Are you seeing Dynamic Collectors on your credit report? If so, you might be tempted to call them and pay whatever they claim you owe them.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what they’re hoping you’ll do. Instead, take a step back and make sure you understand who’s calling and why it’s a bad idea to pay them right away. Most people assume that if there’s a collections account on their report, it must be legitimate, and the best way to get rid of it is to pay the collector.
Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily the case. According to the same study done by the U.S. PIRGs, 79% of credit reports contain errors or disputed information. And, as you might have guessed, collections accounts are some of the most common mistakes you’ll find on a report.
So, in this article, we’re going to cover what you need to know about Dynamic Collectors, what their records show, and most importantly, why it’s better to dispute their claim first rather than paying it right away.
Who is Dynamic Collectors?
Dynamic Collectors, Inc. is a debt collection agency that’s based in Chehalis, Washington. The company was founded in or around 1989, but it was formally incorporated on December 31, 1998. Despite the fact that the company only employs between 11-50 people and only has one office location, they’re still managing to sue consumers all over the Pacific Northwest. Here’s what else we know about the company:
Full Name: Dynamic Collectors, Inc. Address: 790 S Market Blvd, Chehalis, WA 98532 Phone: (360) 748-0420 / Toll-Free: 1-800-464-3457 Compliance Email: compliance@dynamiccollectors.com Website: dynamiccollectors.com President: Kevin Klumper Licensed States: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, Utah Years in Business: Approximately 36 years (founded in or around 1989)
They primarily collect on the following types of debts:
- Medical & dental bills
- Government and court fines
- Banking debts
- Utility bills
- Property management debts
Some of their clients include:
- Providence Centralia Hospital
- Kitsap County District Court
- Cowlitz County District Court
- Timberland Bank
What their record shows about the company
As we mentioned earlier, it’s important to research any company that’s contacting you for payment, especially if they’re claiming you owe them money. And, when we dug into the records for this company, we found some pretty interesting information.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) shows that the company has an A+ rating. While this might sound good at first, it’s not entirely accurate. When you look at their Google reviews, for example, you’ll see that they have an average rating of 1.6 out of 5 stars, based on 70 reviews. On their Yelp page, the same pattern holds true, with an average rating of 1 star out of 5, based on 31 reviews. And, when we look at their BBB page again, we see that all 3 of their customer reviews are 1-star reviews.
So, why the discrepancy?
The reason is that the BBB bases their ratings on how well the company responds to complaints, not how well they resolve them. In fact, over the last 3 years, the company has had 18 complaints filed against them through the BBB, and only 3 of them were closed with a resolution to the customer’s satisfaction. The other 15 were simply closed as “answered.”
A 2019 investigation by the Seattle Times also uncovered that the attorney that Dynamic Collectors works with, Joseph O. Enbody, filed 6,600 lawsuits in a single year. This made him one of the top 4 most frequent filers of collection lawsuits in Washington state.
Finally, in 2019, the Idaho Department of Finance filed a Verified Complaint for Revocation of the company’s Idaho collection agency license. This is a formal complaint filed when a collection agency is believed to have violated Idaho state law in such a way that it warrants the revocation of their license to operate in the state.
Myth-busting: Paying the debt collector is the best way to resolve this issue right away
Reality check: Paying them will change the status of the account, but it won’t fix the problem
The most common myth people believe about collections accounts is that paying them will remove them from your report and fix the damage. Unfortunately, this just isn’t true. Paying a collections account will simply change the status of the account on your report from “unpaid collection” to “paid collection.”
But, here’s the thing: The account will still remain on your report for up to 7 years from the original delinquency date. The presence of a paid collection on your report still indicates to future lenders that you defaulted on a debt at some point. And, while some credit scoring models will treat a paid collection a little more favorably than an unpaid one, other scoring models will view the two exactly the same.
Actually, the act of making a payment can even serve as an update to the “date of last activity” on the account, which can make an old debt appear more recent to anyone reviewing your report. This is especially concerning with a company like Dynamic Collectors because of reported experiences where small debts were inflated to thousands of dollars.
According to reviews, a $120 hospital bill became a $598 debt, a $5,000 balance grew to over $17,000, and accounts were increased by hundreds of dollars in interest and fees. Paying a debt that you do not owe, or a balance that has been inflated, is definitely not a solution.
The Original Creditor Has Already Been Paid
Making a payment to a third-party collection agency can be especially frustrating when you consider that the original creditor has likely already been paid. When a collection account is placed with or sold to a debt collector, the original creditor has probably already written off the account as a loss.
If the account was a utility bill, the utility company has already received payment for the energy you used. If the account was a hospital bill, the hospital has already been paid for the care that you received. If the account was a credit card balance, the credit card company has already charged off the account as a loss.
This is an important distinction because many consumers feel obligated to pay a collection agency because they think that the money is going to the original creditor.
That’s not the case, though.
Instead, the collection agency is either a company that purchased the debt from the original creditor for pennies on the dollar or a company that the original creditor hired to collect on the debt. Either way, there is no moral obligation for you to pay a debt collector.
