I have an account on my experian report that has been charged off. I'm going to send a validation letter, but it says the item was verified and updated on 12-1999. I know I never asked them to try to verify it. Should I still do a validation? Second question. I have a providian account that says "credito's statement "Purchased by another lender." it also gives a bunch of dates of when it was charged off ie 6-2001,5-2001, and continues down from there. Should I still do a validation on this one as well? I just want to say that I'm so glad this board is here. With out it, I don't think I would know where to begin, and I also wouldn't know so much about those sneaky CAs. Thank You, Andi
Dispute them both with the CRA(s), they appear to be original creditors and validation would not be an easy first move because it is not required for OC's to "validate". There are many moves you can try if the dispute fails...but I would start by sending simple disputes with all the CRA's in which the 2 listings appear. Don't worry about the "verified and updated 12-1999" notation. -Peace, Dave
If you have any doubt about the 100% accurate reporting of your report, you must validate to ensure that everything is correct. However, you must ask yourself why you are validating. Many validate with the hope that the company won't properly validate, and will then delete and many validate with the hope that the company will get their reporting right. Before you start sending out validation letter, determine which kind over person you are and what your circumstances are. Are the debts past SOL? Will you be waking sleeping giants with a validation? Make sure you know what you are doing before you start sending out validations. I would recommend reading Doc Credit Primer and reading the FAQ's several times before you start. It is tempting just to jump right in and get started, but if you don't know what you are doing, you will be doing yourself more harm than good.
Thank you both so much for your answers. I am reading over the FAQ as we speak, and also read the primer. I will send the validation letters to the CRAs and see what happens I guess. Thanks Again!! Andi
No, don't send validation letters to the CRA's. The validations go to the CA's. Just dispute w/ the CRA's. You can do it right online. The first thing I did w/ all my derogs, was dispute them online. Some I did as not mine, some as never paid late. 11 out of 19 got deleted that way.
First, dispute with CRAs and see if any fall off. If they are original creditors, validation probably won't work as OCs are not bound by the FDCPA regarding validation. You could try it though and see what response you get. If the accts are over $1K, you might want to think about what you are doing as this plces you at higher risk for being sued. Now if these are collection agencies (the morons these people are - you, of course, already know this), the validation letter will hold more water as they ARE bound by the FDCPA and most of those in that fieled have NO CLUE about how to follow it.
Why do they consider asking for proof grounds for filing suit? Where in consumer law does it grant them permission to sue rather than furnish the proof? You always have a right to demand proof of a claim. Threatening you with suit is intimidation in an effort to denying you of your rights. Filing suit because you asked for proof is retaliation for exercising your legal right. Seems they would rather provide the proof in court rather than providing it now -I don't get their logic behind that.>>
