How to deal with Cavalry Portfolio Services

Cavalry Portfolio Services is a veteran debt collection agency in the United States. They have been in business since 1998. They have about 215 employees with headquarters in New York and Arizona.

Just like dealing with any debt collector, be prepared. Verify that you owe the debt, that the company does not harass you, and that you have the right tools to settle your debt.

What is Cavalry Portfolio Services? Are they real or a scam?

Cavalry Portfolio Services is not a scam. It is a real debt collection agency. They buy debt from big banks like Chase and the Bank of America. They also buy debt from many industries, including telecommunications, utilities, health, cable companies, and financial service providers. 

They may contact you through various phone numbers, including the following: 1-602-667-0128, 1-800-501-0909, 1-866-839-5150, 1-918-665-5600, 1-914-347-3440.

Do you owe Cavalry Portfolio Services money?

Cavalry Portfolio Services buys debt from many creditors. Like most big debt collection agencies they usually buy the debt for pennies on the dollar. The original creditor as well as Cavalry Portfolio Services or Cavalry SPV II, LLC, Cavalry Investments LLC, Cavalry SPV I, LLC.

However, there are various reasons that you may not owe Cavalry Portfolio Services money. For example, the debt may not belong to you, the statute of limitations expired, or you already paid off the debt.

Step 1 - Validate your debt

Validate a debt when Cavalry Portfolio Services contacts you to collect a debt After the initial contact you have 30 days to validate the debt, so act quickly. It is advisable to send a registered letter. Validate the debt even if you are not sure if you are responsible for it.

According to the law, Cavalry Portfolio Services must validate the debt. If you don’t receive proper validation, then send a notice of insufficient validations. If Cavalry Portfolio Services LLC cannot validate the debt, it has no legal basis to collect it.

>>Learn more: Follow the steps described in the Bills.com debt validation article to preserve your rights under the FDCPA. 

Step 2 - Check to see if the Statute of Limitations (SOL) is valid.

State laws set the time that a creditor can sue you and collect on the debt. However, they are complicated and not easy for the layman to understand. In most states, once the SOL expires, an original creditor can sue for a debt, whereas, a third-party collection agency like Cavalry Portfolio Services cannot sue.

Even if you think that the SOL expired, the creditor may have a different opinion on the expiration date and pursue a lawsuit against you. It is always wise to respond to a lawsuit.

In any case, Cavalry Portfolio Services still have the right to contact and get you to negotiate a settlement.

>> Learn more: Learn more about states' laws regarding statute of limitations.

Stop Cavalry Portfolio LLC from debt collection harassment

Debt collectors often are extremely aggressive in their collection tactics. Like other debt collection agencies, Cavalry Portfolio Services is strictly regulated by The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Here are some of the actions that they are forbidden to do:

• Call at an unreasonable time such as before 8:00 AM or after 9:00 PM
• Use the Telephone to Annoy or Harass
• Seek Unjustifiable Amounts
• Contact a Consumer at Work
• Threaten Arrest
• Use Abusive or Threatening Language
• Contact a relative, friend, or colleague who doesn’t own the debt

If you believe Cavalry Portfolio Services violated your rights under the FDCPA, consult with a consumer rights attorney in your area. Discuss possibly filing a lawsuit against the collection agency; not only could a lawsuit result in the cancellation of your debt, but you could be awarded damages.

Learn how to negotiate your debt with Cavalry Portfolio Services

Cavalry Portfolio Services will contact you, hoping to negotiate a settlement. Since they bought the debt cheaply, they have a great incentive to negotiate at a reduced price. According to their website:

Cavalry understands that there are many reasons an individual may experience a financial hardship that makes it difficult to make a payment or a payment arrangement on one’s account.

After analyzing your budget, income, assets, and debt, they may offer you a lump-sum settlement or a monthly payment schedule.

Your first option is to take a do-it-yourself approach. Dealing with a collection agency is stressful. It takes a significant amount of time and effort. It is helpful if you convince Cavalry Portfolio Services that you are in a hardship. Here are three tips: Be calm, clear, and convincing. Be persistent. Send a debt negotiation letter.

Suppose you do not feel comfortable negotiating, then partner with a debt negotiation company. Debt settlement companies rely on databases of past settlements, so their negotiators know what range original creditors and collection agencies have accepted for payments in the past. They can reach a negotiated settlement with your debt collection agency quickly.

Complaints and lawsuits about Cavalry Portfolio Services

Like most collection agencies, Cavalry Portfolio Services has complaints registered in the BBB and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB has complaints about collecting a debt that the consumer didn’t owe, harassment, and impersonating an attorney, law enforcement, or government official. The complaints themselves are not proof of illegal or improper activities, although a good source to learn about how consumers perceive the interactions and problems they have with the debt collection agencies.

Here is a couple of example of complaints:

Took or threatened to take negative or legal action "On XX/XX/2021 I contacted the Office of XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX in respond to a letter that I received by mail with a Execution of Money Judgment against me and they are representing Calvary Portfolio Services, LLC to collect {$10000.00} dollars debt on a vehicle I was trying to explain that this account already pasted the 6 years status of limitation for Massachusetts and 5 years for the State of Florida and they are treating with the Judgement to taking my house as far as I can understand. The bank or the collector didn't send me any court order to go to court to address this issue in the past 15 years and now they are requesting that amount when I have a home loan to pay diagnosed with XXXX and XXXX I was not working for 3 months and I also had the XXXX recently. I don't have the ability to pay this debt at this time specially that it is from offer 13 years old debt from another State. I feel this is abusive and unprofessional. ".

False statements or representation "XXXX XXXX XXXX is attempting to collect on a debt for their client Calvary Portfolio Services. This company does not have any original contracts and the terms and conditions to go with this debt that substantiate that they are allowed to collect the interest and fees they are attempting to charge, which is a violation of The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. I have asked them to produce it and they have failed to do so and continue to attempt to collect on this debt. 1692 f ( 1 ) Attempt to collect any amount not authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law. This is unfair and I want this harassment to stop". "

Deal with a Cavalry Portfolio Services lawsuit

Cavalry Portfolio Services cannot make empty threats to sue you when making a collection call. However, they do have the right to start a lawsuit and pursue legal remedies such as a wage garnishment or bank levy.

If Cavalry Portfolio Services files a lawsuit against you, consult with a lawyer in your state with consumer law experience. You must file an answer to their summons and complaint or risk losing the lawsuit by default. Ignoring a summons will not make it go away, so take action to respond to the lawsuit.

Can you remove Cavalry Portfolio Services from your credit report?

The short answer is that most negative tradelines stay on your credit report for seven years from the delinquency date. Bankruptcies remain for ten years, and judgments can remain for even longer if the creditor renews them.

However, there are circumstances that you may see an inaccurate item from Cavalry Portfolio Services or a company associated with it. In that case, it is possible to file a dispute with the Credit Reporting Agencies and have the negative items removed from your credit report.

>> Learn more: Learn how to dispute a credit report.