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.
Hi Michael. I am in the process of applying for a loan for a new home. When my credit report was pulled it showed a judgement against me dating back to 6/10. I filed for bankruptcy which was discharged in 2010. I listed/included ALL outstanding debt in the bankruptcy so to hear about this judgement is baffling. The judgement is with Arrow Financial so I am unsure of where to begin to clear up this matter. Please help.
S – Get in touch with your bankruptcy attorney about what next step you can take regarding this.
Did the broker/loan officer you are working with say that the judgment is unresolved and will monkey your ability to get your loan? Is it an issue with all of your credit reports, or just one?
If you run into a road block after talking your BK attorney, post an update and lets go from there.
I contacted LVNV and they do hold my debt, but they told me I had to contact Rausch, Sturm, Israel, Enerson & Hornik, LLC in order to inquire about my balance or a possible settlement. Does that seem legitimate? Also, if I was going to wait for it to fall off my credit at the seven year mark, would it be detrimental to contact them now? Will they be able to do anything which would result in it staying on my credit report even longer? Also, my mortgage services branch manager says that civil judgements never come off your credit report – is that true? Sorry to have so many follow up comments to my original post. Just trying to work my way through this without making any mis-steps.
Jessica – LVNV uses outside collection agencies, and debt collection lawyers like Rausch, Sturm and the gang. It is very normal for you to be referred to who LVNV placed the debt with.
If I were prepared to negotiate this debt today, I would not expect anything to be a detriment. I would want to get the settlement outlined in writing, and will be looking for how the agreement outlines how they will update the court. Once the court is updated that the judgment is satisfied, that will filter up to your credit report showing that it is satisfied. If after, say 2 to 3 months, the credit report still does not accurately show a satisfied judgment, you could pursue correcting that with a dispute to the credit reporting agencies.
As far as judgments coming off of your credit report after 7 years, what state are you in?
Hi Michael. Thanks for the feedback. I am in Mass. Does that affect when it comes off my credit report?
Not that I am aware of.
I have a civil judgement showing on my credit report from Arrow Financial. Do civil judgements ever come off your credit report? If they do after 7 years, it would come in June of 2015. If not, I don’t know who to contact to attempt to resolve the debt and have the civil judgement removed from my credit report. Should I contact the Law Office that Arrow used when they sued me for damages? Seems like contacting the credit card company where the money was originally owed is of no use since Arrow bought the debt. I don’t want to do anything that would further negatively impact my credit score.
Just to add, the judgement was in Massachusetts. I have never had a lien, garnishment, etc filed against me for the debt. The original debt was with Washington Mutual Bank. I fear contacting LVNV Funding, as I don’t want them to process a lien or garnishment now. However, if that is my only option, I will. I am not in a position to pay the full balance due, but would be willing to negotiate a payment or payment plan.
Thank you in advance.
Jessica – How much is the debt now, and how much can you come up with to settle it?
The original debt was about $5500. I’ll have to contact the attorney’s office they farmed it out to for what it totals now. I read a really helpful article on avvo.com (free legal help) that gave step by step instructions on negotiating a settlement amount. I guess I’ll start there and see how it goes. I’m hoping to negotiate down to about 30 to 50% of the original debt amount (which according to this article is reasonable, given that debt collection companies buy the debt for 1 to 2% of the total).
I contacted the attorney’s office that is handling the debt and gave them a low ball offer of $800 (total due $5700). They said it would have to be in the range of $3k, which I said was beyond my means. They said in order to present a settlement to the client for less than $3k they would need financial background – my income, if I rent or own, my rent amount and total for other monthly expenses. Does that seem like a reasonable request? Or should I just keep attempting to negotiate without providing that information?
Jessica – Judgments rarely settle for less than what they are asking in my experience. When that does occur, it is normally going to be because it represents the best opportunity to get paid… ever. It is common for the collector to request all the additional details. It is also common to use that information to collect as much as possible, rather than reduce the amount.
Are you in a limited income situation? If so, how long has that been the case? Is the situation somewhat permanent (fixed income, age, medical causes)?
You referenced your target being as much as 50% in an earlier comment. That is most likely, regardless of the info you provide (if not supportive of a hardship).
Jessica – What a debt buyer pays for the legal rights to your debt is of little use to you when negotiating a settlement. Even less so when there is a judgment in the courts. The average price for paid debts is not 1 to 2 cents on the dollar. And some debts, like judgment debts (those can be sold too), go for much higher.