Myth: You Have No Recourse Once a Debt Collector Contacts You
You have the right to request validation of the debt
You do have rights as a consumer that allow you to protect yourself and fight back against debt collectors who are engaging in unfair and deceptive practices.
First, you have the right to request validation of the debt that the collection agency is trying to collect from you. You can do this by sending a validation letter to the debt collector. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act says that a collection agency must validate a debt upon your request before you have to pay.
So, you can request that the debt collector provide you with validation that the debt is yours and that it is accurate. In the validation letter, you can request information like the amount that you owe, the name of the original creditor, the date of your last payment, and proof that the collection agency has the right to collect the debt. If the collection agency is unable to provide this information, then they are not allowed to collect the debt.
This right exists because the debt collection industry is rife with errors and discrepancies. When debts are sold, collection agencies do not always receive accurate information about the original account. In fact, some debts are sold without any information at all. The debt buyer or collection agency may have to file a lawsuit in order to try to get information about the debt, such as your name and address.
And, sometimes, they do not even have the right information about the debt. They may have the wrong amount or the wrong date of last payment.
So, the FDCPA gives you the right to request validation of the debt in order to ensure that the debt collector is not trying to collect an invalid debt from you. Plus, requesting debt validation can be an especially helpful tool in dealing with collection agencies that have a history of disputes about the accuracy of the information that they are reporting. For example, the debt collection agency Dynamic Collectors has been sued in federal court multiple times for the way it communicates with consumers.
In the lawsuit, Boone v. Dynamic Collectors (Case No. 3:18-cv-05916, W.D. Wash.), the plaintiff said that she received a collection letter from Dynamic that said that she owed no interest or fees but that the annual interest rate on her debt was 12%. Because of these contradictory statements, the plaintiff said that she could not figure out how much she actually owed. The court refused to dismiss the lawsuit, finding that the contradiction could have confused an unsophisticated consumer.
This is exactly the type of situation where a dispute could help you. You can file a dispute to request that the credit reporting agency and the debt collector verify the information about your debt and ensure that it is accurate.
Ignoring the Collection Agency May Be the Best Approach
You may think that you have to talk to a debt collector on the phone or respond to every letter that the agency sends. However, you do not have to communicate with a debt collector at all. Ignoring the debt collector may actually be the best approach in many situations. Debt collectors make their money by collecting debts from consumers. So, they want to do whatever they can to get you to pay.
One of the ways that they try to get you to pay is by calling you on the phone and talking to you. When you talk to a debt collector on the phone, you may inadvertently give them information that they can use against you.
For example, you may give them your address or the name of your employer. You may confirm your Social Security number or birthdate. You may even acknowledge that you owe the debt or agree to make a payment. All of this information can help the debt collector collect the debt from you.
So, ignoring the debt collector and refusing to talk to them on the phone may be the best way to protect yourself. Plus, when you file a dispute, you do not have to explain yourself to the debt collector. You can simply mail a dispute letter to the agency and wait for a response. You do not have to make a phone call or engage in a conversation at all.
Myth: If You Don’t Pay, They’ll Sue You
The Math Behind Filing a Collection Lawsuit Is Not in Their Favor
If the threat of a lawsuit is a debt collector’s most potent psychological weapon, it’s one that Dynamic Collectors has been accused of wielding liberally. According to one review on the Better Business Bureau site, a Dynamic representative told the author that if she didn’t pay a past-due medical bill of $120 immediately, “they would take my home and everything I owned, down to my children’s clothes, and put us out in the street.”
The trouble is that lawsuits cost money. And in most cases, it doesn’t make sense for a collection agency to file a lawsuit for a debt. For starters, you have to pay a court filing fee.
Then there are attorney fees. The process server costs money, too. And if you have to actually show up to court, there’s the matter of travel time. When the underlying debt is $100, $500 or $1,000, it’s just not worth it for the collector. (Some consumer attorneys argue that even when the balance is higher, it still doesn’t make sense.)
It’s true that Dynamic appears to be a litigation-heavy shop, but that actually plays to your advantage if you understand how these lawsuits typically work. When you have tens of thousands of lawsuits like Dynamic Collectors, you’re counting on most consumers not responding.
If a consumer responds, says they don’t owe the debt and demands that the collector verify it, the cost of the lawsuit just went up. The collection agency is looking for low-hanging fruit. If you respond, you’re not low-hanging fruit.
Myth: Threats and Harassment Are Legal Collection Strategies
The Truth Behind Threats & Harassment
What debt collectors can and can’t do is governed by federal law. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act says that a collector can’t threaten you with arrest or jail. They can’t say they’re government representatives. They can’t call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. They can’t use profanity. They can’t contact you at work (with a few exceptions). They can’t discuss your debt with your employer (except to verify your contact information). And if you write them and ask them to stop contacting you, they have to stop.
That doesn’t mean consumers don’t hear from debt collectors every day, all day long. For instance, here’s what one reviewer wrote on the BBB site: “They call me at work, at home, at dinner, during breakfast, even on weekends. I have asked them repeatedly to stop calling me and magically no one is able to see any record of me saying this.”
