What we changed

We add an entry whenever we change a legal figure, a deadline, a dollar amount, a company's details, or the wording of a letter. Each entry is labeled:

• Correction: we had something wrong, and say what it was.
• Law change: the law changed, and we updated the page to match.
• Rechecked: we confirmed a fact against the statute or an official source, sometimes making the wording more precise.
• New: a new page, letter or tool.

We don't log typo fixes or design changes. Every page also lists its sources and the date its facts were last checked.

Email [email protected] with the page address and what you think is wrong. A link to the statute, a court decision or the company's own notice helps most. We check every report against the source, and if we change the page, the change appears here.

These entries record our review before the site launched.

• Rechecked. Expanded the debt validation letter guide with numbered citations to statutes, regulations, court opinions and CFPB guidance, a table of what to check on a collector's notice, and sections on credit bureau disputes and common myths. Debt validation letter guide
• Rechecked. Rechecked Massachusetts: the Debt Collection Fairness Act (S.2537) passed the state Senate on July 17, 2025, but the House has not acted and it is not law. The current six-year time limit, 12% judgment interest and wage protections still apply. We will check again when the new legislative session begins in January 2027. Massachusetts
• New. After paying, you can now scan the collector's letter with your phone instead of typing. The photo is read on your own device and never uploaded. You choose which details to use, each is marked for checking, and for collectors we cover, the dispute address comes from our checked records. How we make letters
• New. Published a guide to Harris & Harris, Ltd.: who it collects for, how to check its texts, the dispute address from its own dispute page (Suite 650; some websites still show an older Suite 400), and its 2024 settlement with the Washington Attorney General over hospital collection notices. Harris & Harris
• New. Published a guide to debt validation letters, with a free sample letter and an honest account of what federal appeals courts say verification requires. Debt validation letter guide
• New. Added that a Jefferson Capital account often appears on credit reports as JEFFCAPSYS. Jefferson Capital Systems
• New. Published a guide for people sued over a debt: what a summons means, answer deadlines from official court sources in California, Texas, New York and Maryland, how to file an answer, the defenses that get debt lawsuits dismissed, and what happens after a judgment. Sued for a debt guide
• New. Published a guide to wage garnishment: the federal limit with worked examples, exceptions for support and taxes, administrative garnishment for federal student loans, protected income, bank levies, how to stop or reduce a garnishment, and a sourced table of 22 states that protect more than federal law. Wage garnishment guide
• New. Published a guide to collections on credit reports: the seven-year rule, the current medical debt rules (the bureaus' voluntary changes still apply; the CFPB's 2025 rule was vacated in July 2025), how to dispute errors with a sample letter, identity theft blocks, pay for delete and goodwill letters, and how paying affects different credit scores. Collections on your credit report guide
• New. Published a guide to your rights with debt collectors: the seven-calls-in-seven-days rule, contact times and calls at work, texts, emails and social media, voicemails, contact with family, harassment, cease and desist letters with two free samples, state laws that go further, and how to report or sue a collector. Your rights and stopping contact guide
• New. Published a debt collector scam checker and a guide to debt collection scams. The checker grades the warning signs regulators describe and compares phone numbers and web addresses in a message with the official details we have sourced for each collector we cover. It runs on your device and grades warning signs rather than giving a verdict. Scam checker, Debt collector scams guide
• New. Published a guide to deciding whether to pay a collection agency: the checks to make first, what happens if you do not pay, how payments can restart time limits, negotiating with a sample settlement offer letter, postdated check rules, taxes on settled debt with a worked example, and the FTC's ban on advance fees for debt settlement companies. Should you pay a collection agency? guide
• New. Published a guide to time-barred and zombie debt: the statute of limitations in all 50 states and DC with whether a payment can restart it, when the clock starts, what collectors may and may not do, being sued on an old debt, debts discharged in bankruptcy, zombie second mortgages, and why judgments last longer. Time-barred debt guide
• New. Published guides to United Collection Bureau (who it collects for, why government debts and federal student loans follow different rules, and its official payment portals) and National Credit Systems (apartment move-out balances, the documents to ask for, NATLCRSYS on credit reports, and the CFPB's 2023 investigative demand, which is not a finding of wrongdoing). United Collection Bureau, National Credit Systems
• New. Published a guide to Enterprise Recovery Systems, which now operates as Alltran Education. Its old website address, ersinc.com, is listed for sale, so the guide explains how to check who really contacted you, the Department of Education's 2015 contract decision and 2017 reassignment, and student loan rules. We give no dispute address we could not confirm from the company itself. Enterprise Recovery Systems
• New. Published guides to Capital Management Services of Buffalo (telling it apart from other "Capital Management" names, its official contact details from its two websites, and disputing by email or mail) and American Coradius International (PayPal and other online accounts, disputing by email, and its NMLS license). Capital Management Services, American Coradius International
• New. Published guides to Paragon Revenue Group (medical bills from hospital systems: billing errors, financial assistance, medical credit reporting and its North Carolina license) and ConServe (one of the IRS's private collection agencies, with the IRS rules that expose fakes, plus student loans and tuition). Added a section on texts and wrong-number calls to the United Collection Bureau guide. Paragon Revenue Group, ConServe
• New. Published guides to Credit Collection Services (an unpaid insurance premium is a consumer debt, but an insurer's car accident claim may not be, with what to check in each) and Tate & Kirlin Associates (its current Trevose address, since older ones still circulate, sold accounts, a 2017 BBB alert, and a Spanish-language line). Credit Collection Services, Tate & Kirlin Associates
• New. Published a guide to Walden Pierce Group: what the company says it does, what BBB complaints and Scam Tracker reports describe (attributed as reports, not findings), and how to respond safely by getting a written validation notice before paying or confirming any details. Walden Pierce Group
• New. Published three medical debt guides: what happens if you do not pay medical bills (collections, credit, lawsuits, garnishment, time limits by state, financial assistance, death and bankruptcy); how to negotiate medical and hospital bills (itemized bills, errors, insurance appeals, surprise billing, financial assistance, payment plans, with a sample letter); and how medical bills affect your credit score under the 2026 rules, with a sample dispute letter. Unpaid medical bills guide, Negotiating medical bills guide, Medical bills and credit guide
• New. Improved links between pages. Collector and state guides now point, within their own text, to the guides that fit them (lawsuits, time limits, garnishment, medical bills, disputes), and guides link back to the collectors and states they discuss. The footer now lists our main guides. Collector guides, State guides, /guides/
• New. Our letter templates, follow-ups and state guides have been reviewed by a licensed US attorney, who asked not to be named. We added a clear notice to every page that the site provides general information and self-help documents, not legal advice. How we make letters
• New. Added a lower price of $19, instead of $29, for people serving in or retired from the US armed forces, people aged 65 or older, and people with disabilities. It works on trust: tick a box at checkout, with no proof needed and nothing extra stored. /terms/, /privacy/
• New. Our two credit report guides are now information only: they no longer include our letter check, and they say clearly that we do not offer credit repair. Everything in them is something you can do yourself, free. Collections on your credit report guide, Medical bills and credit guide
• New. Published two free tools: a dispute deadline calculator, which uses the same date rules as our free check, and a check of how long a debt can be collected in each state, which shows a range where sources disagree and each state's rule on restarting the clock. Added the federal seven-year credit reporting rule (15 U.S.C. 1681c) to explain how it differs from the time limit to sue. Dispute deadline calculator, How long a debt can be collected

