Northstar Location Services isn’t a business to help you find your way when lost at night. In fact, it’s sort of the opposite; it’s a debt collections agency. Like other collections companies, Northstar Locations Services purchases credit card debt from major organizations such as Discover. Large lenders don’t have the time, resources, or patience to track down everyone who owes them money and force them to pay. So instead, they sell the debt to collectors who specialize in this.
Why Would Northstar Location Services Be Calling You?
There are a few reasons why Northstar Location Services might be contacting you. The most straightforward reason for you to get a call from Northstar is because you owe money to a company that has sold that debt to them. It’s also possible that they want you to help them contact someone they believe you know in order to get them to pay their debt. There are some restrictions to what debt collectors are allowed to do when contacting family members or others, but it’s not against the law for them to do this. Though, they’re not allowed to collect or attempt to collect from relatives.
The third possibility is that Northstar Location Services is calling you because they believe you owe a debt that isn’t accurate. It’s not unusual for debt collectors to get things mixed up when trying to get paid. Records for delinquent and overdue debts can be jumbled—especially when they’re older, so it’s not at all out of the realm of possibility for them to call you even if you don’t really owe them anything.
Now that you understand a bit about Northstar Location Services, and why they might be calling you, it’s time to dig into how you should handle the situation.
What to Do if Northstar Location Services Calls
There are some specific actions consumers should take if and when they’re contacted by Northstar Location Services—or any debt collector for that matter. All debt collection agencies have to follow a certain set of rules and regulations. Laws vary by state, so make sure you look up the specifics of where you live. Regardless, debt collectors must also abide by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which defines what they can and can’t do in terms of contacting and collecting from you. Generally speaking, these are some things you should do if Northstar Location Services calls you:
- Don’t hide – Ignoring debt collectors might feel better in the moment, but won’t help you long-term. The only way to really deal with debt collectors is to face them, and either pay or find out if it’s not required of you. Doing nothing will not help your cause, and can actually make a bad situation worse.
- Verify the debt – Before you do anything else, you’ll want to have collectors actually verify or validate the debt they say you owe them. This must be done within 30 days of the collectors contacting you, so make sure you don’t delay. Verifying a debt is essentially forcing the collector to contact the original issuer of the loan, which will then have to affirm it’s actually you who owes the stated amount. If they can’t conjure up this information, they have no recourse for collecting from you.
- Ask for things in writing – It’s one thing to have a conversation, it’s an entirely different thing to get something in writing. Ask the debt collectors to send you information in a letter so you have them for your records.
- Look at statutes of limitations – As already mentioned, each state has different standards when it comes to debt collection. Check to see if the statute of limitations has already passed on your debt. In certain cases, this can actually save you from having to repay, even if it was your debt.
No one wants to deal with debt collectors. But there are various situations where they can come into your life. Know what to do when Northstar Location Services, or any other debt collection agency, calls you in the future.
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