Meade & Associates on Your Credit Report: What to Know

If Meade & Associates has appeared on your credit report or is calling you, a few documented complaint patterns are worth knowing before you engage.

A BBB complaint records a Meade representative telling a consumer: “I do not care if the debt is valid, my job is to collect the money.” Another documents an account being reported as unpaid the day after a payment was made and confirmed with a representative.

Meade is a 45-year-old family-owned Ohio agency with dedicated healthcare and higher education collection divisions that serves clients nationally.

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

Who Is Meade & Associates?

Meade & Associates, Inc. is a debt collection agency founded in 1979 and based in Lewis Center, Ohio. The company is family-owned. Their FAQ states: “Because Meade is also our family name we will not allow our collectors who represent our clients tarnish our strong reputation.” The complaint record suggests the gap between that aspiration and execution is worth noting.

Meade is not currently BBB-accredited, carries a B BBB rating, and has accumulated 78 BBB complaints in the past three years, 38 CFPB complaints since 2015, and over 60 federal court cases as a defendant.

Why Meade Is on Your Credit Report

Meade collects for a broad range of clients, organized into two main areas:

Healthcare division: Hospitals, primary care providers, specialty care providers, OB/GYN offices, nursing care providers, dental practices, and chiropractic offices.

General collection: Colleges and universities, commercial businesses, banks, utility companies, veterinary clinics, and service providers.

If you had an unpaid medical bill, veterinary bill, tuition balance, or utility account in Ohio or with a national client of Meade’s, that’s the most likely source of the account.

The Documented Complaint Patterns

Three specific complaint patterns from Meade’s own BBB file are worth knowing:

“I do not care if the debt is valid.” A documented BBB complaint describes a consumer informing a Meade representative that the debt was invalid, to which the representative responded: “I do not care if the debt is valid, my job is to collect the money.” When the consumer offered a reduced payment and asked for credit report correction, the representative laughed and said “this is not ‘Let’s make a deal.'”

Reporting as unpaid after receiving payment. A consumer paid their Meade account on January 3, 2023 and spoke extensively with a representative about the credit report impact. The account was reported as unpaid the following day, January 4. The consumer wrote: “AFTER I MADE THE PAYMENT TO THEM AND SPOKE EXTENSIVELY TO A REPRESENTATIVE ABOUT IT IMPACTING MY CREDIT… Unbelievable!”

Changing settlement terms after payment. A consumer was told that three payments would fully settle the account. After making the first payment, they were told the full balance was still required.

Each of these is a potential FDCPA violation. Document any interaction where Meade changes terms, fails to update reporting after payment, or refuses to validate a debt.

Meade’s Skip Tracing Capability

Meade’s own FAQ describes their skip tracing services in specific detail: locating “current or alternate address and telephone numbers, places of employment, names and addresses of family members, friends, ex-spouses,” as well as “finding relatives’ telephone numbers” and locating “assets such as property, bank accounts, or automobiles.”

This is more aggressive skip tracing than most agencies we’ve covered. If Meade is calling family members, former spouses, or employers about your debt, that contact may itself violate the FDCPA, which restricts disclosure of debt information to third parties.

What Meade Cannot Do Under Federal Law

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) applies to Meade. Under federal law, they cannot:

• Threaten arrest or jail: 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 cease-contact requests must be honored.
• Refuse to validate a debt: A documented complaint pattern with Meade.
• Collect on debts they know to be invalid: The “I do not care if the debt is valid” statement is an FDCPA issue.
• Contact third parties about your debt: Disclosing debt information to family members or employers is restricted.
• Fail to update credit reporting after payment: Reporting an account unpaid after receiving payment is a documented Meade pattern.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you the right to dispute inaccurate information. Ohio residents can also file complaints with the Ohio Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section. File federal complaints at consumerfinance.gov.

Medical Debt Reporting Rules Apply

If your Meade account is from their healthcare division, specific credit reporting protections apply. All 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.

If your account falls into any of these categories and is still showing on your credit report, dispute it immediately.

Verify the Debt and the Balance Before Paying Anything

Don’t pay or admit the debt is yours until you’ve verified it. Given Meade’s documented pattern of collecting on debts they’ve been informed are invalid, verification is especially important.

Send a written debt validation request by certified mail within 30 days of first contact. Ask for the original creditor, the amount owed with itemized breakdown, and the date of original delinquency.

If Meade tells you a settlement arrangement, get it in writing before making any payment. The documented complaint about changed settlement terms is a direct warning.

How to Check Your Credit Report for Meade Errors

Pull your credit reports from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. Is the balance correct? Is the account date accurate? If you’ve made payments, is the account still showing as unpaid?

Given the documented pattern of reporting accounts as unpaid after payment, check your credit report immediately after any payment to Meade and dispute any inaccurate status update with each credit bureau.

How Long Can Meade Legally Pursue the Debt?

Ohio has a 6-year statute of limitations on both written contracts and open accounts. If you no longer live in Ohio, the relevant state is typically where you currently reside.

A documented consumer complaint describes Meade attempting to collect on a 2012 debt in 2020, which would be 8 years old and well past Ohio’s 6-year limit. If Meade is contacting you about an old debt, check the original delinquency date carefully.

Your Options for Resolving a Meade Account

Once you’ve verified the debt, consider these paths:

• Go to the original creditor: Especially for billing error situations, resolving directly with the hospital, clinic, or university often works faster.
• Get any settlement in writing first: Given the documented term-changing pattern, never pay without a written agreement specifying the exact terms.
• Pay and verify credit report update: After any payment, monitor your credit report and dispute immediately if the account status doesn’t update correctly.
• Dispute if inaccurate: If the debt isn’t valid, is past the statute of limitations, or falls under medical debt reporting rules, dispute with the credit bureaus.

If Meade Files a Lawsuit

Meade does pursue litigation. Their website confirms they will “seek judgment and garnishment” with their clients’ consent. Court costs are prepaid by the creditor client and added to the judgment amount.

If you are sued, do not ignore the complaint. Respond within the deadline. Consult a consumer protection attorney. Meade’s documented statement that they “do not care if the debt is valid” may be relevant evidence if violations occurred in your case.

How to Contact Meade & Associates

Handle all communication in writing whenever possible. Here’s how to reach them:

• Address: Meade & Associates, Inc., 737 Enterprise Drive, Lewis Center, OH 43035
• Phone: (800) 686-3233

Bottom Line

Meade’s own BBB file contains a representative admitting they don’t care whether the debt is valid, and another case where they reported an account unpaid the day after receiving payment. Those aren’t minor complaints.

Verify the debt before paying, get every settlement agreement in writing first, and monitor your credit report after any payment to confirm they update it correctly.