Creditors Bureau Associates: Who They Are and Your Rights

Type

Collection agency

Also known as

Merchants and Medical Adjustment Bureau, Inc.; CBA; Credit Bureau Associates of Georgia; Creditors Bureau Associates of Georgia

Headquarters

Macon, GA

Collects

medical bills, ambulance and EMS bills

Phone numbers it lists

(478) 750-1111, (888) 355-7861

Website

cbamacon.com

287 debt collection complaints were sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about Creditors Bureau Associates 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 Creditors Bureau Associates?

Creditors Bureau Associates, known as CBA, is a collection agency based in Macon, Georgia. Its Better Business Bureau profile lists a start and incorporation date of 1991, an address of 112 Ward Street, Macon, Georgia 31204, Calder Willingham as president, and a former name, Credit Bureau Associates of Georgia. Several unrelated agencies use similar "Credit Bureau Associates" names, so check the Macon address and phone numbers before assuming a letter is from this company.

CBA's state disclosures say it is licensed in Maryland through the NMLS (ID 2123956) and holds a North Carolina permit, and they list a Colorado office in Longmont. Its website gives a main line of (478) 750-1111 and a toll-free line of (888) 355-7861, and offers an online payment portal and a consumer dispute form.

Why Creditors Bureau Associates May Be Contacting You

CBA's website features testimonials from healthcare clients, including a radiology practice, a cardiovascular practice and an emergency medical services administrator, and refers to collecting from those clients' patients. So a CBA letter, call or text may well concern a medical bill: an imaging study, a cardiology visit, or an ambulance ride. The agency says it aims for payment in full but will work out payment plans when that is not possible, and that it uses "skip trace" searches to locate people.

Ambulance and emergency bills are a frequent source of surprise balances, because you may not have chosen the provider. Check whether your insurer processed the claim before you pay.

How to Check a Debt Creditors Bureau Associates Says You Owe

With medical accounts, the provider's billing records and your insurance paperwork usually resolve the question.

• Read the validation notice. It must name the provider as the creditor, itemize the balance and give a dispute deadline (15 U.S.C. § 1692g; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34).
• Dispute in writing in time. Use CBA's dispute form or a letter within the validation period, and ask for the itemized bill, the date of service and the insurer's explanation of benefits.
• Confirm the owner. Ask whether the practice or EMS provider still owns the account.
• Look for insurance and billing protections. Federal surprise-billing rules limit what you can be billed for many out-of-network emergency services, though ground ambulances are not covered by those federal rules, so state law matters there.
• Check the age. In Texas the usual time to sue on a debt is four years (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004), and debt buyers cannot sue on time-barred consumer debt (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Georgia and other states set their own periods.

What Creditors Bureau Associates Can and Can't Do

An agency collecting medical bills for providers is a "debt collector" under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6). For medical accounts in particular:

• A Texas health care provider must send an itemized bill before pursuing collection (Texas SB 490).
• Paid medical collections and medical collections under $500 should not appear on reports from the three national credit bureaus (our update).
• It may not reveal your medical debt to employers, neighbors or relatives except to locate you (15 U.S.C. §§ 1692b, 1692c(b)).
• If it texts you, each message must include a simple opt-out (12 C.F.R. § 1006.6(e)), and more than seven calls in seven days is presumed harassing (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)).

See whether you can be sued over medical bills in Texas, or our FDCPA attorneys page.

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 Creditors Bureau Associates 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

• Creditors Bureau Associates: home page
• BBB business profile: Creditors Bureau Associates (founding, address, former name)
• Creditors Bureau Associates: state disclosures (hosted on avtal.com)
• CFPB Consumer Complaint Database: Creditors Bureau Associates, debt collection

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