Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc. is a debt collection agency that specializes in collecting non-tax federal student loans for the U.S Department of Education and guaranty agencies including defaulted accounts from borrowers who don’t pay their debts on time or fail to make payments at all.
Navient Corporation headquartered upstate New York owns Pioneer as well as other subsidiaries such as Sallie Mae which provide consumer banking products like private education lending services and asset management solutions, among others under different branches.
It also provides loan repayment options available through its main office with locations across the USA.
If a student loan collection agency is contacting you, then it means that your debt has reached the point of default and there are many consequences. There may be administrative wage garnishment, tax refund offset, or Social Security Benefit Offset to name just some.
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Pioneer Credit Recovery Wage Garnishment Authority
According to federal law, private collection agencies can send administrative wage garnishment orders to employers after a borrower defaults on their loan.
This means that without first getting permission from courts or the student’s consent, companies like Pioneer Credit Recovery are allowed to take any money owed directly out of an employee’s paycheck rather than having debtors pay back loans in instalments over time.
Despite the corona pandemic, Pioneer won’t be able to garnish wages from student loan borrowers until 2021.
Pioneer Student Loans can garnish wages for student loans, but not the same with tax debt. The IRS has authorized Pioneer only to call taxpayers and work with them to establish a voluntary repayment plan.
Can Pioneer Credit Recovery take my tax refund?
A refund may be taken by Pioneer Credit Recovery to offset delinquent tax debt. However, this will not happen if the debt is owed to the Department of Education or a guaranty agency that has been reserved for use under another program managed by the Treasury Offset Program.
Who does Pioneer Credit Recovery Collect for?
Pioneer Credit Recovery collects money for the government. They also collect student loan debt and work in courts and guarantee agencies to do that as well.
If you’re having trouble with PCR, Pioneer recommends filing a complaint online. You can also file complaints with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
If your loans are not in default, you can contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for help to resolve issues. If this does not work out either, consider contacting your state attorney general or consumer protection office and take detailed notes on any conversations about repayment of student debt with loan servicers.
Lastly, if Pioneer is a debt collector for you and has violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, then it may be possible to file them with a lawsuit.
There have been several complaints filed against Pioneer Credit Recovery regarding its debt collection practices. According to the CFPB and BBB, consumers’ issues include asking family members for a borrower’s Social Security Number or providing inaccurate account information when attempting to collect debts.
Options to Get Out of Student Loan Default with Pioneer
Borrowers who want to get out of student loan default have three options: settling for a repayment plan, switching into an income-based repayment program, or going through the rehabilitation process.
Rehabilitation is one option that borrowers can choose from in order to remove their defaults from public records and improve their credit scores. To rehabilitate your loans you must make nine consecutive payments under standard terms over ten months (120 days) with no other late payments on any new accounts during this time period as well as meet several eligibility criteria based on the type of federal student loan.
Pioneer Credit Recovery, a debt collection agency sued by the CFPB in 2017 for misleading borrowers about their credit reports after rehabilitation. Collection fees would be waived if borrowers enrolled with Pioneer’s program.
However, this was not always true according to the complaint filed against them by Commissioner Richard Cordray of the Federal Trade Commission (CFC).
Is Pioneer Credit Recovery Legit?
The Better Business Bureau gave Pioneer Credit Recovery an “A+” rating, the highest possible score. This means it is a legitimate collection agency that does not scam people.
What Pioneer Credit Recovery Can Legally Do
The use of Pioneer Credit Recovery by government agencies may be an attempt to avoid legal action since they act as a collection agent for government entities.
However, the likelihood of litigation from them is quite high given their role in collecting monies owed which often includes delinquent taxes and fines imposed on individuals or companies.
Pioneer Credit Recovery has the ability to sue you if they can prove that this is necessary. If it does enter a lawsuit, your employer could be served with papers that would require them to withhold some of your earnings and give these directly to Pioneer until their claim against you was resolved in court or through an out-of-court settlement.
It’s essential for people who are contacted by companies like Pioneer Credit Recovery about old debts to get legal help as soon as possible so there will not be any surprises down the line!
HOW TO NEGOTIATE A SETTLEMENT?
If you attempt to settle with a debt collector, don’t offer more than 50% of the amount they claim you owe. This will start negotiations and they’ll come back with counteroffers closer to the original balance owed.
Your responses should be amounts slightly higher than your initial proposal. but even if that’s not accepted by them, it hasn’t hurt anything yet so don’t send any money until confirmation is given in writing from their company.
When you get the letter of agreement, make sure to pay only a partial amount if you don’t have enough money. This way Pioneer Credit Recovery will be more likely to accept your offer and not turn down settlement completely.
Also, this is important because collection agencies are known for accepting payment on a verbal agreement but later asking for full repayment which can take up all of your savings and leave nothing left over until next month when it starts again.
The best way to ensure that Pioneer Credit Recovery reports the account as paid is by providing them with a written confirmation. If you don’t have this in writing, they may not report it at all and your credit score will be impacted greatly.
You can contact the bureaus yourself if necessary but again; having proof of their agreement provides more strength behind making sure everything gets reported properly on time.
Keep Reading!
Do not hesitate to contact Pioneer Credit Recovery at 800-448-3531 if you have any questions about how they are going to help resolve your tax obligation.
Any information on this page is for educational purposes only and should be addressed with an expert who can provide more specific details of the services that the IRS has approved them for, so take a look around.
