Harris & Harris: Who They Are and How to Respond

Who Harris & Harris is — the verifiable facts

• Legal name: Harris & Harris, Ltd.
• What they are: A third-party collection agency — in most placements the original creditor still owns the account.
• What they collect: Healthcare and hospital-system bills, government receivables — toll violations, parking, court fines, and municipal accounts — and utility balances.
• Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois (111 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604), with an additional office in Longmont, Colorado
• Mailing address for written disputes: 111 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 650, Chicago, IL 60604 (Attention: Consumer Assistance)

Company details and addresses are as reflected in public records as of June 2026 and can change; when you mail anything, mirror the address printed on the notice you actually received — that address controls for your account.

Founded in 1968 and operating from the same West Jackson Boulevard address since, Harris & Harris is a third-party contingency collector: the hospital, agency, or utility that placed your account still owns it. Its government work is substantial — it is one of the collection agencies under citywide contract with the City of Los Angeles, per the LA Office of Finance — and its own dispute page lists the records you can demand, including the contract evidencing the debt.

As a third-party agency, Harris & Harris is typically collecting on behalf of the creditor named in the letter — the creditor usually still owns the account. That matters two ways: the account can be pulled back or moved to another agency at any time, and any negotiated resolution should be confirmed in writing as binding on the creditor, not just the agency. A validation demand forces the file to be documented and identifies the current owner on the record.

Your rights in the first 30 days

Federal law front-loads your leverage. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g, if you dispute the debt in writing within 30 days of receiving the validation notice, Harris & Harris must cease collection until verification is mailed to you. Under 12 C.F.R. § 1006.26 (Regulation F), no collector may sue or even threaten to sue on a time-barred debt — a strict-liability rule. And under 15 U.S.C. § 1692e, misrepresenting the legal status or amount of a debt is itself a federal violation. None of these rights depends on whether you owe the money.

How to respond — the right first move

One certified letter does all the work: it disputes the debt in writing (preserving the § 1692g pause), demands the itemized history, the signed agreement, and proof of authority to collect, and states plainly that nothing in it acknowledges the debt or waives any defense. Send it certified mail, return receipt requested, keep the green card, and say nothing of substance on the phone until the response arrives. The preview below shows how it opens.

Check the dates before anything else

A Harris & Harris letter can sit on very different legal rails — a toll violation lives under municipal code, a hospital bill under state law and the FDCPA, a tax receivable under its own administrative scheme. The written validation demand works on all of them: it forces identification of the creditor, the itemized balance, and the authority to collect before you decide anything.

Every state caps how long a collector has to sue — and in most states a payment or signed acknowledgment can restart that clock. Before any payment on an older account, run the dates against your state’s rules: see our debt statute of limitations by state guide.

If they sue

Respond — always. Most collection suits end in default judgments because the consumer never answers, and a default converts a contestable claim into a garnishable one. Answering puts ownership documentation, itemization, and any limitations defense squarely in play, and your dated validation letter becomes Exhibit A: proof you demanded the paperwork before they filed. For the validation mechanics in depth, see our debt validation letter guide and the assignment-documentation playbook.

Run your deadline, see the letter