Congress Collection: Who They Are and Your Rights

Type

Collection agency

Also known as

Congress Collection Corp; Congress Credit Bureau; Lansing Professional Business Bureau

Headquarters

Farmington Hills, MI

Collects

medical bills, higher education accounts, financial services accounts, government receivables, commercial accounts

Phone numbers it lists

(800) 395-2989, (248) 355-7900

Website

congresscollection.com

24 debt collection complaints were sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about CONGRESS COLLECTION CORP from November 13, 2023 to November 12, 2026. A complaint is a consumer's account, not a finding that the company broke the law. Read the complaints in the CFPB database.

Who Is Congress Collection?

Congress Collection is a Michigan collection agency. Its history page says Harry L. and Esther Jacobs founded the business in 1957 as Congress Credit Bureau, working out of the Cadillac Tower Building in downtown Detroit. The company later moved to Woodward Avenue, then to Southfield, and in November 2016 to its current office at 28552 Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills. It also lists a second office, "Congress Collection West," on Snow Road in Lansing.

The website announces that Lansing Professional Business Bureau is now Congress Collection, and a notice on the home page says Congress Collection is now part of Velo Group. Consumers are told to call the toll-free line, (800) 395-2989; (248) 355-7900 is the client line. We did not find a CFPB enforcement action against Congress Collection.

Why Congress Collection May Be Contacting You

The agency lists five industries it serves: healthcare, higher education, financial services, commercial and government. A letter from Congress is therefore most likely about a doctor or hospital bill, a balance owed to a college, a loan or account with a financial company, or a fee or fine owed to a public body in Michigan.

Congress also offers creditors a "pre-collect" service. Under that program the agency sends a letter giving the customer 30 days to respond or pay before the account moves to full collection. So the first notice you get may arrive while the creditor still treats the account as a pre-collection matter. The company's own consumer page warns that a collection entry on a credit file can affect future borrowing, which tells you credit reporting is part of its process.

How to Check a Debt Congress Collection Says You Owe

Because Congress collects for very different kinds of creditors, start by pinning down exactly which one is behind the letter.

• Read the validation notice closely. Federal law requires it to name the creditor and itemize the balance since a set date (15 U.S.C. § 1692g; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34). For a tuition or government balance, look for the school or agency name and the term or citation involved.
• Dispute in writing before the validation deadline if anything looks wrong, and ask for the original bill or ledger. Our page on how to dispute a debt walks through it.
• Ask whether the creditor still owns the account or whether it was sold, and whether the account is in pre-collection or full collection.
• Compare the amount with your own records, including insurance payments on a medical bill or financial aid credits on a school account.
• Check the dates. In Texas, most debt suits must be filed within four years (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004), and debt buyers cannot sue on time-barred consumer debt (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Michigan and other states set their own limitation periods.

What Congress Collection Can and Can't Do

An agency that regularly collects consumer debts owed to others is a "debt collector" under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6), so the FDCPA governs its letters and calls on personal, family and household accounts. Some practical limits:

• It may not call you more than seven times in seven days about the same debt, or within seven days after a phone conversation about it (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)). See Regulation F call, text and email limits.
• It may not report a debt to a credit bureau before it has communicated with you about it (12 C.F.R. § 1006.30(a)).
• Paid medical collections and medical collections under $500 no longer show on reports from the three national bureaus. See medical debt credit reporting changes.
• Commercial accounts owed by a business are not covered by the FDCPA, but personal accounts collected for the same clients are.

If a Congress Collection letter or call seemed misleading, our Texas FDCPA attorneys page explains how we review these cases.

We Sue Debt Collectors That Break the FDCPA

Texas Debt Law files Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits against debt collectors in federal court for consumers in Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia and Colorado. If Congress Collection or anyone collecting for it harassed you, misstated what you owe, threatened action it could not take, or told others about your debt, you may have a claim. A court can order a collector that violated the FDCPA to pay your actual damages, up to $1,000 in additional statutory damages, and your attorney's fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)). An FDCPA claim generally must be filed within one year of the violation (§ 1692k(d)), so keep your letters, call logs, voicemails and screenshots, and talk to us early. Texas residents may also have claims under the Texas Debt Collection Act. Learn more from our FDCPA attorneys.

Free FDCPA Case Review(214) 851-2250

Or start your free case evaluation online. No lawyer can promise a result; every claim depends on its facts and proof.

Sources

• Congress Collection: home page
• Congress Collection: About us
• Congress Collection: About your debt
• Congress Collection: What we do
• CFPB enforcement actions list (checked pages 1-17)
• CFPB Consumer Complaint Database: CONGRESS COLLECTION CORP, debt collection

This profile is general information compiled from public sources, not legal advice, and it does not state or imply that Congress Collection has violated any law. Company details change; tell us if something here is out of date.