Jessica – Judgment debts, with few exceptions, will age off of your credit report after 7 years from the date the judgment was entered into the court record. But once the Arrow judgment is off your credit, it does not go away. It is still out there, and can often be renewed, sometimes indefinitely, but many states have a limit (that limit might be 10 years with a renewal of the judgment for another 10 years for a total of 20 years).
If you want to resolve the debt, Arrow Financial is out of business. I would call the number for LVNV, or Resurgent Capital, in the original article above. If they purchased the legal right to your debt, they can either help you resolve this directly, or refer you to whoever they have the account placed with for collection. If you go this route, and run into a hitch, post an update and lets go from there.
Hi, Mike
I have a Judgement from Arrow Financial Serv., that I did not know about til last year.
apparently is was served back in 2008 (was my grandmother who was served in my behalf??) but was unaware. What is the first step I need to do if Arrow Financial isn’t around? Trying to care of this ASAP.
Thanks,
DJ – Are you prepared to pay or settle the Arrow Financial judgment for less? Are you under any time crunch to deal with this?
Yes, settle for less. Whatever to get rid if this.
Okay. I would first contact Resurgent (LVNV Funding) at the number in the original article above. Give them the info they need to look up your account if they have it as part of their purchase of Arrow Financial debts, then negotiate accordingly. You can review some tips and cautions for negotiating judgment debt here.
If Resurgent Capital does not have this debt, post an update and lets go from there.
I cleared a debt with Arrow and they were supposed to send me the title of the vehicle. Now that they closed shop, how am I supposed to get the title? Thanks for any and all help.
GB – Can you offer more detail as to what happened with Arrow Financial Services and when? Were you sued and judgment entered? Please be as specific as you can so that I can target my feedback.
Hello. I’ve been fighting a matter that comes as a result of identity theft. Sometime in 2007 I got a notice about a credit card that didn’t belong to me. I promptly reported the matter to the issuer, HSBC. Since that time the account got sold to Capital 1, who then sold it to ARROW FINANCIAL. All this time I’ve still been fighting this matter. I just saw online that Arrow Financial is out of business. This would definitely explain why I’v not gotten a reply from this company in years. All I want to do is have the negative item(s) removed from my credit report. HSBC as well as Capital 1 both say I must go to “Arrow”. What can I do?
Everard – If Arrow Financial Services shows up on your credit report, what is the date they are showing as it falling off? Did you send a written dispute to the credit reporting agencies about this? If so, what was the date of that dispute, and what was their response?
I was sued By Arrow Financial Servies, LLC on 01/10/2011. I had a credit card with them on 11/29/2009- I have not had the money to pay it back and have not heard anything more of this.. Do I still owe this money?
Sorry it was 11/29/2004 not 2009
carrie – You may. Judgment debt can last a long time, and it can be renewed very simply in most states, and last even longer. What state are you in?
Michigan, they just garnished my income taxes. but I still owe lots more money to them, the name on the account is Arrow Financial Services llc Shermeta Adams & Von Allme PC . I wish there was to pay them off, but as a single mom with 3 teens and a part time job, it is next to impossible:(
carrie – What type of debt was this originally?
Here is more information about refunds withheld for a debt in Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/taxes/0,1607,7-238-43513_44135-168434–,00.html
Unfortunately, judgment debt does not go away, sometimes ever, and grows with interest set by the court. There are exemptions you can qualify for to prevent garnishment of wages etc., but I am not familiar with exemptions from income tax refunds being intercepted in your state.
Credit card
Hi Michael,
I settled a credit card debt with Arrow in 2009, however it appears that Arrow never reported the debt as settled and it still appears on my credit report? What course of action do I have in this matter?
Brandon – How is it exactly appearing? What is the balance due showing? Do you happen to know the year and month you first missed a payment toward the underlying debt that Arrow later bought?
You have some dispute options. The direction you go with that could depend on the answers to my questions above.
I have a judgment against me ln 09 with arrow out of business Washington Mutual is the original creditor out of business LVNV is trying to garnish my check what can I do in Naples Florida
Billy – There are head of household and other exemptions available to you in Florida. You will want to look into how you qualify. But the judgment is not going anywhere, so I would also be looking at how to resolve it. How much is owed on it today?
5000 I spoke with the attorney a few minutes ago I told him that I qualify for the exemption and he said so what can I pay I said only $50 every two week ok let me speak to my clients and I’ll get back to you can I just go straight to lvnv workout maybe if I said I have like a thousand dollars you accepted to clear in
Settling with the attorney for LVNV on the Arrow judgment for 1k is possible, but not probable at first contact like this, or at all. If it were me, I were not in a hurry, and 1k is all I could offer, I would try to negotiate that deal now, and if unsuccessful, try again in 60 to 90 day intervals.