Another consumer, a veteran, says that when he tried to get Dynamic to communicate with the VA over his debt, they refused to make calls on a recorded line, even though they were calling him on a recorded line. Actions like this may violate your rights under the FDCPA. If you can document them, it may help you make your case to a judge or help you negotiate with the debt collector.
Myth: You Should Never Dispute a Collection Account Because It Will Never Actually Get Removed
Why the Math is on Your Side If You Dispute a Debt
You can dispute a debt with the credit reporting agencies. When you do that, the credit reporting agency will contact the collection agency to verify your debt. They have 30 days to respond. If they don’t or can’t, the account must be removed from your credit report.
Why might a collection agency fail to verify? Maybe they don’t have the documentation. Maybe they misplace it. Maybe the debt isn’t yours or the amount is wrong.
If you think that debt collection agencies wouldn’t have trouble verifying debts, think again. In a typical debt collection arrangement, an original creditor sells many debts to a debt collection agency for pennies on the dollar. In exchange, the original creditor provides some records, which may or may not be comprehensive or accurate.
If the consumer disputes the debt, the debt collection agency must go back to the original creditor for information, which can be cumbersome. Many debts are for small dollar amounts, so it doesn’t make economic sense for the creditor to spend a lot of time or money verifying the information.
That’s especially true for agencies that collect many debts at once, or that collect many different types of debt.
For example, Dynamic Collectors appears to collect debts ranging from medical bills to court fines, utility bills and bank fees, across at least six different states. Given the diversity and dispersal of the debts it’s collecting, the potential for confusion, miscommunication and incomplete documentation is significant.
In the Echlin v. Dynamic Collectors case (Case No. 3:2014cv05718, W.D. Wash.), for example, the judge noted that Dynamic Collectors was asking the court to rely on declarations from employees of the original creditor, rather than providing records. “Plaintiffs offer no explanation why they submitted declarations from employees of the original creditor rather than business records themselves,” the judge wrote. The judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment.
In that case, the court found that there were factual issues as to whether the debts were even “in default” when Dynamic sent its collection letters. The CFPB referenced this case in its October 2024 advisory opinion on medical debt collection, pointing out that, “If a debt collector’s internal records say a debt is in default, but in fact, it is not, the debt collector still violates the FDCPA if it sends a collection letter claiming the debt is in default.”
If a federal court and a federal agency have doubts about this company’s claims, you should too.
Professional Disputes Versus Going It Alone
You have the legal right to file a dispute on your own, but that is not always your best option. Collection agencies deal with consumer disputes every day, and they have boilerplate responses that meet the minimum standards of a credit bureau investigation. If you send a boilerplate dispute letter, you will probably get a boilerplate response and the account will remain.
Credit repair professionals know the specific language, the specific documentation, and the specific escalation procedures that change a routine consumer dispute into a serious compliance problem for the debt collector. We know what details to challenge, how to spot reporting errors, and when to involve regulatory authorities.
We also serve as an intermediary between you and the debt collector, taking you out of the direct line of fire of agencies like Dynamic that try to use pressure tactics to force consumers into making decisions. The information imbalance between a collection agency and an individual consumer is huge. They have lawyers, compliance officers, and decades of experience with the dispute process.
Working with a professional evens the playing field in ways that a template letter found on the Internet cannot.
Conclusion
The Myths Protect the Collector, Not You
Each of the myths we covered in this article plays the same role: it keeps consumers from taking action, from pushing back, and from making informed decisions.
The myth that paying the debt will fix your credit keeps consumers from disputing the listing. The myth that you don’t have any power keeps consumers from requesting verification. The myth that you will get sued keeps consumers from standing up for themselves. And the myth that disputing doesn’t work keeps consumers from using the single most effective technique for having a questionable collection account removed.
Dynamic Collectors operates in the gap between what consumers think they know and what the Fair Credit Reporting Act actually says. Their lawyer filed 6,600 lawsuits in a single year. The Idaho Department of Finance tried to revoke their license. A federal court allowed not one but two class action lawsuits against them to move forward. And, across every review platform out there, this agency has an average rating of between 1.0 and 1.6 stars.
The record is pretty clear about the way this agency operates. If you have a Dynamic Collectors listing on your credit report, that account may not be accurate, may not be verifiable, and may not be properly reported. Any collection account that is incorrect, or outdated, or fake, or cannot be verified within a reasonable amount of time can be disputed and potentially removed.
The issue is not whether you owe money to someone. The issue is whether this specific account, reported by this specific agency, meets the accuracy and verification standards of the FCRA.
Take the First Step Toward Removal
At FightCollections.com, we specialize in challenging collection accounts that fail to meet the legal standards for credit reporting accuracy. We know the dispute process, we know what documentation is required, and we know the specific weaknesses that debt collectors like Dynamic carry when it comes to their reporting practices.
Do not allow a collection account from a debt collector with a 1.6-star consumer rating and a history of regulatory actions to determine your financial future.
Contact FightCollections.com today for a free consultation to find out whether the Dynamic Collectors listing on your credit report can be disputed and removed.
