Are you getting calls from 877-329-9029? Is DriveTime showing up in your caller ID?
If so, there’s a good chance the company is looking for you in relation to a debt owed on a car loan originated through its dealership network — or that you are a personal reference who was included on someone else’s loan application. Either way, you’ve got more rights under federal law than you might think. Here’s what you can request, dispute, and demand from a collector.
Who Is Calling Me From 877-329-9029?
DriveTime Automotive Group is a buy-here-pay-here used car dealership chain that operates over 140 dealerships across the country. Here’s what you need to know about the company that’s calling you:
Company type: First-party creditor (the company sold the car and issued the loan)
Industry: Subprime auto loans and used car sales
Headquarters: Tempe, Arizona (with a secondary office in Dallas, Texas)
Company size: Privately-held with approximately 149 dealerships in 30 states and an estimated 3,800 to 5,000 employees
Collections arm: Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation (previously known as DT Acceptance Corporation), which services over 220,000 customer accounts
Owner: Founded by Ernest Garcia II, who also owns a significant stake in Carvana
Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating: A+ accredited since 2012, despite receiving an estimated 788 complaints in the past three years
An Example of the Company’s History With this Number
If the calls from 877-329-9029 seem like they’re coming too frequently, you’re right. In November 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined DriveTime $8 million for harassing borrowers, references, and wrong numbers with its collection calls. The action was the first the bureau had ever taken against a buy-here-pay-here auto lender.
According to the CFPB, DriveTime was making tens of thousands of collection calls every weekday (using 290 in-house collectors and 80 contractors employed by an offshore firm). This behavior is something the law recognizes as abusive, and it’s something for which this particular company has already been penalized.
Why Is DriveTime Calling Me?
You Borrowed Money From DriveTime
The most likely reason you’re fielding calls from 877-329-9029 is that you owe a past-due loan. As a subprime lender, DriveTime issues loans to borrowers with FICO scores that typically fall between 461 and 554. According to the CFPB, an estimated 45 percent of outstanding DriveTime contracts are delinquent. As a result, the company has to make a high volume of collection calls to try and get its money.
If you borrowed money from DriveTime or its Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation and missed a payment, this is probably how you started getting calls from 877-329-9029. According to data from RoboKiller, there were an estimated 675,560 calls from this number tracked.
You’re a Reference for Someone Who Borrowed From DriveTime
Another common reason consumers report calls from 877-329-9029 is that someone they know bought a car through DriveTime and listed them as a personal reference. DriveTime requires at least four references on every financing application it accepts. If you were one of them, you may be getting calls intended to coerce someone else into making a payment.
One reviewer on 800notes reported the following experience:
“My son used my phone number as a reference when he bought a car from them and they call me every day harassing me when he does not even live with me.”
Keep in mind that being a reference does not obligate you to pay someone else’s debt, and you have the right to request that collectors stop contacting you.
What Are Other Consumers Saying About 877-329-9029?
Calls From This Number Never Seem to Stop
Consumer complaints about 877-329-9029 span more than 14 years across at least eight major complaint databases. Nomorobo first flagged the number as a robocaller on December 6, 2014, and it remains active through early 2026. The number has been linked to over 11 years of documented robocall complaints.
The most common theme in the reports is that the calls are excessive. One reviewer on EveryCaller, Leola, reported the following:
“They will call on the hour every hour and late into the night as well. It doesn’t matter how many times you ask them to leave you alone. They will still continue to harass you.”
Other consumers report getting multiple calls per day, including weekends and early morning hours.
Wrong Numbers and Requests to Stop Calling
Consumers who have no association with DriveTime at all make up a significant percentage of complaints about 877-329-9029. One reviewer on 800notes wrote the following:
“I don’t even own a car. Why would they be calling me?”
According to the CFPB, DriveTime used third-party skip-tracing databases to aid in its collection efforts. However, the information in those databases was frequently inaccurate, and collectors would continue calling the wrong numbers for over a year.
Consumers also report getting calls from 877-329-9029 even when their accounts are up to date. One reviewer on ShouldIAnswer, Nicole, reported the following experience:
“My first payment isn’t due until 3/16, and my account is already set up on auto pay. They called me and left a message saying they want to make sure I am going to make my first payment on time.”
Taken together, these behaviors suggest a collection system that’s designed to create a false sense of urgency.