Hello Michael,
I am writing to get your assistance on a few things- I am trying to locate a legit contact number for Arrow Financial Services, can you please provide me with a (working) contact number for them? If they have been m’bought’ out or no longer operate under that name can you please provide me with updated information & contact number? Lastly I have a civil judgment on my credit report that I was just made aware of from a previous situation from a merchant (who sold this debt), I have made every attempt to reconcile this situation IF the merchant or debt creditors/collectors can provide me with proof of bill of sale, credit card or even credit card number (which I haven’t ever received- reason for debt) knowing that they will be 100% unable to provide me with such info. / proof is it possible for me to have this judgement lifted off my credit report? If so what steps should I take? And how long do you estimate this process to be?
Thanking you in advance for you guidance & help-
Jason
Jason – Fill out the consult form in the sidebar of any page on this site and submit. Be sure to put a reference to Arrow. I will send that over to Steve for you guys to connect. He has had good success sleuthing out options for people to manage situations like yours.
Arrow Financial Services is gone, but much of their portfolio of debts were sold off.
Your reference to making every effort to reconcile this with the conditions you set actually means not reconciling it – if you understand late stage debt collections the way it has existed up to 2013 (for the most part).
Michael
I just filled out a consult form to get some help with my situation. Hopefully a specialists contacts me soon and can truly offer assistance (free) and quick because this issue I have has stopped me from obtaining an apartment. My remaining question is- if I made a request to arrow financial (back when they existed) to provide me with proof of the credit card billing statement, credit card or even account number and they could not; then they get a judgement placed against me how is this all possible when I never received court papers? And being that they can not provide any proof of billing can everything be lifted in a short time span?
Jason – I sent that consult request on to Steve. I cannot speak to whether he will offer free hands on help, he does consults free though, so take him up on that.
How Arrow Financial Services failed to respond to a timely debt validation request; then sued; never properly served you; all is probably going to be moot at this point because of how long it has been since the judgment entry. Perhaps the state you live in could make hiring an attorney to undo what happened all those years ago more viable than states that only allow judgment set asides and the like for a year or two. Steve can help you determine next steps.
Nothing can be done in a short time span (if short is measured in days). Well, other than walking into the court and paying the full judgment amount plus any legal interest that has accumulated, so that the court record can be updated to show the judgment as satisfied.
Hello Michael-
Sorry to bother you again but you seem to be one of very few ppl who can provide clear direction on what ppl should do next. So I spoke with Steve briefly and he had advised me to obtain a copy from the courts (here in NYC) of my judgment & case before I can move forward. So I did just that (2 months ago) and the court being the court told me I had to fill out a form to obtain the papers from the warehouse (because papers pre-date 2010) and I would have to contact them again after 14 WEEKS to obtain my copy. I have 2.5 weeks left I believe- but just 2 weeks ago I was contacted by the company who bought my debt/judgement from Arrow Financial and they have threatened to garnish my wages. I told them what I told you, steve & the courts that about my case and that I have NOT received any letter to appear in court, how I never received the bill for the purchase of the two stereos, etc. I spoke with other credit counselors and even the collectors who all say that I should settle on the case and just make the payment BUT I’m choosing to fight because what they are asking for FAR exceeds the amount of what the items (2 stereos cost). Long story short I opened up the account with PC Richards to receive the discount on the stereos; stereos cost me $400-470 MAX but the collectors are requesting $1,600 (fluctuating amount but nothing below $1,350). What can/should I do? I would like to protect my only income from being garnished & also desire to fight this case. What are my options & chances of coming out on top? FYI I did fax Arrow Finabcial years ago about this amount not being correct, about but receive being ANY notice of the bill, account number OR card. Lastly that I did make an attempt by going back to the store 2x and calling- all claimed computer failure but I won’t get hit with late fees. And if the courts would check I have a CLEAN record of credit! Never once been late, etc
Jason – I want to be sure I understand one part of your comment before offering any feedback. Are you saying you were never served and knew not a whit of the lawsuit until sometime down the road after judgment was entered?
I would just like to know want to know if there is a percentage of the debt that I would try to get it down to. My original line of credit was 500 and they want nearly 5x that what should I do?
myles – How you go about negotiating a reduced pay off, which is common, depends on who has the debt, for how long it has remained unpaid, and other key bits of information.
