. Your Arrow judgment account got picked up by someone. To think otherwise is just not consistent with logic. So here’s a theory:
Judgment debt retains a better value. Perhaps an existing Sallie Mae subsidiary, or a newly created one, cherry picked judgment debts out of the Arrow portfolio. They owned a good chunk of interest in Arrow. I do not think I am stretching with this theory. Perhaps calling Sallie Mae is worth the effort.
Also consider that judgment debt needs to be renewed in NY within 10 years. When was this judgment entered in the court?
Suggestions:
1. Sit down with an experienced title officer and discuss your scenario. There are protocols title companies follow for demand requests in order to pay off liens etc. There would also be protocols for unanswered demand requests. One method title companies use to approach this type of scenario is to follow demand request protocols, and if unsuccessful, hold back 150% of the judgment amount in escrow. Once a judgment creditor is located, escrow funds would be used to pay off the judgment. This allows the transaction to close, but ties up seller funds for a time.
2. Connect with an experienced collection defense attorney in New York and learn if there is an existing legal theory that is worth advancing with the court.
THANK YOU so much for getting back to me – – You gave me information I never knew about – – Most helpful and YES I will be following through since I have strived to keep my Credit in good standing!!!
I had a judgement from arrow on my credit report that is satisfied but doesn’t show it. How do I make sure it gets taken off my credit report
kyle – A judgment on your credit report is likely due to the data miners out there that scrape info from courts and provide that to the credit reporting agencies, and not a trade line being reported directly from Arrow Financial Services. Is the entry at issue in the public records section of your credit report?
You cannot really get a judgment that is the result of a court record taken off of your credit report earlier than the 7 years time limit for it to fall off of the report on its own. You can take steps to make sure the judgment shows as paid/satisfied. With Arrow Financial gone, you would have to be the one to move the court to change the record to show the judgment is paid. If you have proof it was paid you should speak to a local attorney about filing a motion with the court to get this resolved.
Hi Micheal, I hope you can help me – – we are trying to get some financing and they notified me that they have one questions – – “Is this charge to GECRB that was in collections paid in full and do you have any verification on that?” Well I was trying to get something in writing through GE and after 4 or 5 calls to different departments finally found out that they sold my account to Arrow Financial and that they are out of business!!! I NO longer owe anything and that the Bad Debit was paid IMMEDIATELY upon Arrow Financial calling me – – all this happened in March of 2009 and I see from the article that you posted they were sold in Nov of 2009 – – If my account was paid IN FULL why am I still being flaged and who can help me since I didn’t owe Arrow any further money – – would my account even been sold to LVNV???? Please advise – – desperate to get this cleared up since I didn’t have a Clue it was hanging out there – – We financed something in 2010 and nothing came up about this????? THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE ME!!!! Oh P.S. is the Transaction from my Bank Statement good enough verification???
Trish – First thing I would suggest is pulling a copy of your credit report to see what is showing up there. Whomever you are trying to get financing from is seeing a collection account in a report they use to underwrite loan approval. The credit reporting agencies tend to have mostly the same stuff on them, but there are things that appear on one, but not others. It would be great if you could find out what report they are using that the collection account is appearing on. If it is Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion, you have access to one free report from each every 12 months. You can get those free reports on line from the site they set up at: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
Once you know the report they are using (though you should identify all reports containing the bad info), you should send a dispute to that credit reporting agency. Send the letter certified return receipt requested. I like to send the letter with a copy of the report from the bureau with the trade line at issue highlight with yellow highlighter pen. Your letter would be short and to the point. If the bad info is related to Arrow Financial – Something like:
“I am contacting you to dispute the Arrow Financial Services collection account on my credit report. I have enclosed a copy of your file with the disputed trade line highlighted. You are reporting incorrect information in violation of the fair credit reporting act. This account was paid in full in March of 2009. I demand that you correct your reporting of this trade line immediately, or in the alternative, remove it from my report. I am being damaged by your incorrect reporting. I expect that you will follow your legal requirement in this regard, in the required legal time frame. If you do not, I will promptly file my complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”
I suppose you could include a bank statement showing the date and amount of your payment made to Arrow Financial Services years ago, but it is not up to you to provide documentation of your dispute. But including it may help the credit reporting agency in correcting this more rapidly.
I would normally suggest sending a copy of the dispute to the furnisher of the bad information, but with Arrow being closed, I am not certain they would get it.
