Need help with response

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by prissypoo, Aug 8, 2007.

  1. prissypoo

    prissypoo Well-Known Member

    Hello all,

    I sent a debt validation (faxed it, saved the confirmation page) to a CA and received no response. I sent another DV (faxed it again, again saved the confirmation) and this is the response I got. By the way, this is a paid collection.
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    We are in receipt of your recent communication and hereby acknowledge same and make the following response:

    PLEASE BE ADVISED YOUR FAX DATED 7/27/07 WAS THE FIRST CORRESPONDENCE WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM YOU REGARDING ANY TYPE OF DISPUTE. IN REGARDS TO THE DISPUTE, THE ACCOUNT YOU ARE DISPUTETING (ed: that's exactly how they spelled it) IS PAID IN FULL. WITH THE ACCOUNT BEING PAID IN FULL THE VALIDITY OF THE OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT HAS BEEN VERIFIED. WE EVEN SPOKE TO YOU ON 10/03/05 AND YOU DID NOT DISPUTE THE VALIDITY OF THE DEBT. YOU STATED THAT YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE LARGE PAYMENTS.
    YOU ALSO STATED THAT YOU WERE GOING TO PROVIDE A HARDSHIP LETTER (absolutely not true, I couldn't even tell you what a hardship letter is). OUR DOCUMENTATION IS CLEAR YOU HAD AMPLE OPPORTUNITY TO DISPUTE THE OUTSTANDING BALANCE WHEN IT WAS AN OUTSTANDING BALANCE.

    If you have any questions at this time or wish to advise us of any additional information please feel free to call me at the number shown above.

    Thank you,
    Idiot at the CA

    This communication is from a debt collector and this is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

    OK, what's my response? I'm half tempted to just fire off a BBB complaint, but I'm not so sure. I've never done one of those before. By the by, this CA is also (allegedly) a law firm. So they should know about rights. Oh, and they never marked it in dispute which I requested in both my letters.

    Little help, please.
     
  2. cap1sucks

    cap1sucks Well-Known Member

    I must admit that while I may be as dumb as a stump I fail to see what you are complaining about. If you paid the debt you have admitted that it is yours and that the amount is correct. You have no complaint under FDCPA or FCRA because once you have paid it they are no longer trying to collect anything from you. If you are trying to dispute it through the credit bureaus you verified it in a sense when you paid it.

    On the other hand you do have a right to dispute the debt and demand full accounting of it but the only way to do that is to file a lawsuit against them in your local courts and I would strongly advise against that approach unless you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they somehow cheated you.

    The obvious lesson here is one that everyone should learn and that is never, never, never pay a debt collector a crying dime voluntarily.
     
  3. prissypoo

    prissypoo Well-Known Member

    Don't I have the right to ask for proof that this is mine, since it is on my credit report? I don't care that it's paid, I'm asking them to prove that it's mine. I disputed with the CRA and it came back verified and I'm asking them for some sort of proof that this debt was ever mine in the first place.

    Am I not allowed to ask for proof that a derogatory item on my credit report is mine, whether it's paid or not? After all, if the CRAs think paid and unpaid collections are both derogatory, then this hurts my report. Shouldn't I make them prove it is mine? And if I ask them to show me some proof and ask them to place this account in dispute and they don't, isn't there recourse?
     
  4. ccbob

    ccbob Well-Known Member

    If this is not yours and the fax is the first communication they have received from you about this account then your next response should be to explain the reason that none of what they said makes sense to you because they have mistakenly attributed this account to your identity and you would like them to correct (i.e. remove) it from your record.

    Now if this really WAS your account, asking for all the proof that it is/was to say, "see you can't prove it so it wasn't mine" is probably going to be an uphill climb because up until now, it had been attributed to you, presumably paid by you and is only now being objected to by you.

    So, if you're going to go that route, you might want to first clean out any old addresses from your reports because, and this is just me talkin', if you have an address on file that matches the one on the account AND the SSN matches, AND the name matches, it might be a tough battle (assuming it doesn't blow up and they charge you with fraud).
     
  5. desertrat

    desertrat Well-Known Member

    I haven't got a clue what you're trying to accomplish here, but I suggest you stop or risk having it cause you more problems.

    From everything I've read and learned, the time to dispute stuff is BEFORE you've ever agreed to anything, let alone paid them so much as a penny.

    This may be from out-dated legal theory, but my understanding is that the assignment or transfer of a debt from an OC to a CA represents something called a "novation". As a party to the original contract, it's my understanding that you must agree to any substantive changes in the terms of that contract in order for it to be effective, including a transfer to a CA. The law gives you 30 days after you receive notice of the novation to dispute it. If you don't (ie., you default), or you tell somebody with the CA that you agree, or that you'll pay, or you DO pay them "just a dollar", you've just AGREED to the change in terms. A timely dispute supposedly prevents the changes in the contract from being enforced. Anything else means you've agreed.

    From all you've said in your first post, you've already agreed this debt was yours. You've even paid it in full!

    Why are you even thinking of asking THEM to prove to you what YOU YOURSELF have ALREADY ADMITTED through your actions???

    Let sleeping dogs lie. The only possible outcome of your actions can be to make things worse.
     
  6. Tegleg

    Tegleg Well-Known Member

    Is the acct reporting on your reports incorrectly? Is it showing a incorrect balance? If it's reporting incorrectly then by all means, fire off those disputes. If it's reporting correctly & is paid though then why mess with it? I respect everyones right to thier own opinion and way of doing things but you need to be careful, that dog could very well bite.

    I would be estatic if all my accounts would just report correctly. I have a past and have made some dumb mistakes, can't hide that and don't want to, just want it to be accurate.

    Good luck in your endeavors,
    Tegleg
     
  7. cap1sucks

    cap1sucks Well-Known Member

    Novation is a term used in contract law and business law to describe the act of either replacing an obligation to perform with a new obligation, or replacing a party to an agreement with a new party. In contrast to an Assignment , a novation must be agreed upon by all the parties to the original agreement [1]. The obligee, the person receiving the benefit of the bargain, must only be given notice. The obligor, the party making the novation, must only make the new obligor aware and receive consent from the new obligor. A contract transferred by the novation process transfers all duties and obligations from the original obligor to the new obligor.
    There is no new contract or change in the contract when you default and it is transferred to a 3rd party debt collector because you agreed to that provision in the original agreement or contract. Therefore, there is no novation.
    No, none of the above is true. The only thing that might change in some states is resetting of the State Statute of Limitations. In some states payment of money will reset the SOL but not in most states. It all depends on
    the specific state law.
    Wrong again. That is what we get for listening to the garbage legal theories to be found on most message forums. If it isn't one thing it is the next.
    Now that is good advice.
     
  8. desertrat

    desertrat Well-Known Member

    Thank you very much for clarifying all of that for me, Cap1. It's greatly appreciated!
     

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