What Are My Rights When I Get Calls From 877-329-9029?
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
The FDCPA sets limits on when and how debt collectors can contact consumers. For example, they can’t call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in your time zone unless you give them permission to do so. They can’t call you at work if you tell them your employer prohibits personal calls. And they can’t contact you at all if you make a written request for them to stop.
These rules aren’t suggestions; they’re enforceable rights that may entitle you to statutory damages if they’re violated.
DriveTime is a first-party creditor, so some provisions of the FDCPA apply differently. However, the CFPB has already indicated it believes the company is subject to federal consumer finance protections.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
The FCRA gives consumers the right to dispute credit reporting errors. When you initiate a dispute, the credit reporting agency (CRA) has 30 days to investigate and verify the information in question. If the CRA can’t verify the item, it has to delete it.
This process can be a powerful tool for consumers because the burden of proof is on the party reporting information to your credit reports — not the consumer.
How Do I Dispute DriveTime on My Credit Report?
Start With Your Credit Reports
You can request free copies of your credit reports from each of the three major credit reporting agencies one time every 12 months through the website AnnualCreditReport.com. If you haven’t already ordered your reports this year, request them now and review them carefully to see if there are any trade lines associated with DriveTime, DT Acceptance, or Bridgecrest.
Check the “date reported,” “balance,” and “status” fields in particular for any errors or inaccuracies.
In particular, look for notations indicating the account was charged off. If DriveTime charged off your account, it means the company already wrote the loss off its books. That means it’s possible the debt was sold to a third-party debt collector, and the original creditor is out of the picture. When a debt buyer purchases a debt for pennies on the dollar and applies pressure to collect it, that pressure is about the buyer’s profit margin — not your original debt.
File a Dispute — and Be Specific
If you’re disputing a trade line associated with DriveTime or Bridgecrest, make sure you customize your dispute. For example, you may want to dispute:
An incorrect balance
Misreported dates
The wrong status
Information that doesn’t match your records
Specific disputes require the CRA to conduct a meaningful investigation. If the company handling the account is managing tens of thousands of accounts, it may have a hard time responding within the allotted 30-day window.
If your dispute is successful and results in a deletion, that’s not the end of the process. Instead, it should be the beginning. If one trade line on your credit report contains errors, it’s possible others do as well. Apply the same level of scrutiny to every trade line and initiate additional disputes as needed.
Why the Calls From 877-329-9029 Feel So Urgent
Collection calls are designed to create a false sense of urgency to prompt consumers into making a payment as quickly as possible. That’s why you may be getting dozens of calls and messages that demand a callback as soon as possible and imply something terrible will happen if you don’t respond right away.
The reality, however, is there’s rarely an actual need for immediate action — no matter how urgent the situation is made to seem. Your rights don’t have a statute of limitations just because you didn’t answer your phone. Taking the time to carefully review your credit reports and explore your dispute options is always a better strategy than reacting to pressure tactics.
Why You Should Avoid Talking on the Phone
When you talk on the phone to a debt collector, you’re engaging in a scripted conversation that’s designed to get you to promise to make a payment. Anything you say in the process can be used to reset the statute of limitations on a debt or acknowledge you owe it when you might not.
When you communicate in writing, you create a paper trail. When you communicate on the phone, you may create a he-said-she-said. If you need to assert your rights, do it via certified mail with return receipt requested.
What to Do When You Get Calls From 877-329-9029
The calls from 877-329-9029 aren’t going to stop on their own. DriveTime has been using this number for over a decade, and consumers consistently report the calls continue even after verbal requests to stop. In other words, your best bet isn’t going to be ignoring your phone. Instead, it’s going to be your credit report.
Disputing trade lines you believe contain inaccuracies or can’t be verified forces the creditor to respond. If the company can’t verify, the item has to be removed. That process is free, and it’s a process governed by your federal rights.
Let Us Help You Fight Back
At FightCollections.com, we help consumers battle predatory debt collectors by disputing inaccurate information that’s being reported on their credit reports. If DriveTime or BridgeCrest is reporting information you believe is inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable, we can help you navigate the dispute process and understand the rights you’re guaranteed under federal law.
You don’t have to screen your calls. Instead, you can take concrete steps to address the problem and assert your rights. And you don’t have to do any of it alone.