An alternative read on what you shared is that the GECRB charge off is showing up. If you did not pay the account and it charged off, this showing on your report is normal. But if a finance company is raising the GECRB account as an issue, it would likely be because it is still showing a balance owed. If GECRB sold the account to Arrow, they cannot report a balance owed to them because it no longer is. You would send a dispute to the credit reporting agencies copying GECRB. The dispute would be simpler than the example above.
You should follow through with an immediate complaint to the CFPB if your disputes do not get this resolved within 30 days. You can file a complaint about credit reporting with the CFPB here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ – click on the credit reporting tab on that page to start your complaint.
Another alternative would be to show the company you are trying to get financing through the bank statement proof you paid this. Depending on the situation, like a mortgage broker, it may expedite approval. But in today’s risk adverse credit markets, going with the credit reporting dispute may be the only way to get this done. You have to do it anyway, so that is the direction I would take.
After pulling your credit report, you are welcome to post what it shows in a comment reply. I may have more feedback to give.
Great! I will employ that strategy. But if the company is closed with no working number or forwarding address where is the debt? Can I have this debt vacated by going to court to have the owner of the debt show up in court? Also, as a side note. There was a court case in California Arrow v. Wright. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-court-of-appeals/1574093.html. That found that the debt they brought they could not prove that the owned the debt and it was thrown out because there was no paper work on the debt the bought. Similar circumstance like the mortgage mess. In any case, do you think that my debt was part of this? Or is this an individual case? I know you are not a lawyer or I think you are not but would like your opinion.
Michael – The case linked appears to be from Georgia, but I assure you there are similar cases in California. Are you in CA? I can connect you with an excellent attorney resource for this kind of thing in CA, if you want to fully vet your options.
Yes, this stuff happens mostly on an individual case by case basis. State AG’s go after larger state wide actions though. Illinois spanked Arrow Financial some years ago. Maryland spanked some debt buyers last year. Minnesota’s AG is on a tear with debt buyers for the last couple of years. I expect the CFPB to flex their new regulatory authority over larger sized debt collectors and debt buyers in the next year or so.
None of that helps you though. You are dealing with a one off scenario. There may indeed be legal options. I would suggest talking to an experienced attorney first, then do the whole credit report/new debt owner sleuthing.
Hi Michael,
I read your write up on the Arrow Financial LLC and it provided me with information needed to clear up some information. I called LVNV customer service who was helpful but told me that my debt was not part of the portfolio bought by LVNV. I need to sell my house and I can’t clear title until I settle this debt. So, my question is how would I find out who may have this account. Is it in bankruptcy court since the business closed and what strategies can I use to get to the right person, business, court to get this issue resolved. I would love to hear from you. Thank you.
Michael – It is good to hear that you were able to speak with LVNV and found them to be helpful. Other readers will feel more comfortable reaching out to them.
As for your predicament. I have not identified any other purchasers for parts of the Arrow Financial Services portfolio.
Based on what you shared, I can assume Arrow sued for the debt and got a judgment which resulted in a lien placed on your home. Is this what happened?
Until more purchasers of the Arrow debts surface, here is a suggestion:
Pull your credit report. Use the free online access everyone has to one report annually from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion at: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp. I also recommend the credit report card as a good free tool offered by https://www.credit.com/.
Look at the recent inquiries section. Debt collectors and debt buyers will make frequent looks into your credit report and use the data as a metric for collection decisions. They leave a trail when they do that. Post a comment reply with the names of those companies making inquiries in the last 12 months. If you have other outstanding debts, it could cause there to be many inquiries, but we should still be able to narrow down probabilities.
Also, the title company can call and write Arrow Financial Services with a formal payment demand request (common when there is a judgment lien on a home). Title will have a protocol to follow for something like this.
Arrow Financial Services was not placed in receivership, or file for bankruptcy to my knowledge.
I live in Maryland. The last payment was made in July of 2008.
chilechique – The SOL (statute of limitations) for filing a legitimate collection law suit for credit card debt is typically understood to be 3 years in Maryland. If you have made no payments of any type in 4.5 years, the SOL is quite likely expired. This should alleviate much of your concern.
The SOL expiration does not prevent a debt collector from filing a lawsuit, but your defense is simple and immediate – The debt is time barred from using the courts to collect. Wherever your debt with Arrow Financial went, if it surfaces, you will be in the drivers seat to resolve it if the SOL expired. By drivers seat, I mean you can not be pressured to pay, or pay a certain amount, with the threat of legal action if you don’t.
