Dealing with CBE Group Collections
Have you received a phone call or letter from the CBE Group and wondered who they are?
CBE Group is a collections agency operating with its headquarters located in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Why is the CBE Group calling me?
If the CBE Group is contacting you, you most likely have an account in collections.
Perhaps you forgot to pay an invoice, or an error was reported to the agency.
Unfortunately, either scenario can be extremely damaging to your credit score and needs to be addressed.
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What is CBE Group?
Founded in 1933, the CBE Group is a debt collections agency operating within the United States and the Philippines.
They currently have over 1500 employees within their three operational centers located in Texas, New Braunfels, and Manilla, Philippines.
The popular question is, “What does CBD stand for?” Unfortunately, there is not much information available to answer that elusive question.
We know that CBE Group is a subsidiary of CBE Companies, but no information is available for the CBE initialism.
Though they are formally known as CBE Group, the collections can be listed on your credit reports under any of the following other names;
- Cbe Collections
- CBE Group Collections
- Cbe Group Verizon
- The Cbe Group Inc Former
- The Cbe Group Inc-Former
Is CBE Group Legit?
While collections agencies can often be viewed as a scam, CBE Group Inc is legit.
The CBE Group has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 1992, and their BBB rating is currently set at A+.
The CBE Group Collection agency collects debts for a large variety of creditors, universities, and even client’s of the federal government, which includes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The CBE Group has 236 closed complaints in the last three years and 87 complaints within the past 12 months.
However, the CBE Group actively responds to consumer complaints, and many consumers have accepted CBE’s response and action plan.
Who Does CBE Group Collect For?
CBE Group collects debts for a large variety of creditors in different fields. Their collections are focused on the following areas;
- Credit cards
- Cable
- Phone services
- Medical
- Utilities
- Federal student loans
- Student loans (College/University)
- Government (Non tax-related or Education)
- Government/Taxes
Their most notable client is Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The IRS may only use private collection agencies to collect outstanding debts on federal income taxes as the law requires.
The CBE Group is one of the four agencies collecting for the IRS.
4 ways to stop CBE Group Collections
While every collection account is different, you can take a few standard approaches when facing a CBE Group debt collector.
Request a Goodwill Deletion
Sometimes life gets in the way, and having an account in collections becomes unavoidable.
Unexpected circumstances like sudden unemployment or a health scare can lead to falling behind on your bills.
If you are now able and willing to start making payments or even clear the entire balance, sending a goodwill deletion letter could be the next step.
Hopefully, the goal is to get the CBE Group to review your letter, take your overall positive payment history with the creditor into consideration and remove the collections account from your credit reports.
Clearly describe the circumstances which impeded your payments.
Feel free to indicate whether your experience a death in the family, loss of employment, a medical emergency, or anything else of a serious nature.
Whenever possible, be sure to include any supporting documents with your goodwill letter.
And don’t forget, a goodwill deletion letter is the one type of letter to a debt collector where you want to appeal to their sense of compassion.
Send a Debt Validation Letter to CBE Group Inc
If you need to confirm certain information or validate the debt as a whole, you should submit a debt validation letter.
If you need some guidance, you can review our sample validation letter.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act provides 30 days for you to submit your letter once a collection agency contacts you or the collections appear on your credit report.
Since third-party debt collectors get their account information from their clients, missing or incorrect data is not uncommon.
When a debt collector is unable to verify the debt, you can then seek to have them remove the account from your credit reports.
In the event that the agency does not delete the negative entries, you should prepare and send an incomplete debt validation letter.
Send this letter to the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) and open a dispute.
This course of action will prompt the credit bureaus to perform their own due diligence.
If the CBE Group is unable to satisfy their inquiries, the collection account will be removed from your credit reports.
Negotiate a Payment with the CBE Group
If there were no extenuating circumstances that led to the debt or the CBE Group managed to validate the account, you can now attempt to negotiate payment terms.
Your negotiations can be twofold; first, you can attempt to reduce the amount owed.
Collections agencies are known for buying debts for pennies on the dollar. As such, they generally tend to be willing to negotiate the amount with the debtor.
Secondly, you can try to reach an agreement where your payment will be made in exchange for the collections account being withdrawn from your credit reports.
As with any arrangement made with a debt collector, make sure you receive the agreement in writing before making any payments.
Select a Credit Repair Expert to Help Remove CBE Group Off Your Reports
If you prefer to do deal with the CBE Group on your own, you can choose to hire a trustworthy credit repair company to handle the task at hand.
Credit repair organizations work hard to remove incomplete or mistaken entries found on your credit reports.
But not all credit repair company’s are made equal. We recommend Lexington Law and Credit Saint due to their long history of successfully removing negative entries from their client’s credit reports.
CBE Group Inc and the IRS
While the above-mentioned tips are valid for most cases in collections, it’s important to remember that the CBE Group also collects for the IRS, and the process with the IRS is different.
The legislation passed by Congress requires the IRS to outsource the collection of unpaid taxes to a private collection agency.
CBE Group, Performant, Pioneer, and ConServe are the only four private debt collectors authorized to contact you on behalf of the IRS.
Before the CBE Group were to contact you, the IRS would send you a Notice CP40, advising you of the fact that your account was forwarded to a collection agency.
Your CP40 will contain important information required to complete a two-party verification with the CBE Group.
At the top of your notice, there will be a taxpayer authentification number; the collections agency will require you to confirm the first five digits.
You will also receive a copy of Publication 4518 from the IRS. This contains frequently asked questions and additional resources. To view a copy, click here.
Following the reception of those two documents sent directly from the Internal Revenue Service, the collection agency will then take over and make their initial contact via a letter.
This letter will explain how you can settle your account.
The CBE Group agent will then contact you by telephone to resolve the unpaid taxes. Any payments that you issue are to be made to the IRS.
The agent can instruct on the different accepted forms of payment and how to address them to the IRS.
While the agency cannot take any enforcement action against you, the IRS can, and these include filing a notice of Federal Tax Lien or even issuing a levy.
For more details, you can view this informational video by the IRS.
CFE Group Contact Information
CBE Group phone number: (319) 234-6686
Website: http://www.cbegroup.com
CBE Group email: None available
Addresses:
| CFE Group Corporate Headquarters 1309 Technology Parkway Cedar Falls, IA 50613 | Clarksville Operational Center 326 Innovation Way Clarksville, TN 37042 |
| New Braunfels Operations New Braunfels, TX 78130 | Philippines Operational Center 16th Floor W Fifth Avenue Building Fifth Avenue, Bonifacio Global City Taguig City Metro Manila, Philippines 1634 |
Conclusion
Not all options will remove the negative notation from your credit reports.
As such, it is important to review the details of your particular circumstances and select the best available option.
Whether you choose a goodwill deletion letter, to submit a validation letter, negotiate a pay-for-delete agreement, or even hire a professional, handling the collections account is essential.
This is most especially true for collections accounts regarding the IRS.
Speaking with the private collections agent to resolve any overdue taxes should be your key priority to avoid any enforcement actions by the IRS.
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About the author
Clara is the founder of Credit Rise Up, an entrepreneur, personal finance expert, and credit repair enthusiast. She’s committed to helping her readers get on the right track and take actionable steps towards improving their credit by using the experience that allowed her to join The 800 Club. Find out more.