State Collection Services Debt Collection Harassment?

Are you getting repeated calls from State Collection Service about a hospital or clinic bill? You are not alone, and the calls may not be legal. State Collection Service, Inc. (SCS) is a third-party debt collector, which means the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) applies to every call, letter, and text it sends you. If those calls are constant, if they continue after you asked them to stop, or if they are chasing a debt you already paid or never owed, you may have a case, and you may be owed up to $1,000 in statutory damages.

Consumer Rights Law Firm PLLC has been stopping debt collector harassment since 2010. We are A+ rated by the BBB. Call (877) 700-5790 or request a free case review. You pay nothing out of pocket. If State Collection Service broke the law, they pay our fees, not you.

Quick Facts About State Collection Service

Are the Calls From State Collection Service Legal?

State Collection Service has a legal right to contact you about a debt a hospital or clinic placed with them. What it cannot do is harass you, mislead you, or ignore your legal requests. Because SCS is a third-party collector and not the original creditor, the full weight of the FDCPA applies to everything it does.

Here are the specific situations where the calls may be illegal:

• Calls before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. in your time zone.
• More than seven calls within any seven-day period about the same debt.
• Calls that continue after you sent a written request to stop.
• Calls to your job after you told them your employer prohibits such calls.
• Calls to family, friends, neighbors, or coworkers that reveal you owe a debt.
• Calls to a wrong or reassigned number that continue after you said they have the wrong person.
• False threats, such as claiming they will sue, garnish wages, or send law enforcement when they have no intent or right to do so.
• Refusing to validate the debt after you requested proof in writing.

In our practice, the FDCPA is the primary law for State Collection Service calls, and it applies without the exemptions that protect original creditors. Our attorneys evaluate whether the call pattern, the content of the messages, and the collector’s response to your disputes cross the line from lawful collection into unlawful harassment.

Who Is State Collection Service and Why Are They Calling?

State Collection Service is a family-owned collection agency founded in Madison, Wisconsin in 1949 by Hilding Haag, a Swedish immigrant whose son, Thomas D. Haag, now serves as Chairman and CEO. About 85 percent of its business comes from the healthcare industry, which means most people who hear from SCS are being contacted about a hospital, clinic, lab, or physician bill.

Although healthcare drives most of its work, SCS also collects on accounts for utility companies, commercial and retail credit, and local, county, and state government agencies. It offers early-out billing services, which means it may contact you as the first billing office for a provider, then again later as a third-party collector once the account is considered delinquent. It also performs skip tracing to locate people who have moved, which is why some consumers report calls to numbers they never gave the provider.

If State Collection Service is calling you, it is usually because a medical provider listed one or more accounts with them for collection. One thing consumers often misunderstand is that the provider, not SCS, still owns the debt. That distinction matters when you dispute an account, because SCS frequently returns accounts to the provider once a dispute is filed.

Is State Collection Service a Scam or a Legitimate Company?

State Collection Service is a legitimate, long-established collection agency, not a scam. It has operated since 1949, holds BBB accreditation with an A+ rating, and is one of the larger healthcare-focused collectors in the Midwest.

Legitimacy, however, does not mean every collection call follows the law. Public complaint data has ranked SCS as high as #165 out of 2,458 debt collection companies for the volume of complaints filed with the , and it has been named as a defendant in FDCPA lawsuits in federal courts in Wisconsin. Consumers also report calls from people falsely claiming to represent a government agency, which is a red flag worth taking seriously. If someone demanding payment refuses to identify their company, verify before you pay anything.

In many of the cases we review, the caller is a real SCS representative pursuing a genuine medical account, but the manner of collection still violates federal law. Legitimate and lawful are not the same thing.

How to Verify a State Collection Service Debt Before You Pay

Never pay a collector until you confirm the debt is yours, the amount is correct, and the company contacting you is really State Collection Service. Verification protects you from paying a scammer, paying twice, or paying a debt that was already covered by insurance.

Start by confirming the company. The real SCS answers at (800) 477-7474 and its corporate line is (608) 661-3000, based at 2509 S. Stoughton Rd. in Madison, Wisconsin. If a caller gives a different name or refuses to provide a company name and address, treat it as suspicious.

Next, identify the account. Because SCS collects for hundreds of healthcare providers, ask which provider and which date of service the debt relates to. Then send a written debt validation letter within 30 days of first contact. Under the FDCPA, the collector must provide an itemized statement identifying the original creditor and the amount owed, and all collection activity must pause until it does. Keep copies and send everything by certified mail so you have proof of the date.