I defaulted on a credit card and the debt, as it shows on my credit report, was bought by Chase Bank. I contacted Chase to try to settle the debt, but they told me it had been sold to Arrow, which they informed me had gone out of business and there was no record of to whom it was sold. I called LVNV and they have no record of a debt. How can I find the collection agency that has my debt? I am desperate to settle this and no one, not even the credit bureau, can help me.
How can I find out what agency has my debt???
chilechique – You have offered a new wrinkle to the Arrow Financial closure. I have some questions for you to answer in a follow up comment reply, and some feedback you may want to consider.
Who was the original creditor prior to Chase?
When did you last make a payment to anyone on the account?
Your debt may be so old that it was segregated out of any of Arrows portfolio that were sold to different debt buyers.
Your debt may have been sold to a buyer who is mindful of credit reporting limitations, and who may be one of the companies large enough to fall under direct supervision of the CFPB starting on 1/2/13. This could have given them pause in reporting accounts that meet certain criteria, yours potentially one of them.
You may want to consider filing a dispute with the credit bureaus about the Arrow Financial entry. Your dispute can be related to a number of different items:
Date of last activity was much older than being reported.
The amount being reported as owed is grossly incorrect.
You do not owe a debt to Arrow Financial.
The account is not known to you (this would be a stretch for you since Chase told you it was sold to Arrow, but others reading this may be in a situation where this applies).
Whether there is anyone left at Arrow Financial Services (a skeleton crew), that is tasked with responding to dispute resolution communication from Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion, I cannot say. But if the credit reporting bureaus cannot play the normal game of data ping-pong with the furnisher of information in order to verify that the information being provided is accurate and complete, they would need to delete it.
Thanks for the information.
The original bank, Providian, went under, I believe in or around 2009. I last paid on the credit card in 2008.
Arrow does not show on my credit report, but rather a charge off from Chase Bank and it shows a balance of zero. Therefore, I don’t have a dispute with the reporting; it is true.
I will have to try the credit bureau ping pong game. Sounds like fun.
chilechique – I misunderstood your original post to say that the negative credit reporting was being furnished by Arrow Financial Services. I now understand the situation as:
Providian absorbed by Chase. Chase later reports your credit card as charged off. Chase sells your debt to Arrow. Arrow never reported the debt to the credit bureaus. No one other than Chase is reporting the debt on your credit report.
Does that sum things up correctly?
Here is the rub in a situation such as this: The Chase charge off has no shot of being removed through any negotiation or settlement with a debt buyer. Chase is already reporting a zero balance due to them (or should be), because they sold the right to the debt to Arrow Financial and there is nothing now owed to Chase.
If no other debt collection entry is being reported in addition to Chase, and there is also no unpaid balance showing up and impacting your debt to income ratio, there is next to no reason that you should desperately be trying to settle this debt as it would relate to a credit report concern.
A charge off credit card debt from 2008 or 2009 will have taken on a more stale nature by now on your credit report. If this same account later shows up due to a report from whomever bought the debt from Arrow Financial Services, you can deal with it then.
Also, I may have read too much into your comment being a credit report concern. Why is it you are looking to settle this debt? What is the goal you are looking to accomplish?
Yes, you have summed up the information correctly. The reason that I am interested in settling it is I don’t want them coming back to me in a year or two or three telling me that I have to go to court. I just wanted to try to nip it in the bud.
Since the debt is not being reported by any of three credit agencies, does that mean my debt has been lost in a vortex somewhere, or is it just a matter of time till they come after me?
chilechique – I would not say your debt fell into a black hole… yet. These things have a way of turning up again, which you are aware enough to want to head that off from happening.
Your state has a statute of limitations that prevents you from legitimately being sued for debts like this. You mentioned your last payment being made in 2008. Do you recall what month in 08?
What state do you live in?
OMG I just had the same thing happen to me regarding Arrow Financial…what I want to know is how should the judgement show up since is was reported as cancelled debt? will my credit report show 0 balance? if not what should it say and how do I handle getting it to say the correct thing?
Llavona – Can you give me some more details? I am not clear, from what you shared, whether Arrow got a judgment against you in court for a debt, then sent the IRS a 1099c, or whether the judgment debt is one that may now be held by LVNV.
Tell me more about the circumstances and the original debt from who the creditor originally was, how much owed, when stopped paying, when Arrow got it, when sued etc. That would help me provide the feedback you need from me.
