Merchants Credit Association: Who They Are and Your Rights

Type

Collection agency

Also known as

Merchants Credit Corporation; MCA

Headquarters

Redmond, WA

Collects

medical bills, municipal accounts, financial institution accounts, property management balances, retail accounts

Phone numbers it lists

(425) 643-2613, (800) 755-1107

Website

merchantscredit.com

19 debt collection complaints were sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about Merchants Credit Corporation 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 Merchants Credit Association?

Merchants Credit Association (MCA) is the trade name of Merchants Credit Corporation, as its website's terms of use state. It is a full-service collection agency at 2245 152nd Avenue NE in Redmond, Washington, with a mailing address in Bellevue. The company says it has provided collection services "since 1937."

MCA lists memberships in the Washington Collectors Association, ACA International, the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management and the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Its Company page says it has an experienced legal department and uses data tools such as LexisNexis and Accurint to locate consumers. It is a different company from other "Merchants" agencies in our directory. We did not find a CFPB enforcement action against Merchants Credit Association.

Why Merchants Credit Association May Be Contacting You

MCA's website lists the industries it serves: health care organizations, municipalities, financial institutions, property management, and commercial or retail businesses. A letter from MCA is therefore most likely about a Washington hospital or clinic bill, a city utility or other municipal charge, a bank or credit union balance, or an amount a landlord says you owe after a move-out.

The agency says it "scrubs" newly assigned accounts for current addresses, bankruptcies and deceased status, so it may find you even after a move out of state.

How to Check a Debt Merchants Credit Association Says You Owe

• Read the validation notice for the creditor name, the itemized balance and the dispute deadline (15 U.S.C. § 1692g; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34).
• Dispute in writing within that window if the bill should have gone to insurance, was paid, or is not yours.
• Ask which client placed the account and whether it still owns the debt.
• Check rental charges closely. Ask for the move-out inspection and ledger, and compare them to your deposit refund statement.
• Watch the limitations period. In Texas, most debt suits must be filed within four years (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004), and debt buyers may not sue on time-barred consumer debt (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Washington has its own rules.

What Merchants Credit Association Can and Can't Do

MCA collects for its clients, so it is a "debt collector" under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6). Among the rules it must follow:

• If it reports to credit bureaus, it must report a disputed debt as disputed (15 U.S.C. § 1692e(8)). Under the bureaus' own policies, paid medical collections and those under $500 should not appear (see our medical debt reporting note).
• When it uses skip-tracing tools to find you, it may contact others only to get your location and may not say you owe a debt (15 U.S.C. § 1692b).
• It may not threaten legal action it does not intend to take (15 U.S.C. § 1692e(5)).
• It may not call you at work after you tell it your employer prohibits such calls (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(3)).

Learn how to dispute a debt or contact our Texas FDCPA attorneys.

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 Merchants Credit Association 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

• Merchants Credit Association: home page
• Merchants Credit Association: Company
• Merchants Credit Association: Terms of Use (legal name)
• CFPB enforcement actions list
• CFPB Consumer Complaint Database: Merchants Credit Corporation, debt collection

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