Are you dealing with an account once being collected by Arrow Financial? If so, is it a judgment? If not an account with Arrow, please post more about what, and who you are dealing with, in a comment reply.
I am wondering / hoping to have a ‘way out’ or ‘way through’ …
AFS Assignee of Providian received default judgment against me for a credit card debt.
Judgment entered January of 2008.
I wish I had known then what I know now as I would have never let that happen.
As it is, I had many more things going on and this is my last sole debt that is owed, been moved, they’ve called, they’ve tried, etc for years to collect but it never happened.
In late 2012, maybe October/November I received notice from my employer that they had received paperwork to proceed with garnishment. So as I felt I was stuck I figured here we go… I’ll just ride it out.
In November the first pull happened from my paycheck, then in December nothing was garnished(?)
I asked my controller why not and the reply was that the garnishment had been cancelled. I asked why, but of course they don’t know, I then promptly received court paperwork indicating I no longer had any obligation to that garnishment as it was cancelled.
Well, I was relieved, and just let it go. Dumb, yes, but its a learning process.
Early 2013 I was contacted by same attorney (previous garnishment) that was doing this work for AFS in an effort to try and collect again. My thought was simple, if they actually had legal options to pursue garnishment once, why drop it? And if they can do it once, why wouldn’t they just do it again? Well they threatened but never did anything. I really felt this was compelling as why drop it and then why not come after me again? My gut really felt that something was afoul, but as everything costs money to dig and get answers I have just never done anything about it.
I am assuming the garnish was dropped as right about that time Arrow went belly-up.
So as they dropped the ball and went out of business, which ultimately caused more time to elapse, can I make them responsible for the additional time, interest and fees?
Enter late 2013, there is now a new kid on the block, newer attorney, threatening and attempting to collect this debt, this judgment, again. As it has gone from an original judgment to AFS, then I guess LVNV, one attempt at garnish then drop, now off to another attorney, there simply must be something on my side to get this massive interest/fee add-on reduced if not have this whole judgment thrown out altogether.
I just have no idea how to proceed but the amount is huge.
Can I go straight to LVNV and ‘settle’ for even less than the judgment?
HELP!!!!!
WJ – The time to fight the judgment would have been some years ago. I would say the odds of getting a 6 year old judgment vacated are slim to none.
You can settle judgment debts. The amount you can negotiate will vary based on many factors. You can read more about settling judgment debts here.
As for how to proceed… first things first. Can you pool together the money to settle this in a single payment? Example – what if you settled for 50% tomorrow? Can you access that kind of money, and if so, how long would it take?
First, in the numerous hours of searching I have done in the past I wish I had found you guys first, what a great site and what a great service you do….with that out of the way…
Let us say the judgment is $5000 and with all the nonsense fees etc it has ballooned to $10,000. I can, with one swoop, hand them the $5000. But, do I deal with the ‘attorney’ who is ‘attempting to collect a debt’ or should I go straight to LVNV and deal direct?
Quick question, first, I can do a one lump sum payment of the actual court judgment $5k. The “accrued” interest and penalties is $10k. If I can do a one time payment of the court ordered judgment do I negotiate that with the collecting attorney or go straight to LVNV funding? And do you think they’ll play ball?
Sorry I missed the post on the second WJ. I would start by going to LVNV to negotiate a settlement. They may tell you the account has been placed, and who to contact if you need to resolve the debt through someone else.
In my experience they will play ball. I have always found LVNV to be one of the more reasonable and easier to work with debt collectors out there. People doing this on their own, like you, report back the same for the most part.
Again, thanks so much, your help really means a lot.
I will reach out and report back what happens.
Interesting info this afternoon.
I called LVNV directly and they informed me that the account had been placed with an Attorney. Which I knew, but they named an office that in all my travels I had not yet heard of; Investinet.
So I guess now my settlement offer will have to go through them, have you heard of them? Any advice?
WJ – I cannot recall ever having negotiated a file with Investinet. Pretty sure I would remember a settlement with an outfit by that name. You can call in and talk to other specialists about their experience at 800-939-8357. Someone may have handled some more recent files involving Investinet.
Getting your deal negotiated is no different than following the tips outlined above, and more specifically in the post I linked to about settling judgment debts. Post an update with how things develop, or if you hit a road block.
Hello, I work for a title company and am atteptting to obtain a release for a client. What other companies bought Arrow Financial when it was sold? Thank you.