Good Morning,
Orginal loan was with Wells Fargo and they sold it to Arrow Financial who in turn took me to court for a judgement 8/2007. On my credit report it shows $9952 but when i looked into public record the final judgement was for a little over $12K back in 2010. I just received a letter from IRS that said that Arrow financial cancelled my debt of $9952 and that they added that amount to my 2011 taxes and now i owe almost $2K. I spoke to the IRS and they told me to send in my response along with the blue book value from 2007 (which i can’t find a blue book value from back then) and they will adjust the amount once i do that. Will my credit report have a 0 balance on the judgement??? ANY information will help THANKS!!!!
ok ni called LVNV and they have nothing on me
Llavona – Your situation is complicated by the judgment for the same Arrow debt. That judgment reporting is a direct result of the court record. The only way to get the court record changed is through the court. The IRS is acting on the notice of forgiven debt from Arrow. But I wonder how they would treat that if they had a copy of the entry of judgment in favor of Arrow that is likely still showing as due and owing, which would make the debt decidedly “not forgiven”.
Did you discuss the outstanding judgment debt with the IRS? You may want to get a certified copy of the judgement from the court and be prepared to send that to the IRS after speaking with them more about the issue.
I have not been able to confirm more buyers of portions of Arrow Financials debt portfolio other than LVNV.
I had a judgement entered against me in 2009 in favor of Arrow financial through the law firm Hunt & Heneriques. I’m now trying to pay that before my wages are garnished but LVNV is now listing it as a collections account on my credit report. The judgement still says Arrow so i dont know who to pay. I also dont see how this same account can be reported twice
LVNV has confirmed with me their purchase of some of the Arrow Financial portfolio. What you shared means yours was one of the debts they purchased. LVNV can legitimately report a collection trade line on your credit report. Your credit report is getting hammered from several angles on just one account. The original creditor reports the many months late and the charge off. A debt collector buys it and reports it too. You get sued and end up with a judgment on this same account, which often ends up showing on the public records section of your credit report. All of this from ONE ACCOUNT!
I know this sucks. Here are some things to look for and correct if they are appearing:
The original creditor sold the debt and should no longer be showing that they are owed an amount on your credit report. They are not owed a penny. They sold the right to the debt. Be sure the original creditor is showing a zero balance due them.
Arrow Financial Services may have a separate collection trade line (NOT the judgment entry) that is still showing owed them. That is not possible as they are closed and LVNV now has the debt. If Arrow is reporting (again – not the judgment entry – that is a different matter), you can dispute that off.
The Arrow judgment is a legitimate negative entry. It gets a whole different 7 years of credit reporting shelf life too. That entry is resulting from a court record. It will be there until 2016 based on what you have shared.
Be sure that the LVNV collection account entry shows a date of last activity similar to the first month your original creditor reported you missing a payment that led to the charge off. All too often collection accounts show up with a different date of last activity that creates a situation where the account shows on your credit report far longer than it should be.
You should contact the toll free number I put in the post above. That will connect you to LVNV customer service where you can negotiate payment. If you need help settling the debt you can call us for a free consult at: 800-939-8357 ext. 3
David – A quick afterthought – be certain that any arrangement you make to settle the debt be documented and include the fact that a satisfaction of judgment is filed with the court. I have seen a lot of foot dragging on this in the last year or two.
So Michael,
What you are saying is that even if my original creditor, let’s say Discover Card, charged it off, a company like Arrow can still buy the debt and seek repayment? I had several companies charge off accounts back in 2006. I never received anything from Arrow or any associated company telling me they bought this debt and that I owed them anything. 7 years later I am trying to refi my house and this shows up on my credit report for the first time. Getting the run around from everyone I talk to.
Colleen – That is pretty much the gist of it, yes. Is this an Arrow judgment? If not, what is the date of last payment listed on the Arrow Financial credit report entry?
Hello,
I’ve been reading this thread as a result of doing a search on a case # given me by my father. He’s all upset, he’s just found out about this case filed against him in a neighboring county but he doesn’t seem to know anything about it. Something he saw had “Assessor” or letters that he thought referred to the real estate assessment office, and felt that he had to make a move to preserve his home, and he says, preserve his kids’ inheritance. He is thinking he must add a friend’s name to his land title deeds and that would prevent him being forced out.
So, I searched casenet.gov for the case number and found multiple filings dating from June 2010, several filings every year and servings made to branches of the bank he does business with, but branches located far away from his branch. Also, this case was filed in two counties, neither of them the county in which he resides. He’s had a lot of health problems this past year, and just before Christmas he had a heart valve replaced. He is really not able to deal with this problem. I told him to chill, it was just a lien that would have to be paid before title could transfer to anyone else, but is there something I can do to put a stop to these multiple filings and garnishments of his wages (he’s currently not working) over the past going on 5 years? They even tried to garnish his SSI. This is looking more and more like elder abuse through harrassment, to me!
