McCarthy Burgess & Wolff: Who They Are and How to Respond

Who McCarthy Burgess & Wolff is — the verifiable facts

• Legal name: McCarthy, Burgess & Wolff, Inc. (MB&W)
• What they are: A third-party collection agency — in most placements the original creditor still owns the account.
• What they collect: Telecom and utility, credit-card, medical, auto-loan, and student balances — plus some commercial accounts — collected on behalf of major creditors and service providers.
• Headquarters: Bedford Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland (26000 Cannon Road, Bedford Heights, OH 44146); additional offices in Middleburg Heights, OH and Tulsa, OK
• Mailing address for written disputes: 26000 Cannon Road, Bedford Heights, OH 44146

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.

McCarthy, Burgess & Wolff, Inc. (MB&W), founded in 1980 and headquartered in Bedford Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland, is a third-party collection agency — not a debt buyer and not a law firm — with additional offices in Middleburg Heights, Ohio and Tulsa, Oklahoma. It collects both consumer and commercial accounts for a roster of large creditors, with a heavy concentration in telecom, utility, and credit-card balances.

As a third-party agency, McCarthy Burgess & Wolff 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.

The public record worth knowing

MB&W carries a high public complaint volume in the CFPB and BBB databases — most commonly alleging attempts to collect debts not owed, failure to validate on request, and misrepresentation — and it has been named in several FDCPA class actions. A 2017 proposed class action (Rossiter v. McCarthy, Burgess & Wolff) alleged that its collection letters misstated consumers' rights to dispute a debt; another case (Jones v. McCarthy, Burgess & Wolff) ended in a settlement. These are consumer complaints, allegations, and settlements, not findings of wrongdoing. None of this means any particular account — including yours — is invalid; it means the documentation standards federal law lets you invoke exist for a reason, and using them is ordinary, not adversarial.

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, McCarthy Burgess & Wolff 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

Because a class action specifically accused MB&W's letters of muddying how to dispute, read the notice you received closely and assert your rights in writing: send a § 1692g validation demand by certified mail within 30 days, asking for the original creditor, the account number, the balance at charge-off, and the original date of delinquency. With telecom, utility, and card balances, confirm exactly which creditor the debt traces to and check that delinquency date against your state's statute of limitations — a payment can restart it. And because MB&W does file suit, never ignore a court summons: file an answer by the deadline to avoid a default judgment, then validate and negotiate.

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