Debt Dispute and next course of action?

Question

I received a letter from a debt collection agency a month ago. I disputed the debt and this what I wrote using a template from MS Word. I omitted the names and address and dates but you get the general idea. It was also returned receipt

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To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice I received on [date]. Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.
This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you.
I humbly request your Debt Collection agency to provide me with the following information in order to validate this debt:
- Show me what do I owe this money for; and what purchases did I make or what Services did I receive?
- Show me the details and calculations of how you calculated that amount.
- Provide me with letters or proof that I agreed to pay what you say I owe.
- Provide me with verification or judgment of any debts owed.
- Identify to me the Original Creditor from whom I made the purchase.
- Prove that the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this debt
- Show me that you are licensed to collect this debt in my State
- Show me your Debt Collection Rights License #
- Show me that you are authorized to collect this debt on behalf of the Original Creditor.
- Give me a complete transaction and payment history from the Original Creditor.
- Show me what the original amount was when this Debt was assigned to your Debt Collection Agency. **
- Show me any fees and interest charges that have been added on to this debt. **
- Show me how you determined and arrived at these fees. **
- Give me a copy of the original signed loan or credit card application with the Original Creditor.
** These debt validation requests are Law under the following Court Case:
Fields v. Wilber Law Firm, Donald L. Wilber and Kenneth Wilber, USCA-02-C-0072, 7th Circuit Court, Sept 2004
At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:
- Fair Credit Reporting Act
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
- Defamation of Character
If your offices are able to provide me with all the proper documentation as requested in the following Declaration, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.
Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.
If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately.
I would also like to request, in writing, that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communication with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls and calls or correspondence sent to or with any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter by USPS.
It would be advisable that you assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action. This is an attempt to correct your records; any information obtained shall be used for that purpose.
Best Regards,
[Your Name]

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Now they sent me just a letter with nothing else and here it is verbatim. No verification or anything I listed is given.

Answer 1

Send them a second letter telling them that they have not properly validated the debt as requested in your original letter and as required by the FDCPA.



Tell them that you consider this issue closed.



Good Luck

Answer 2

This is my advice

Send the an official document that is notarized (or official document forgot which one you send) that is verified again and have a copy of that file. If they do not show you the proof that you owe them the money just keep monitoring your credit report and wait until they post the debt. I would advise you to call the number that appears on the credit report and try to get this removed if they do not comply dispute this and the credit bureaus would take care of it. They will require the credit collection company send proof to them that you owe money. This is when you send a copy of the letter that you sent the collection agency if the credit bureau asks for it. if the investigation does not delete the collection from the account. call the credit bureau and tell them you have proof that they did not comply with you

Answer 3

What did the letter you received last month say? Did it indicate the amount of the debt, the original creditor, dates, and notices concerning your rights to dispute the debt? Well, that is exactly what the FDCPA requires for validation.



You made the huge mistake of using one of those really, really bad form letters from some "credit expert" site. I didn't even read thru the whole list, but NONE of those things are required or are even mentioned in the FDCPA. The collection agency didn't bother to read it either. You may have shot yourself in the foot cause it sounds like they intend to aggressively pursue collection of this debt.



My guess is that you know this is your debt and you read at that "credit expert" site that you can get out of paying by playing the validation game. You may want to stop following the advice that site gives.



If you know this is your debt, you should consider negotiating a settlement. You might be able to settle for 25% to 50% in a lump sum payment, depending on how old the debt is. The holidays are a good time to get low settlements accepted -- folks tend to not pay defaulted debts and the collectors have quotas.



Get any settlement agreement in writing before you pay. Keep that agreement along with your payment proof, forever. Do not give the collector direct access to your bank account.



Of course, your ridiculous validation request letter may work against you in getting a low settlement. But keep in mind that collection agencies are more likely to go to court now than in the past. Kinda sounds like this one may be one of those agencies.

Answer 4

They are screwing with you and doing a good job. Send back the same thing you just sent out. I helped someone doing this once and I actually talked to the debt collectors on the debtors behalf and surprizingly after over a year they havn't called back or sent any mail.