What state is he in?
i had many credit report pulled by a lender last night everything said paid oldest acct was o7 there were two unpaid acct one was a med bill the other a rent bill. both only total 2k . so is there anyway i can prove i dont owe arrow being that there closed
As mentioned, do not get hung up on your credit report and the debt not showing. The repo and the collection entries on your credit report are long gone. The IRS does not care about your credit report. They are most likely reacting to a notice about forgiven debt that they received from Arrow Financial Services. Arrow may have sent it over a year ago, and the IRS is only now flagging it.
Unless this is a case of a mixed file or something, and assuming the Arrow debt is related to the repossession deficiency balance from all those years back, I am not sure what you would do to prove your debt was not with, or forgiven by Arrow Financial.
There are limitations on how long a tax can be assessed. I think it is 10 years. Perhaps that is an angle to pursue, but I do not profess to be a tax expert, or to know how a debt the IRS receives a report about being forgiven in 2011 can be associated correctly with an unpaid debt from 13 years ago. I will reach out to a tax pro and see if I can get him to add his thoughts to this comment exchange tomorrow.
The IRS has 3 years from the due date of the return or the filing date to assess additional tax on a filed tax return. After you file your tax return (assume on 4/15), the IRS will accumulate the information statements (Forms W-2, 1099, and that includes Forms 1099-C) filed under your SSN. In December of that year, they match the information returns against the items reported on the tax return for accuracy. They also do s second match the following April for those who file on extension or file other more complicated returns. This is call the IRS Automated Underreporter Program or “CP2000” program- referring to the IRS notice # that is sent proposing additional tax owed.
You must timely reply to the IRS CP2000 notice either agreeing to the deficiency or contesting the findings (much like an audit- but in this case, it is automated and by mail). If the tax is assessed, the IRS has 10 years to collect on the amount owed. This ten year period can be extended by certain taxpayer actions (an example is filing an Offer in Compromise or a Taxpayer Assistance Order).
Omitting a Form 1099-C and responding to a CP2000 that the IRS is seeking to assess the additional tax on the omitted cancellation of debt requires you do the following:
1. Determine the correctness of the Form 1099-C- if it is not correct, ask the issuer to correct it. As you mentioned, the issuer is no longer in buisness. If you are going to contest the Form’s accuracy, you will need to submit a written statement, with supporting documentation, to the IRS with the CP2000 response.
2. If the Form is correct, determine if there is an exclusion that applies. You can find exclusions on IRS Form 982. The most common exclusion on consumer debt is insolvency- i.e. at the time of the debt forgiveness, your liabilities exceeded your assets. You can exlcude some or all of the debt based on the extent that you are insolvent. If this determination is too complicated to figure (and often it is without an accountant), you may want to ask a tax pro to help you.
3. Respond to the IRS CP2000 – you can do so by mail or by fax. The phone number is on your notice. Attach supporting documentation, including a corrected return, if you do not agree with the IRS findings on the CP2000. You should also ask for an appeals conference with the IRS in case they do not agree with your position.
4. The IRS will generally reply back within 8 weeks after you respond. If your reply is accepted they will send you a notice of the new balance owed or a CP2005 that states you owe no additional tax.
I hope this helps.
Jim
update contacted a person at the irs i stated my case about about arrow closing they said they would mail arrow a letter requesting info about my acct they informed me that if arrow didnt reply back to there letter in 60 days they would close my case…. So lets cross our fingers
Thanks for the update. It would be great if you posted another update with the result of this. If the IRS gets response from Arrow, there may be a pulse there for others with old Arrow Financial issues to pursue as well.
Any response from the IRS? I called the IRS and they told me to respond in writing, so I faxed my info today. What a “shady” way of doing business. Shame on Arrow financial, perhaps that is why they closed their doors. I thought that businesses have to mail 1099’s by 1/31/ of next year, why are the people held accountable and charged. Thanks I guess I was looking for an answer, did not get one. Hopefully someone will respond with how the IRS settled the late mailed 1099-C’s Arrow mailed. Would solve alot of postings.
thank you for your response. Sydney
Sydney – I completely agree about the haphazard handling of winding down operations at Arrow Financial Services – for far more than the 1099c issues that are germane to your concerns.
It would be great if you updated your comment string on this page when you get a response from the IRS. It will help other readers of this page (which there are a lot of – they just do not post comments).
