Account Resolution Corporation: What to Do If They Contact You

If Account Resolution Corporation (ARC) has shown up on your credit report or is calling you, you’re dealing with a small, family-owned collection agency based in Missouri. Despite the similar name, ARC is completely separate from the Florida-based ARS Account Resolution Services, which is frequently confused with it.

The debt is almost certainly medical, since ARC specializes in healthcare receivables and insurance follow-up. That also means specific medical debt credit reporting rules apply, some of which may work in your favor.

This guide walks through who ARC is, why they’re contacting you, and how to respond.

Who Is Account Resolution Corporation?

Account Resolution Corporation, commonly known as ARC, is a debt collection agency based in Chesterfield, Missouri at 700 Goddard Avenue. Founded in April 2003 by James P. Hill, Jr., ARC is a family-owned S corporation that operates primarily as a call center-based collector. The company is relatively small, with annual revenue under $5 million, and focuses on healthcare debt and insurance follow-up work.

ARC expanded its capabilities in August 2022 when it acquired Employmentskiptracing.com, a database service that helps collection agencies locate debtors through employer information. That skip tracing capability means ARC can be more persistent than smaller agencies at reaching you even after you’ve moved or changed jobs.

Don’t Confuse ARC With Similarly-Named Agencies

ARC is frequently confused with other similarly named collection agencies, particularly:

• ARS Account Resolution Services (Sunrise, Florida): A DBA for Healthcare Revenue Recovery Group (HRRG). Separate company, different regulatory history.
• Ability Recovery Services (ARS) (Dupont, Pennsylvania): Another unrelated collector focused on education debt.
• ARS National Services (Escondido, California): Yet another ARS abbreviation for a bank debt collector.

If you’re researching the collector on your credit report, make sure you’re reading about the correct company. The complaint volume, regulatory history, and specific business practices differ significantly between these agencies.

Why ARC Is Contacting You

ARC focuses heavily on healthcare-related collections. Common account types include:

• Hospital bills: Unpaid balances from hospital stays or emergency room visits.
• Physician groups: Outpatient care, specialist visits, and routine medical appointments.
• Insurance follow-up claims: Unpaid claims after insurance processing errors, staffing gaps, or system conversions at medical billing offices.
• Skip-traced old accounts: Accounts where you moved and lost track of the debt, which ARC’s skip tracing tools specialize in locating.

The insurance follow-up category is worth understanding. Many ARC accounts originate because a medical billing issue was never properly resolved, not because a consumer refused to pay. Reviewing the original explanation of benefits from your insurance company often reveals billing errors that can be corrected.

Medical Debt Has Specific Credit Reporting Protections

Medical debt has credit reporting rules that don’t apply to other collection types. The three major credit bureaus voluntarily agreed to these changes in 2022 and 2023:

• Medical debts under $500 are not reported on credit reports at all.
• Paid medical collections are removed from credit reports entirely.
• Unpaid medical debt has a one-year waiting period before it can be reported, up from six months.

If your ARC account falls into any of these categories and is still showing on your credit report, that’s grounds for immediate dispute with the credit bureaus.

What ARC Cannot Legally Do

Two federal laws protect you when dealing with any debt collector. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), ARC cannot:

• Threaten arrest or jail: Unpaid consumer debt is not a criminal matter.
• Call at odd hours: Contact is only allowed between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in your time zone.
• Contact you at work after you say stop: Written requests to stop must be honored.
• Use harassing language: Profanity and repeated calls meant to annoy violate the law.
• Discuss your debt with third parties: Including messages left on voicemails other people might hear.
• Misrepresent amounts: Lying about what you owe or the consequences is prohibited.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you the right to dispute inaccurate information. If ARC violates either law, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) at consumerfinance.gov.

Demand Proof Before Paying a Dime

Don’t pay or admit the debt is yours until you’ve verified it. For medical debts specifically, request an itemized bill showing the date of service, the original provider, each charge, and proof that any insurance billing was handled correctly.

Send your request by certified mail within 30 days of first contact. Request a copy of any insurance explanation of benefits showing how the claim was processed. Billing errors and denied claims are common reasons medical debts end up in collections without a legitimate underlying debt.

Spotting Reporting Errors on Your Credit Report

Pull your credit reports from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. Look at how ARC is reporting the account. Is the balance correct? Is the service date accurate? Is it listed under the right medical provider? Does it appear more than once, perhaps under both the original provider and ARC?

Any inaccuracy is grounds for a dispute. Also verify that the account qualifies to be reported at all under the medical debt reporting rules. File disputes directly with each credit bureau.

Why the Age of the Debt Matters

Every state has a statute of limitations on debt, which is the window of time a creditor can sue you to collect. Once that window closes, the debt can’t be enforced in court, though it may still appear on your credit report.

Medical debts typically fall under the 3 to 6 year range depending on your state. Making a payment or acknowledging the debt in writing can reset the clock in some states, so check before responding.

Four Paths to Resolve the Account

Once you’ve verified the debt, consider your options:

• Go to the original medical provider: Many hospitals offer financial assistance or charity care programs that can forgive the underlying bill entirely.
• Pay in full: If the debt is legitimate, paying resolves the account. Under current rules, paid medical collections should be removed from your credit report.
• Negotiate a settlement: ARC often accepts 40 to 60 percent on older medical debts. Get any agreement in writing.
• Dispute or wait: If the debt can’t be validated, is under $500, or was paid, it shouldn’t be on your credit report.

If ARC Takes You to Court

ARC can sue on debts within the statute of limitations, though smaller agencies like ARC typically sue less often than larger debt buyers. If they win a judgment, they may be able to garnish wages, levy bank accounts, or place liens.

If you are sued, do not ignore the complaint. Most collection lawsuits end in default judgments because the defendant never responds. Consult a consumer protection attorney. Many offer free consultations.

Reaching ARC Directly

Handle all communication in writing whenever possible. Phone calls leave you without a record. Here’s how to reach them:

• Address: Account Resolution Corporation, 700 Goddard Ave #1100, Chesterfield, MO 63005
• Phone: (866) 933-3346 or (636) 733-3346

If you do need to speak by phone, take notes with the date, time, the name of the person you spoke with, and what was said.

Bottom Line

ARC is a smaller, family-owned collector compared to the national debt buyers you’ll encounter elsewhere. That can work in your favor during negotiations, since smaller agencies often have more flexibility on settlement terms than publicly-traded debt buyers do.

Start with verification, check whether medical debt reporting rules apply, and look at the underlying bill before paying. Many medical collections have legitimate grounds for dispute that disappear once you submit to the collector’s demands.