Validation letter?

Question

I recently let my debt go to a CA. I've been reading questions on here that involve 'validation letters' that they have to send to lawyers. What exactly is that?

Answer 1

June 13, 2001

Your Name
123 Your Street Address
Your City, ST 01234

ABC Collections
123 NotOnYourLife Ave
Chicago, IL

Date

Re: Acct # XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on September 30, 2002). 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.

Please provide me with the following:


What the money you say I owe is for;
Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
Identify the original creditor;
Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent

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:

Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Defamation of Character
If your offices are able to provide 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 Signature
Your Name

Answer 2

We have a room full of collection agents today!

Let me give you just one example of why you should always validate a debt.

I am working with someone now who received a collection notice for $1600. The lady knew it couldn't possibly be that much and was scared to death about it.

I helped her draft a simple validation demand to this collection agent. After two months, no validation. Then we get another letter from a new collection agency..this time it's $1300!

You are demanding validation to make sure they are not padding your debt (for one reason). If the CA thinks you are just dodging the bill....well Boo Hoo! All they have to do is FOLLOW THE LAW, send out the validation info, and life goes on. After all, if they are going to sue you, they already have this info, right? They can't sue you without this info, right?

.....or did they lose your signed contract and bills? No paper, no lawsuit!

So in the case of the lady I'm helping.....why can't the validate this debt? They are currently in violation of the FDCA, and if they try to sue we will simply counter sue for their violation, wipe out the legal fees and knock off $1000 from the debt.

I can't think of any good reason not to send the letter, can you?

Email me if you need a good sample letter, or look at my past answers. I'm not on my office computer at the moment and don't have the link handy.

Answer 3

Here is a website that may help: www.ftc.gov/credit Knowing your rights is the first step. Please understand that you will read in the Federal Trade Commission that debts do not expire, the regulation that after 7 years of inactivity, meaning the creditor does not update the trade line, then the information purges off a consumers report. I would the 1st one in line to spend a 10k credit card an then just move, don't answer the phone or respond to my mail for 7 years ad the debt would be forgiven, nope that is not how it works. But what you can do is follow the FTC dispute process (there is a sample letter on this site) and dispute saying it is not yours. The creditor has only a certain number of days to validate the debt. Maybe this will work. I am honest, but everyone has a past that maybe they would have done something different, but can't hold it over their heads for life.

Answer 4

A Validation letter is basically a letter that you would send to have the Collection Agency validate the debt that they say you owe.

There is nothing wrong sending a validation letter in fact you should always send a letter if you know the debt is not yours. However, if it is a valid debt(and you know it is) this can be seen by them as you trying to hold them off. This may or may not make them less willing to work with you to make arrangements with them to pay it off.

Answer 5

A validation letter is a notice sent to you by the creditor that lists the current charges including all applicable interest charges that they have incurred It states your total obligaion to the company. It is necessary in a bankruptcy because it shows the attorney the total amount to file for, to close that account so an addendum does not need to be later filed.

Answer 6

A validation letter requests proof of the debt. Since you ADMIT in your question the debt is legitimate, don't waist your time. If you owe the money, they will provide the documentation and you will only have delayed payment and incurred more interest charges, and collection fees.