Hi Michael,
Update on Arrow Financial, I talked to an IRS agent yesterday in a lenghty conversation, and he told me to contact Arrow Financial, and if they answer the phone ask them to verify the info on the 1099-C (that i never received) and if they tell you they have no such file, than to request in writing that “No file exists” once received forward that on to the IRS, chances are they will close the “non-existant file”. Hopefully Case closed. Also he told me, to respond to the CP2000 (again) and request the IRS to contact Arrow as I have given permission for the IRS to contact them. i will continue to keep all updated! Best wishes to all!
Whoops! I responded to your comment from the admin panel of the site not realizing you were trying to get “this makes no sense” attention. I do not not if the commenter subscribed to this page to get email updates when comments are posted. I hope he/she does comeback and post an update.
UPDATE the IRS have for gave my debt wit arrow they did not respond the the IRS letter with in 60 days require. So im in the clear thanks for the advice
Thanks for posting this update TMNS. I will point to this comment string so that others can learn from your experience.
I found an interesting article in Forbes related to 1099c forgiveness of debt, and debt buyers sending them to the IRS many years after charge off/purchase/SOL expiration. The article is not about Arrow Financial Services, but PRA, another large publicly traded debt buyer. See – Consumer wins in tax court on tax treatment of zombie debt. Anyone concerned about 1099c on old Arrow collection debts will want to read through the article and the comments at that link.
I was wondering if TMNS called or wrote the IRS a letter and if a letter was written may I get a copy of it or at least the language that was used in the letter so I may submit one to the IRS before this get way out of hand.
Thank you!
Hannah – I do not know if the commenter “This makes not sense” is subscribed to new comments on this page. If so, I hope you get a response to your question.
Thank you kindly. I appreciate it!
Jim, Thank you for that detailed explanation of trying to prove not owing Arrow Financial. I am not a wealthy person and I was depending on my return of $2600 of which $2200 was sent to Arrow Financial. If there not in business who got my money? This was for tax year 2011 on a 1099 I never new about. I bought a car and returned it a month later and it showed on my credit score as a wash. Now I have to somehow come up with proof from the car place which is in Oahu and I can’t even remember the town. The Better Business Bureau has flagged this company because they were submitting documetation that is unsubstaniated, depts that were paid and various other reasons. The IRS should pull all 1099’s from this company and dismiss any claims, especially since they are out of business! I know for a fact that I did not owe as much as they claim but yet I have to fight now to get back my hard earned money that was given to a shady company that was flagged by the
bbc and out of business! This has caused me such a hardship but I will do what needs to be done to get my money back!!!
Ive never had any credit cards beside the the two i got from capital one 2yrs ago and both are in perfect standing Ive never missed a payment. Ive looked as far back as my credit report from 09 the only thing i had was sally mae which was paid off in spring of 2012 in full and it wasnt in collections ….up until last yr i had very bad credit 528 the last time i had any loan before that was a car repo around 98-99
have accounts that went a long period of time without payment?
non beside the repo
what do you remember about them?car was auction off it had a balance still owed dont remember how much
Who were the accounts with? i dont remember
What were the balances at the time payments were stopped? prob around 3k
Were there collection attempts from other collection shops? dont remember
the IRS is asking for around $1900.00
When a car gets repossessed it gets sold at auction for what can often be a fire sale amount. The amount the car sold for at auction is deducted from the amount you owed on the auto loan. More often than not this leaves an amount still owed to the owner of the auto loan. This is referred to as a deficiency balance. Deficiency balances are considered unsecured debt. While I cannot recall any personal experience of negotiating a deficiency balance from a car repo with Arrow Financial, it would not surprise in the least that Arrow purchased portfolios of this type of debt.
It is best to assume the debt the IRS is referring to is as a result of Arrow buying the deficiency debt. You would then likely be the proud recipient of a small rats nest.
Forgiven debt is treated as taxable income for the year in which it was forgiven. Here is a brief report on the subject: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/debt-forgiveness-taxes-settled-credit-card
Read the report and see if you have a situation where you can apply the insolvency rule to your 2011 tax year.
Looking back as far as you can on your credit report would likely involve entries from 2006 or earlier. Negatives stay on your credit report for 7.5 years from the date of last activity (last time you made a car payment). The repo being back in 98-99, the entry in the credit report from Arrow Financial, or any other collector, would have fallen off around 2006.
Arrow Financial Services sold some of their portfolio of bad debts before closing up. They may have attempted to square the books on debts that were outside the statute of limitations, and that presented no value to another debt buyer, by filing 1099c debt forgiveness on these debts with the IRS. Filing 1099c’s is actually a requirement in many instances related to settling or fully writing off debts.
