Thread: CA (a major one) refuses to validate debt

Hello-

I love this forum, I have been spending so much time learning from it - it's amazing. I wanted to figure this out without having to post, but alas I am still not completely sure what to do.

<major CA> has contacted me looking for immediate collection of a credit card debt that is years old and I don't remember ever having. I've asked them for documentation stating that it is my debt, whether it's a signature card or even some statements showing what charges were made to see if it seemed like something I would charge. Both requests were denied with '<major CA> is in the collection business, not research business - if we have to goto the trouble of researching it we will just as soon take you to court and get the full amount vs a 60% settlement"

I was going to fax & cert mail a letter with validation request and limited cease & desist, but wanted to make sure with you that I was doing the right thing.

Pulled TU CR, here's details of this debt:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
OC: <major CC company>
Opened Sept 1997
Date Reported: 01/01/2003
Limit $500 Balance $1659
Status: Chargeoff as bad debt, profit and loss writeoff

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
CA: <major collection agency>
Date opened 3/2004
Date reported: 04/2004
Original Balance: $1659
Balance: $3178

Would it be best to fax/certmail my contact the validation request and limited cease and desist? Anything else you would put in or do?

Thanks-
-WC-

Just send the VL CRRR.

Originally posted by WildCard
Hello-

I love this forum, I have been spending so much time learning from it - it's amazing. I wanted to figure this out without having to post, but alas I am still not completely sure what to do.

<major CA> has contacted me looking for immediate collection of a credit card debt that is years old and I don't remember ever having. I've asked them for documentation stating that it is my debt, whether it's a signature card or even some statements showing what charges were made to see if it seemed like something I would charge. Both requests were denied with '<major CA> is in the collection business, not research business - if we have to goto the trouble of researching it we will just as soon take you to court and get the full amount vs a 60% settlement"

I was going to fax & cert mail a letter with validation request and limited cease & desist, but wanted to make sure with you that I was doing the right thing.

Pulled TU CR, here's details of this debt:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
OC: <major CC company>
Opened Sept 1997
Date Reported: 01/01/2003
Limit $500 Balance $1659
Status: Chargeoff as bad debt, profit and loss writeoff

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
CA: <major collection agency>
Date opened 3/2004
Date reported: 04/2004
Original Balance: $1659
Balance: $3178

Would it be best to fax/certmail my contact the validation request and limited cease and desist? Anything else you would put in or do?

Thanks-
-WC-

But when was the last pmt made? Doesn't matter when it was charged off or whatever, what matters, in terms of time to sue and report to CR the last date pmt was made.

Jane.

P.S. Can I ask who the CA is?

Is there a way to find out when the last payment was made on an account or when it went bad (ie the 180 day rule)... The CR I got from TU didn't mention that, only the day it went reported and opened.

I will message you the CA if that function is available to me. Not sure if it's disadvantageous to mention the CA's by name here....

-WC-

We really need to class action the CRA's on that no dropoff date...

How did you request validation from them in the first place? (Did you call them -- they don't have to validate unless you ask for it in writing.)

And how did they tell you that they refused to validate?

How long ago did this CA first contact you?

Other reports usually show this information (at least the payment history, when it is provided to them.)

Experian as long as the account hasn't been disputed, yet shows a "This item will remain until XX/XXXX" date, subtract seven years, and that should be the date of the delinquency prior to CO.

Originally posted by jam237
How did you request validation from them in the first place? (Did you call them -- they don't have to validate unless you ask for it in writing.)

And how did they tell you that they refused to validate?

How long ago did this CA first contact you?

I have never received anything from them in writing, which I thought was odd. To get their address to send a certmail, I had to pretend that I was considering settlement offers and asked them to fax their offer to me.

They first contacted me in February via phone, my wife dealt with it for a while since I worked so much. I asked her to have them send proof, to which he said that they would try. He even said something to her that this debt was found in some storage bin after being misplaced for years.

I should have been documenting this as I am now, but I only started doing that when they referred the debt to a much more aggressive, pissy, belligerent jerk. I assumed asking/waiting for verification verbally was good enough. I guess not, given that they put it on my CR.

To reiterate: I asked verbally since all contact has been via phone to date, I was denied verbally.

-WC-

Crap, I just noticed that they did a hard inquiry as well last month.

-WC-

Unfortunately even when they do provide a validation rights notice, you must dispute in writing to protect your rights.

Some CA's thought to try to use that in their favor, so they would send the validation rights notice, with no address which you could mail the dispute to, and only a phone number to call, which they would refuse to provide you with an address for mailing.

Unfortunately the courts, and the FTC nipped that tactic in the bud...

Basically, think of it this way, the phone is their weapon, they can try to get anyone to admit anything on the phone, when they have the call taped to use against them. It only takes one slip of the toungue, and most of them are masters of getting the customer so peaved that they will make the slip up.

The paper-trail is our weapon against them, when they put something in writing, we have something that we can use against them.