I don't understand how a debtor has a legal basis for starting the debt validation process more than 30 days after they were first contacted by a collection agency. To do this, don't you have to start out by being deceptive and claim you were never contacted? If you do claim this and the debt doesn't get validated and eventually leads to a court case, isn't it a defense on the CA's part to show that you missed the 30 day deadline? Also, many of the initial validation letters I have seen start out by claiming the debtor was a victim of identity fraud. Isn't claiming this also deceptive from the very start, and doesn't that taint the end result? I would like to avail myself of the debt validation process, but I don't want to start out by lying. So, can I legally validate a debt where I was contacted more than 30 days ago, or not? And on what basis? Is there a good sample letter somewhere to accomplish this?
You may demand validation at anytime per 809 {C} of the FDCPA: The failure of a consumer to dispute the validity of a debt under this section may not be construed by any court as an admission of liability by the consumer. §
Look at the other way around. Someone contacts you and says you owe them $100,000 and since you never challenged it, you're now liable. Of course, EVERY collection agency is totally ethical and would never take advantage of innocent people this way, right? First thing I want to see anytime someone says I owe them money is proof that I'm responsible.
You can request validation anytime, like stated above. As for validation letters claiming id fraud. I leave that out. One thing I found out is not to be a machine. Be original. Take the sample letters and use them as a template. This works for me at least. Be careful not to add to much but if you change a word or two to fit your needs it's fine. Just my opinion...