It’s now 2014 and arrow just called me I don’t remember anything about the credit card I owned I know I had one but that was 6 years ago and never been bothered sence now they made me set up payment orangements what do I do
Kasey – Were you sued on this debt all those years ago?
Arrow Financial Services is closed. Can you tell me more about who it was that called you and what was said?
It’s 2015 and my bank account was frozen. My bank said it was Arrow Financial. That I owe them $890.00. I do not recall owing anyone that much money. What can I do?
You can learn more about the debt by looking it up in the court record. If you do not recognize the debt Arrow sued you for post an update.
If you do recognize the debt, was the bank account levy enough to pay it off, or is there a remainder owed?
Hi Mike- I was also sued by them and I have no idea what this is about. Apparently there is someone using my name and business as an aka do I go into the courthouse to get the entire record? WIll they have the history of it?
Yes, go to the court and get the entire record of any particular judgment. Post an update with what you learn.
My employer just received a garnishment order. The plaintiff is listed as Arrow Financial. If the company is no longer; how can this be legal without listing a new owner of the dept?
The new owner is not required to notice the court in many issues like this.
So you meet any exemptions in your state?
The IRS sent me a 1099-c staying that I owe Arrow Financial Services on my 2011 taxes i’ve checked my credit reports this company is not listed on any of them nor have I had any dealing wit them I’ve never had a 1099-c sent to me by Arrow Financial Services now the IRS wants me to prove that i dont owe the debt but how can i prove the debt if the company closed and there is no way to get in contact wit them the IRS letter does not even state what type of debt i owe them
Lets take this one step at a time. Did you have credit card, or other revolving consumer debt in the past 10 years, that went into advanced stages of collection?
I am asking because Arrow Financial was a debt buyer of mostly unsecured debts. If you had an account in their portfolio it would explain the IRS notice.
If you did have accounts that went a long period of time without payment, what do you remember about them? Who were the accounts with? What were the balances at the time payments were stopped? Were there collection attempts from other collection shops?
I can provide feedback to help you navigate what could be a rats nest to untangle, or this could be a real simple exercise depending on your answers to my questions.
Post your answers in a comment reply and lets go from there.
I am also with the person that states :it makes no sense dated Jan 8, 2013. Same thing is happening to me the IRS is saying that I had a charge off but doesn’t tell me what. Its from Arrow Financial and I am disputing it. If anything they said I was given 5000.00 last year and added that to my income tax and now they say I owe because I didn’t claim it. I did not receive and extra 5000.00 from this company. What do I do.
Kelly – Follow through with contacting the IRS like TMNS had done. You will need to submit something written similar to what TMNS was instructed to do, and then wait it out.
This could be a major mistake on the part of Arrow Financial Services, or the 1099c could be the result of an old debt you had that went unpaid that Arrow bought and never collected on. When Arrow closed up and sent 1099c’s on some of their portfolio accounts they could not sell, or at least that is what is evident to me.
Follow through contacting the IRS. It would be great if you would post updates with what you learn and proceed with along the way. It will help other readers. Many people hit this page and read through it daily. Only a few post comments.
According to the IRS, the amount I owe, what I thought was for a large debt, was never reported to Arrow and shows up on my credit report still with one of the reporting credit agency. Is there anyway possible of finding out anything of who the creditor was for the amount owed? What are my remedies? Do I just go to the tax court? I do not even know where to begin. Thank you!
Hannah – Can you provide some more detail in a follow up comment?
Is the IRS coming at you based on a 1099c forgiveness of debt they received from Arrow?
Did you have a debt that went unpaid that you can compare to the entry from Arrow? Are there any original creditors reporting charge offs on your credit report? If not, do you have any copies of older credit reports you can compare?
Are you presently scheduled in tax court?
The IRS does not send 1099’s. The 1099 is an IRS form, which someone else sent you, and the IRS. Arrow sent you the form, and it means that Arrow wrote off $1,900. When they did, you had income of $1,900-if you don’t have to pay you “made” money. You have to include the $1,900 in income. You owe tax. Congratulations.
Fred – You appear to have not read all of “This makes no’s” comments on this page. There is pending resolution with the IRS on this Arrow Financial issue.
I am not sure if you intended “You owe tax. Congratulations” to be sarcastic. It could be read that way. There can indeed be a congratulatory side to paying tax on forgiven debt. I think it is odd that people so often look at owing tax on forgiven debt as something negative. While many people actually do not end up owing tax when they resolve a debt for less than what was owed due to the insolvency rule, those that do owe tax are:
Free of the debt at a significant savings.
