Credit Collection Services (CCS): Who They Are and Your Rights

Type

Collection agency

Also known as

CCS Financial Services, Inc.; The CCS Companies; Credit Control Services, Inc.; CCS

Headquarters

Norwood, MA

Collects

insurance balances, healthcare bills, cable and telecom accounts, energy and utility bills, retail accounts, government accounts, banking accounts

Phone numbers it lists

(617) 965-2000

Website

ccsusa.com

17,334 debt collection complaints were sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about CCS Financial Services, Inc. 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 Credit Collection Services?

Credit Collection Services (CCS) is the collection business of The CCS Companies, a group headquartered at 725 Canton Street in Norwood, Massachusetts. The group's website describes CCS as a firm that services consumer payment obligations and lists several sister companies, including CCS Commercial, LLC, Customer Contact Solutions, LLC and ClaimAssist, LLC. The company says it has served consumers for more than 60 years; its Better Business Bureau profile gives a start date of 1966 and an incorporation date of 1969.

The legal name used on licenses can differ from the name on a letter. New York City's licensing data, for example, lists the Norwood debt collection license under Credit Control Services, Inc., doing business as Credit Collection Services. The CFPB's complaint database lists the company as CCS Financial Services, Inc. Seeing any of these names usually points back to the same Norwood operation, but check the address and phone number on your letter against the company's own site, (617) 965-2000.

Why Credit Collection Services May Be Contacting You

CCS works for the businesses that are owed money; it is not usually the owner of the debt. Its website lists the industries it serves as banking and insurance, healthcare, cable and telecom, energy and utilities, retail and government. In practice, a CCS notice often concerns something like an auto or homeowners insurance premium left unpaid when a policy was cancelled, a final cable or phone bill after a move, a utility balance, or a medical bill.

Because the creditor stays the same, the name that matters most on a CCS letter is the client it names. If you never had an account with that business, or you believe the policy or service was cancelled and fully paid, say so in writing.

How to Check a Debt Credit Collection Services Says You Owe

Insurance and service-contract balances are often small and easy to get wrong, so take a few minutes to test the numbers.

• Read the validation notice. Within five days of first contacting you, CCS must send a notice naming the creditor, the amount and how the balance was itemized (15 U.S.C. § 1692g; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34).
• Dispute in writing within the validation period. A timely written dispute requires CCS to pause collection until it mails you verification. For an insurance premium, ask for the policy number, the cancellation date and the earned-premium calculation.
• Confirm who owns the account. Ask whether the original company still owns it or whether it was sold. You have a right to the name of the current creditor.
• Match it to your records. Look for refunds, cancellation credits or a final payment that never posted.
• Check the age. Texas generally gives a creditor four years to sue on a debt (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004). If the account was sold to a debt buyer, Texas bars the buyer from suing once that period has run (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Other states use different limitation periods.

What Credit Collection Services Can and Can't Do

An agency that regularly collects debts owed to others is a "debt collector" under the FDCPA (15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6)), so the Act's rules apply to CCS on consumer accounts. Some practical limits:

• It is presumed to break the call-frequency rule if it calls about one debt more than seven times within seven days, or within seven days after a phone conversation about it (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)). You can learn more in our update on Regulation F call, text and email limits.
• It may not call you at work if it knows or has reason to know your employer prohibits those calls.
• It may not collect amounts, such as added fees, that your policy, contract or the law does not allow (15 U.S.C. § 1692f(1)).
• It may not say or imply that unpaid insurance or utility charges will lead to arrest, or threaten a lawsuit it does not intend to file. In Texas, wages cannot be garnished for ordinary consumer debts even after a judgment.

If a CCS call or letter crossed one of these lines, our FDCPA attorneys page explains how we review collector conduct. For general questions, see how to dispute a debt with a collector.

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 Credit Collection Services (CCS) 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

• The CCS Companies: home page
• The CCS Companies: Credit Collection Services
• BBB business profile: The CCS Companies (founding, incorporation and alternate names)
• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection license data (Credit Control Services, Inc. d/b/a Credit Collection Services)
• CFPB Consumer Complaint Database: CCS Financial Services, Inc., debt collection

This profile is general information compiled from public sources, not legal advice, and it does not state or imply that Credit Collection Services (CCS) has violated any law. Company details change; tell us if something here is out of date. Lea este perfil en español.