Williams & Fudge: the college bill collector, and what to ask the school

It says it was founded in 1986 and is a family owned business headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It lists Perkins Loans, tuition, campus-based institutional loans, Health Profession and Nursing Loans, private education loans, and other charges such as parking, room, board and library fines; it also works for banks, credit unions and lenders.

So start with the school. Ask its bursar or student accounts office for a statement showing each charge, each payment, any financial aid that was applied or reversed, and the date the account was sent to collections. Withdrawing mid-term, a late aid adjustment or a housing charge you dispute are common reasons for a balance people did not expect.

With a Perkins loan the school was the lender, so ask it for the promissory note and the full payment record too.

In a 2026 case, a federal court in Missouri dismissed a claim that it was misleading for Williams & Fudge to tell a former student her college could withhold her transcript; a Department of Education rule allows that in some cases when charges are unpaid. Rules on transcript holds also vary by state, and some states limit them. If a held transcript is stopping you from working or enrolling, ask the school in writing what its policy is and whether it will release the transcript while you dispute the balance.

Williams & Fudge says it will honor all disputes and pauses collection until it provides validation. That matches the law: a written dispute inside the validation period makes a collector stop until it mails verification.

Write to the dispute address on your notice, or to 300 Chatham Ave, Rock Hill, SC 29730, by certified mail, and name the school. It says it reports to one or more credit bureaus if the client asks it to, so ask in the same letter whether the account has been reported.

Collectors generally must not discuss your debt with other people, including your parents. In Romano v. Williams & Fudge (2008), a federal court in Pennsylvania found the company broke the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when a collector told a student's father about a Duquesne University tuition debt and a voicemail did not say it was from a debt collector.

If Williams & Fudge is collecting a defaulted federal student loan, your pay can be garnished without a court order; our guide to wage garnishment limits explains administrative wage garnishment and how to request a hearing.

Not sure a message is really from Williams & Fudge? Our guide to spotting fake debt collectors lists the warning signs regulators describe.

Before agreeing to a settlement with Williams & Fudge, read how to negotiate with a debt collector and get the terms in writing.

Say Williams & Fudge mails a notice on Monday, August 30, 2027 about $3,140.00 of unpaid tuition and fees.

1. Labor Day (September 6) is skipped, so the assumed receipt date is Tuesday, September 7, 2027.
2. The validation period lasts until at least Thursday, October 7, 2027.
3. Write to the school for its account statement straight away, and send your dispute to Williams & Fudge by certified mail well before the deadline.

The time limits and garnishment rules for this example are in our South Carolina debt collection guide.