I recieved a call at work today from them regarding an account from Citi. I asked them which citi card it was and they did not know only had the last 4 numbers. The person who called me said they were calling to collect a debt so that makes them a debt collector. She asked if I recieved their letter and I told her I did not. Do I send them the standard validation letter? I did let Erica know that it was inconvient for me to recieve calls at work and that any communication had to be done through the mail.
You need to put it all in writing. Yes send the standard validation letter...but they should send you a letter first. Be sure to send a cease phone calls letter as well.
Ok thanks. I looked at one of my older reports and the last 4 match a collections account from LVNV funding that I filed a validation letter to and never recieved proper validation back. I sent them a letter asking again for validation and they are still within their 30 days. Edited to add: When I came home there was a letter from this "lawyer" they are part of Sherman Companies. On my report LVNV is listed and I had filed a validation request from them which they never responded to with proper validation. I need to pull my reports again but I don't have the money because my car was totaled Friday night
Noting that if you take away everything they can do, they could use that to conclude it's time to sue. Collection agencies enjoy calling people up and demanding payment. They even enjoy calling up and not getting anyone to tell to pay. They don't so much like being told they can't call you at all. They often don't like to do their business via the mail because that leaves a paper trail and people keep suing them for breaking the FDCPA and state laws. So it might make sense to weigh the advantages and the possible negative consequences of preventing them from having their fun on the phone.
Plus, if you live in a state where it is legal for you to record your phone calls without notifying them, you can easily collect proof of numerous violations of the FDCPA and state laws. Then you can end up with collection agencies giving YOU money instead of the other way around.
I would refrain from doing so. They're very litigious and sue at the drop of a hat and they are to stupid to respond to valid counters. They're better ways of handling this.