Jake – I have not identified any other partial buyers of the Arrow Financial Portfolio to date. One of the specialists in the network has been having good success in tracking down long lost files. You can reach Steve at 800-939-8357.
I need to know how I can get this company off my credit report it has been past 7 years and I paid them off with settlement offer.
Is the Arrow Financial on your credit report related to a judgment on the debt? If so, what is the date of the judgment in the court record?
If no judgment, when was the last payment made to the original creditor?
How can I get an explanation of charges? I have 2 judgements on my credit report, one from Arrow in 7/2009, and then one from Midland in 7/2010, and I believe they are they same account, but for different amounts. The docket numbers are different, and as of Nov/13 I just got an alert (today) that said I have a Midland LLC going into collections for the same amount of the updated 7/2010 amount. I legitimately have no idea what the original debt was even for, or if I have been duped into accepting it by not disputing it when they offered me a settlement. A little confused on how to proceed.
-I have read this page for the past hour and am blown away at the reposnses here, you guys are GREAT
Shane – Given your concerns about being sued by two collectors for the same debt, and not even being sure about the debt being yours, I have more questions than answers. I encourage you to call and talk with a specialist one on one at 800-939-8357. No cost for the call, and I think that would be a much quicker way to dig into the details.
Arrow finance has lien against fathers house in illinois from 6yrs ago he is dying of cancer and wants to leave house to children what should we do
sharon – I am sorry to hear about that. I wish you and your family the best as you progress through this.
Dealing with the Arrow Financial lien by settling, or paying it off in full now, will make things less complicated in the transfer. What is the amount of the judgment?
If the irs is saying u owe taxes for money that u received from arrow you can dispute it through the irs. The irs will send them a letter asking them what Documents they have on you arrow will have 60 days to respond to the irs request. And from all information I have gathered from the bbb and other Web sites and first hand knowledge they will not respond or show any proof. So I was cleared through the irs and did not have to pay any taxes. The irs closed my case. Arrow said that they gave me 5000.00 two yrs ago that I didn’t claim as income they sent me a 1099 for consultation of debit. I have never had a credit card in my name. Supposedly this company has placed judgements on people without notifying the person they r going after. I found out they usually are for credit cards. Well I knew it was not me because I have never had a card in my name. So you need to dispute it w the irs.
Thanks for the additional detail Kelly. Yours is not a very common occurrence, but there are indeed instances where debt collectors sue the wrong person. And oh too many instances where a debt collector will sue for a legitimate debt, but never properly serve the debtor.
Curious… was there ever a judgment on your credit report from this? That would be further insult to injury, but if you have not looked at that, I would (given what has already transpired).
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I had judgements against me from this company and the irs came after me saying that last year this company gave me 5000.00 and that I didn’t claim it on my taxes. I have never had a credit and fought it with the irs. The irs waited 60 for them to respond to my request and revived nothing. So irs closed my case and said I didn’t owe any taxes for that 5000.00. I never received. So now that u have posted that they sold to another company where does that leave me.
kelly – It sounds like your Arrow Financial judgment was one they wrote off and did not sell. Otherwise, they would not have sent the IRS a 1099c. Not that the Arrow portfolio wind down went off without a hitch. You can see from this thread, and all the comments, that there were many people left in a lurch.
Here is what I would suggest:
Look up your case in the court record and determine if the judgment is still show as unresolved. What are the last couple docket entries in the case?
If the case shows unresolved, call LVNV and determine if they indeed purchased this account. If not, post an update with what you learn. You will then need to take steps to deal with the court record.
Michael,
I have just been served with a garnishment from a law firm saying that they represent Arrow financial.
How can they show representing a company that has gone out of business? Is there any thing I can do?
I will be talking with a lawyer today.
Thanks
Ben
Ben – Arrow may be gone, but that does not mean the judgment disappears. Your debt was likely sold to some other company (like LVNV/Resurgent). The judgment is still collectable. Why the attorney is referencing Arrow Financial may be due to them being listed in the court as the judgment creditor, but that is something you should take up with the attorney you are talking to.
FYI – Not all attorneys will be experienced with debt collection issues. Be sure you are speaking with someone experienced in debt defense. If you need help locating someone with the experience you need, post the name of a nearby city and I will email you contact info I find.
Michael,
I am near Gainesville and clarkesville Ga. Thank You
Ben – I sent you an email with contact details to an experienced attorney. Distance does not have to be an issue in this type of thing, so take advantage of the no cost initial consult.