If you’re being called by 800-900-1382, you’ve likely already taken to the internet to search for “Penn Credit phone number” or “Penn Credit Corporation calling me.”
The number is registered to a company called Penn Credit Corporation, which is a third-party debt collection agency. They didn’t send you the initial bill, and they aren’t the ones who actually own the debt now, either.
That’s an important distinction to make, because every time information changes hands, the odds of an error go up. Credit bureaus would rather be fast than right, and that’s why phantom debts like this pop up on people’s credit reports more often than you might think.
Penn Credit Corporation
Contact Information
Business Name: Penn Credit Corporation
Type of Company: Third-party debt collection agency
Types of Debt: Government (taxes, court fees, parking tickets, toll violations), medical, education, utilities, telecommunications
Address: 2800 Commerce Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17110
Size: Privately-held; 105-200 employees
Founded: 1955 (as Central Credit Control)
Better Business Bureau (BBB) Rating: A+ (accredited), 1.5/5 stars from customer reviews
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Complaints: 628 complaints filed in the last three years
Notable Clients: Cook County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office (IL), Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, the state of South Carolina
Their History of Complaints Predates Your 800-900-1382 Call
It’s not just you; something fishy is going on with these calls. Penn Credit had to pay $4.675 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed they were leaving pre-recorded voicemails on consumers’ cell phones without their consent, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). RoboKiller reports nearly 44,000 calls from this number alone, and considers it a blacklisted caller.
Why is Penn Credit Corporation Calling Me?
The Types of Debt They Collect
Penn Credit is primarily a government debt collector, so their clients include things like toll authorities, municipal courts, hospitals, universities, and public utilities. They might be calling about an unpaid toll, a parking ticket, an emergency room visit, or a utility bill that you didn’t realize had gone to collections.
Because many of these debts come from government agencies, you may not have an established relationship with Penn Credit’s client. You could have missed a single toll payment and had it sent to collections with administrative fees added, but the amount they’re reporting may not match what you actually owe.
Why You May Not Owe the Debt
Arguably the most common complaint about Penn Credit is that they’re trying to collect from the wrong person altogether. On the 800notes website, one consumer reported: “They continue to call at all hours of the day and night looking for a Brittney Edgar…despite being advised NUMEROUS times that they have an incorrect number.”
On ComplaintsBoard, a consumer says a division manager from Penn Credit told them the company uses an auto-dialer to call anyone with a matching name, “even if the address doesn’t match.”
If Penn Credit has reported this debt to the credit bureaus in your name, it’s already harming your credit score even if you don’t actually owe the money.
What Other Consumers Say About Calls from 800-900-1382
Frequent Calling & Refusal to Cease
The frequency of calls from this number is not normal behavior. An EveryCaller reviewer reports getting “calls multiple times per day 7 days a week. They never leave a message.” A WalletHub reviewer claims to have gotten “20-30 calls a day” after informing Penn Credit of their hardship.
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), calling so frequently that it may reasonably be expected to harass is a violation of federal law.
Asking for Your Information Before Disclosure
Another theme involves representatives from Penn Credit asking the consumer for information before identifying the company or purpose of the call. On CallerCenter, a consumer describes a conversation where the caller demanded to know their phone number, and when the consumer asked who was calling, “he wouldn’t tell me until I gave him MY information.”
Legitimate debt collectors are required by federal law to disclose their identity and inform consumers that they are attempting to collect a debt. Providing information to an unidentified caller only gives them more information to work with.
Here’s How to Make Calls from 800-900-1382 Stop
Don’t Engage with Penn Credit Directly
The first rule is simple: don’t call them back. Don’t confirm or deny that you owe the debt, and don’t give them any information. Everything you say can be used to bolster the claim against you on your credit report.
Penn Credit wants you to react emotionally, pay something now, or negotiate. Your power comes from not responding, and forcing them to demonstrate their claim the right way.