BBB Complaints: What Consumers Are Actually Reporting

The Better Business Bureau profile for State Collection Service shows 54 complaints in the last three years, with 5 closed in the last 12 months. The company is BBB Accredited with an A+ rating. The most common categories are order issues and billing issues, and a recurring theme is being pursued for debts consumers say they do not owe or already paid. Here are three specific complaints from the live BBB complaints page.

• Complaint 1: Settlement offer allegedly reversed within 24 hours (February 2026): A consumer reported that an SCS representative agreed on a recorded line to settle the family’s medical debt for $2,751, with payment due by the end of the month. When the consumer called back within 24 hours to pay, SCS allegedly raised the settlement figure to $7,500 and said the earlier amount was a mistake. In its response, SCS stated the creditor holds final settlement authority and that it returned the accounts to the provider on February 23, 2026.
• Complaint 2: Text messages continued after a bill was paid (September 2025): A consumer reported paying a medical bill on June 24, 2025, yet continued receiving text messages saying the account was unpaid. After the consumer produced a billing notice showing the payment satisfied the debt, SCS forwarded the documentation to the provider, which adjusted the balance to $0.00 and took the account back on October 4, 2025. This complaint was marked resolved.
• Complaint 3: Reporting a disputed debt without validation (March 2025): A consumer disputed accounts of $6,522, $353, and $1,075, stating they never signed anything with SCS and that the company failed to provide the original application when asked. SCS responded that the provider affirmed the debts and that it mailed itemized statements, while noting the creditor controls whether accounts are reported to the credit bureaus.

We frequently see this pattern in healthcare collections: a consumer disputes an account, SCS responds that the provider owns it, and the account bounces back to the provider without a clear resolution for the consumer. When clients come to us about State Collection Service, the paper trail from these disputes often becomes key evidence.

Consumer Reviews Across Platforms

State Collection Service draws consistent criticism across review platforms, with recurring themes of repeated calls, contact about debts consumers say they do not owe, and difficulty getting a receipt or written confirmation of payment.

On the BBB customer reviews page, one reviewer, Ashley J, described the call frequency directly:

“Call me just about every day and when I finally answer, I asked why they were calling. The woman on the phone asked me to confirm my name and I repeated myself asking again, who are you and why are you calling.”

Another BBB reviewer, Michael R, described paying and still facing consequences:

“Paid my bill with my [card] and they will not provide me with a receipt. Now my [license] is suspended.”

A third BBB reviewer, Erica M, wrote about the account belonging to a child:

“No stars still now getting a lawyer involved absolutely absurd they collected debt from my minor child?”

Beyond these named reviews, consumers posting on public complaint boards frequently describe two additional patterns: calls that continue to a wrong or reassigned number after the person explains they owe nothing, and callers who allegedly imply they represent a government agency and threaten prosecution or law enforcement. Reviews like these describe conduct that, if accurate, could implicate the FDCPA’s rules against repeated calls, false representations, and third-party disclosure. Individual experiences vary, and these are consumer allegations rather than proven findings.

Federal Lawsuits Filed Against State Collection Service

State Collection Service has been named as a defendant in FDCPA lawsuits in multiple federal courts. These are verified matters from public records. Court filings reflect allegations, and a lawsuit is not proof of wrongdoing unless a court rules against the company.

Source: Class Action ORG

Williams, et al. v. State Collection Service, Inc.

FDCPA Class Action in the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Case No. 2:17-cv-00532-PP, filed April 13, 2017): Three plaintiffs alleged that SCS collection letters for medical services did not clearly state the total amount owed. The letters reportedly said, “You may have more than one account in our office that is the subject of your payment arrangement,” which the suit argued left consumers unsure which figure would actually satisfy their debt. As the complaint put it, “The unsophisticated consumer would have no idea whether payment of the ‘Account Balance,’ ‘Total Amount Due,’ or ‘Amount’ would satisfy their debt with SCS.” The case was reported by ClassAction.org.

Key takeaway: The claim centered on unclear amount-due language, a common FDCPA theory under Section 807. Whether a specific letter misleads depends on its exact wording, so each consumer’s letter should be reviewed on its own facts.

Source: Class Action ORG

Fetai v. State Collection Service, Inc.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Case No.: 2:18-cv-00262 Filed: February 20, 2018 Summary: The plaintiff alleged that State Collection Service violated the FDCPA by sending two collection letters showing different balances ($390.00 and $391.44) without explaining that the debt was accruing interest or fees. According to the complaint, this left the least sophisticated consumer unable to determine the actual amount owed at any given time, potentially violating 15 U.S.C. § 1692e by using misleading representations in debt collection communications.

Key takeaway: Debt collectors should clearly disclose when a balance may increase because of interest or fees. If a collection letter lists changing balances without explanation, it may expose the collector to FDCPA claims alleging that the amount of the debt is misleading.