Able to begin healing their credit score.
Fortunate to have more assets than liabilities.
Here is something that should be pointed out, at least about this situation:
A debt buyer like Arrow Financial Services, LVNV, Portfolio Recovery Associates, Cach LLC, Unifund, and a whole host of others, send out a 1099c… whenever. In the OP’s case, more than 10 years after the debt went unpaid. So many media outlets, commentators, counseling agencies etc., point out that settling debt will lead to paying tax on forgiven debt (failing to mention the insolvency rule more often than not). But as you can see exampled here, people may end up having to consider the tax implications of NOT resolving debts.
If there is ever a standardized zombie debt jubilee (debt past the SOL in debtors state)… something where the CFPB were to design rule making, or legislation were passed, or even the larger debt buyers were to huddle up and say “lets 1099 debtors directly after SOL expiration en mass” – It would perhaps create a situation where more people attempt to resolve their debts sooner rather than later.
Maybe people would quit making drive by comments about tax on forgiven debt too.
I should point out that there are no tax implications to discharged/forgiven debt in bankruptcy.
Minus payments of course made by the alleged debtor. Funny how the jobbers never put down that you might have paid 75 payments before they got their clammy clutches on them. GE credit accepted a settlement, sold the debt, then reported the whole amount to the IRS. If you report someone you better be damn clean yourself. I got checked for 9 years, every year, and some of those years they owed me money. They can audit me all they want. My returns are clean and that has kept the wolf away. I also saved all the reports for 12 years from the credit bureaus. When I get finished there is going to be much knashing of teeth and many law suits over re-aged accounts and other violations nobody ever called them down on. Good luck
I’m going thru this right now with Arrow Finicial
Jill – Can you share some of the particulars so other site readers can gain some perspective on their own situation with Arrow?
If Arrow Financial Services is no longer then why am I still paying on a debt to them through Apothaker & Associates? I have been sending a payment to Apothaker & Associates for over two years now for a debt that they claim was for Arrow Financial Services. On several occasion I have asked for a statement of payments made and balance due from Apothaker have been ignored. What can I do to get a statement from these people and find out if there still is a debt to pay?
Carolyn – Arrow Financial would have place the account with Apothaker for collection before they closed up. Were you sued for the debt with Arrow Financial followed by setting up payment arrangements with Apothaker? If so, this may provide an opportunity to get some accountability.
If not sued, how did the collection and payment arrangement occur? Is there anything documented with what you set up?
If you can answer these questions in a comment reply I will have more feedback.
Hi Michael,
I have a question, I am being taken to court next week for a Debt to Arrow Financial Services.
If the attorney purchased the debt, wouldn’t my hearing paperwork still read”
Arrow Financial Services, LLC
VS
Steve (me)
I would think that when someone else bought the name that there would have been a change in tittle for who I am being sued by. I feel like I am being duped now and being sued by a Lawyer “representing” a company that has gone out of business.
Thanks for you help!
Steve – Is this a lawsuit being commenced from scratch, or are you being taken to court on an existing judgment? What is the name of the law firm taking you to court?
Judgment debts do get sold. I have confirmed other Arrow Financial debt purchasers, so this may be what is happening with your situation.
i have a judgement filed by arrow in 2010 for 1193.00.i have to pay it in order to get a home loan.i am going to pay it and get a judgement satisfied statement from the courthouse but i have no idea where this money is going.
If the court holds it, the money would go to who steps up with a legitimate claim to the court.
what if no one steps up?as far as i know no one else has bought this debt.
You can ask the court clerk about what their policies are for that.
My account have been frozen by a company named eltmen and cooper ?? on a debt from 1999
that I paid in full. Any help??
They would need a judgment to do that. Did you pay the judgment in full, or paid your bill way before that, and did not know about any lawsuit?
I paid a settlement to arrow financial years ago
Now it shows in my credit report as unpaid
I can not locate the letter that was sent to me
Docket #cv00609409ny
How could i get this information?
Thanks for your help
Call in and talk to Steve, a CRN specialist, at 866-997-4242. He has had good success with helping people resolve some of these old Arrow Financial Service issues.
I have an account with arrow financial services on my credit report from 2009. I called the above number gave my SS#, the docket number I have from public records, and nothing was found. I need to know where the debt has gone or the original owner if possible. The amount was $1159.28. Thanks in advance.
Call and talk with Steve at 866-997-4242. He has been a great resource for people who are unable to track down old Arrow debts.