Check Your Credit Report
Go to AnnualCreditReport.com and pull reports from each of the three credit bureaus. Look to see if you find any account from Penn Credit Corporation, Penn Credit PCC Trust, or Penn Credit Corp. Make note of the balance, the date of first delinquency, and whether it’s listed as an open or closed account.
File a Credit Dispute
If Penn Credit has placed an account on your credit report, the best thing to do is dispute it with the credit bureaus directly.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), they have to investigate, and Penn Credit has to verify the accuracy of every item they’re reporting. There are a lot of nuances to using the FCRA and FDCPA the right way, which is also why there are professional credit dispute services.
The best possible outcome is to have the collection account completely removed from your credit report. This happens more often than you might think, and it occurs when the collector can’t verify the debt within the allotted time. Once the item is deleted, the collector typically doesn’t have any mechanism—or motive—to put it back.
Why Time is on Your Side
The 7-Year Reporting Clock
Most negative information has a shelf life of seven years from the date of first delinquency. With each passing year, the item has less and less of an impact on your credit score. If the debt is already a few years old, the math is increasingly in favor of disputing rather than paying.
Paying a collection account doesn’t make it disappear from your credit report. In fact, in many cases making a payment resets the “date of last activity,” which can make an old negative item look current again. That’s why removal is the goal, not payment.
Most Debts Collected by Penn Credit Will Never End in a Lawsuit
Penn Credit collects mostly government debts, like tolls, medical bills, and utility bills. These are relatively small balances, and in most cases, the cost for the collector to file a lawsuit would exceed what they can recover.
When a single phone number has generated nearly 44,000 tracked calls and there’s a documented history of contacting the wrong person, they’re playing a numbers game. They aren’t preparing to file individual lawsuits.
Penn Credit’s History
The $4.675 Million Voicemail Settlement
We mentioned earlier that Penn Credit had to pay nearly $5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit about their calling practices. In the case of Guidry v. Penn Credit Corp., the company paid $4.675 million to settle allegations that between April 2015 and May 2021, they left pre-recorded voicemails on consumers’ cell phones without their consent.
The settlement included a 10-year injunction against leaving pre-recorded messages without consent. If they need a federal court order to stop certain calling practices, that should tell you all you need to know about the way they operate.
Consumers Say the Same Thing
Whether you go to the BBB, the CFPB, or any of the phone lookup sites, you’ll find the same basic story retold in the complaints. A woman posting a review to the BBB site says she was “constantly harassed by Penn Credit for medical bills which did not belong to me…I informed them of the error and they told me it was my responsibility to prove.”
Another BBB reviewer posting in 2025 says Penn Credit “pulled a credit report on me for a debt I didn’t incur and then demanded that I pay the debt in full after they already adversely affected my credit score.”
These experiences describe a system that presumes consumers are guilty unless proven otherwise. Using the credit bureaus puts the burden of proof back where it belongs: on them.
Conclusion
What to Do Next
Receiving unwanted calls from 800-900-1382 doesn’t mean you’re out of options. Penn Credit Corporation has decided you’re associated with a particular debt, and they’re going to keep calling until something makes them stop. That something is a formal dispute that makes them prove their claims the right way.
Don’t call them back. Don’t negotiate. Don’t pay a debt you haven’t verified by pulling and reviewing your own credit reports. The FCRA and FDCPA can result in complete removal of the collection account from your credit report if you know how to use them properly. Removal is permanent, and once the account is deleted, Penn Credit doesn’t have any practical recourse to put it back.
Get Professional Help with Your Dispute
The specialists at FightCollections.com know how to help consumers push back on collection agencies like Penn Credit Corporation. We understand the procedural ins-and-outs of the FCRA and FDCPA that turn these laws from shields into swords. If Penn Credit has put an account on your credit report, we can help you get it completely removed.
Contact us today for a free consultation. You don’t have to let calls from 800-900-1382 dictate your life or your credit.