These entries record our review before the site launched.

• Correction. Removed a claim that Montana bans wage garnishment for medical debt. A guide we relied on described HB 273 (2025) as law; the official record shows it failed in the House on February 11, 2025. The page now says so. We also removed a related claim from the same guide that we could not confirm. Montana
• Correction. Colorado's 20% wage garnishment cap dates from a 2019 law (HB 19-1189), not 2024. Added that a continuing garnishment lasts six months and that an employer cannot fire you because of it. Colorado
• Correction. Georgia: a payment alone does not revive an old debt. Under O.C.G.A. 9-3-110 a promise to pay must be in writing, and courts have held that a partial payment without a writing is not enough. Georgia
• Correction. Tennessee: removed a claim that no writing is needed to revive a debt, which we could not confirm. The page now states what the Tennessee Code annotations support: a part payment can keep a debt alive for a new six-year period. Tennessee
• Correction. Nevada: removed a specific length for wage garnishment writs, because sources conflict. Confirmed the 18% and 25% garnishment tiers against the statute, and added the 10-day deadline to claim exemptions and the six-year life of a judgment. Nevada
• Correction. New Mexico: replaced "judgments cannot be renewed" with the precise rule. A judgment lasts fourteen years, and since 2021 a judgment renewed through a new lawsuit cannot be enforced beyond fourteen years from the original. New Mexico
• Correction. Minnesota: the hospital charity care screening rule applies to uninsured patients and patients whose coverage the hospital does not know. The page now says exactly that, citing Minn. Stat. 144.587. Minnesota
• Law change. Virginia: added the Medical Debt Protection Act, in force since July 1, 2026. No lawsuits or garnishment over medical bills until 120 days after the final invoice is due, with 30 days' notice, and interest capped at 3%. Also clarified the three-year medical debt time limit and its Medicaid exclusion. Virginia
• Law change. Oregon: updated wage garnishment protection to the figure in force since July 1, 2026, the greater of 75% of disposable earnings or $400 a week. Added the bank account and vehicle exemptions from SB 1595. Oregon
• Rechecked. Kansas: confirmed against the full statute that a debt buyer cannot garnish wages, and named the narrow exceptions. Added that the illness protection must be claimed by affidavit, and that a creditor may issue only one wage garnishment per 30 days. Kansas
• Rechecked. New Hampshire: confirmed against RSA 512:21 that wages earned after garnishment papers are served are exempt, and stated precisely when earlier wages can be reached. New Hampshire
• Rechecked. Idaho: the medical debt rules now name the Idaho Patient Act and give its actual deadlines (60 days before interest, 90 days before lawsuits or garnishment) and penalties. Idaho
• Rechecked. Connecticut: confirmed against the statute that wages can be garnished only after a missed court installment order. Added that an employer cannot discipline or fire you over a wage execution unless served with more than seven in a year, and that each execution is paused for 20 days. Connecticut
• Rechecked. Florida, New York and California: confirmed the head-of-family definition, the medical debt income execution rule and the 2024 "book account" change against the statutes themselves. Florida, New York, California
• Rechecked. Iowa: reworded the medical bill time limit to state the statute directly and replaced an unreliable source. Iowa
• Rechecked. Federal rule on disputed debts: reworded to match 15 U.S.C. 1692e(8) exactly. If a collector reports a debt it knows you dispute, it must say the debt is disputed. How we make letters
• New. Published How we make letters, which explains the free check, what the letter says and why, where our facts come from, and what happens to your information. How we make letters
• New. Published guides to debt collection law in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. State guides
• New. Published guides to 20 debt collectors and debt buyers, and the first version of the dispute and validation letter with three follow-ups. Collector guides