How Often Can State Collection Service Legally Call You?

A collector cannot call you an unlimited number of times. Under the CFPB’s Regulation F, a debt collector is presumed to be harassing you if it calls more than seven times within a seven-day period about a particular debt, or if it calls you within seven days of having a phone conversation with you about that debt. Calls before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. in your local time are prohibited outright.

Consumers report that SCS often calls daily and, in some accounts, several times a day. In our practice, we ask clients to log the exact number of calls per week, because crossing the 7-in-7 threshold creates a presumption of harassment that strengthens a claim. You can read more about this in our guide to the 7-in-7 rule.

Your Full Legal Rights When State Collection Service Is Calling You

• FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act): Applies fully to State Collection Service as a third-party collector. It bars harassment, false or misleading statements, unfair practices, calls at inconvenient times, and third-party disclosure, and it requires the collector to validate the debt on request. Violations can carry statutory damages of up to $1,000 per lawsuit, plus actual damages and attorney fees. Learn more on our FDCPA page.
• TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act): Restricts automated or prerecorded calls and texts to your cell phone without prior consent. Violations may result in $500 to $1,500 per call or text. See our TCPA page.
• FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act): Protects you from inaccurate reporting of a medical debt, including debts you paid, disputed, or never owed. Furnishers must investigate a dispute within 30 days. See our FCRA page.
• Wisconsin Consumer Act: Because SCS is based in Wisconsin, its Wisconsin conduct may also fall under the Wisconsin Consumer Act, which provides state-level protections against unfair collection practices.
• Your state’s collection laws: State Collection Service pursues accounts nationwide, so additional protections may apply where you live. For example, California’s Rosenthal Act extends FDCPA-style rules and adds statutory damages, and several states restrict or bar medical debt from appearing on credit reports.

State Collection Service FDCPA Violations

What To Do Next: 5 Steps to Stop State Collection Service Phone Harassment

Step 1: Start a call log today. Write down every call: the date, the exact time, the number on your screen, whether it was a live person or a recording, and what was said. Do not delete voicemails or texts. Screenshot them and email them to yourself. Because FDCPA and TCPA damages can run per call or per text, the precise count and pattern is the backbone of any claim.

Step 2: Send a debt validation letter. Within 30 days of first contact, mail SCS a written debt validation letter demanding the name of the original healthcare provider, the amount owed, and an itemized statement. Collection activity must pause until they respond. Use certified mail and keep the receipt.

Step 3: Send a cease-and-desist letter if the calls are excessive. If the calls keep coming, send a cease-and-desist letter by certified mail. Under FDCPA Section 805(c), once SCS confirms receipt, it may only contact you to confirm it is stopping or to notify you of specific legal action. Every call after that is an individual, documentable violation.

Step 4: Dispute any inaccurate credit reporting. If SCS reported a debt you paid, disputed, or never owed, file a written dispute with the credit bureaus and with SCS. They must investigate within 30 days. Our guide on how to dispute a credit report walks through the steps.

Step 5: File complaints and call a consumer attorney. File with the FTC, the CFPB, and, for robocalls, the FCC. You can also file with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. Then call Consumer Rights Law Firm PLLC at (877) 700-5790 or request a free case review. If State Collection Service violated federal law, the statutes provide for fee-shifting, so you pay nothing.

CONSUMER RIGHTS LAW FIRM PLLC

Consumer Rights Law Firm PLLC is a law firm that specializes in helping clients who are facing harassment from debt collectors in any form, including telephone communication. Contact a legal professional to stop State Collection Services debt collection harassment. Our office has been assisting consumers since 2010. We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

If you are interested in learning more about how to safeguard yourself and prevent State Collection Services debt collection harassment, call us at 877-700-5790 for immediate assistance or visit our website.

Success Stories

• I was getting dozens of calls a week from a collection agency that wasn’t even handling my account correctly. Consumer Rights Law Firm PLLC listened to my case, filed a claim, and stopped the harassment completely. I’m beyond grateful for their help and professionalism.
• What impressed me the most was how they kept me informed every step of the way. I was nervous about the process, but they made it simple. The debt collector backed off fast. I highly recommend Consumer Rights Law Firm PLLC to anyone dealing with aggressive collectors.
• Not only did they stop the calls, but I actually received a financial settlement due to the violations. The process was stress-free, and they handled everything. I wish I had called them sooner.
• This law firm understands how scary debt harassment can be. They treated me with respect, explained my rights clearly, and took swift legal action. If you’re getting harassed, don’t wait—reach out to them!

Other Phone Numbers State Collection Service May Use