I had a balance on my credit card. I had some financial trouble that caused me some delays on payments. I tried to negotiate a payment plan with my credit card company away from the aggressive rate (reducing the high rate). They didnâ??t only refuse, but added additional fees every month for not paying on time. They turned my account to a collection agency, which called me on semi-daily basis for about three weeks. I offered â??during one callâ? to pay off the debit set a no-interest plan but same response (refuse). I did some online research on dealing with collection agencies and learned that they are violating the laws since I should be receiving a debit validation within 5 days of their first attempt but they didnâ??t for three weeks. I sent them a letter requesting validation of the debt and to show me how it's calculated and also show me that they are authorized within 30 days. I received a response in the day 33 in the collection agencyâ??s letter head. They simply stated that they are authorized to collect the debit and the amount (3 lines) and included copies of 4 months of credit card statements. The credit card statements were not for my account! It carried another person's name and address, and completely different account. They didnâ??t meet the 30 day window first of all or provided a proper validation (the statements were not also mine). I responded in a certified letter that I dispute the debit since the documents they sent are incorrectly assigned to me. At no time was my intention not to pay, they refused to set a plan for me in the beginning and the events developed that way. I wanted to take an advantage of my rights until I get to the point where I negotiate the settlement or a doable payment plan that I can do. Under these circumstances, I am not sure what would be the next step or what else the collection agency can do? They couldnâ??t comply with the requirements in the letter which I sent within the timeframe or even provided a valid validation. What if they sent a proper validation later regardless to the initial timeframe window or reported to the credit bureau? I think of sending them another letter asking them to stop collection and not to report to the credit bureau since they didnâ??t provide a proper validation or Iâ??ll take legal action against them. Is it a good idea? What would be the worst case scenario after that? Court? (I can show that they didnâ??t provide proper validation) Return to the original creditor? (Weâ??ll go back to square one) Any advice?
There is no requirement that the CA provide validation within 30 days. Questions to ask: 1) did the CA send you, in writing, the required notifications (See FDCPA) within 5 days of their first contact? 2) did the CA continue collection activitites between the time they received your dispute and validation letter and the time you received the validation information? Should you go to court? Maybe but your case is far from ironclad. (reread the FDCPA) Your response to the CA is confusing. Do you disput this or not? If you tried to negotiate a payment plan then you must have admitted (or implied) that it was yours. The validation information they supplied DOES sound like it more than meet the requirements of FDCPA, however, that the information is incorrect could be a separate problem.
1) No 2) No The information they send was a 1 page letter with 3 lines indicating total amount I owe with copies of statements for 4 months, which don't belong to me.
In that case you might have grounds and evidence to pursue an FDCPA suit and follow Cap1Sucks strategy of serving the CA with a federal law suit and see if that makes them a little more open to negotiation of your debt. Just be careful to sue for grounds that are actually supported by the FDCPA and case law and not just by assertions of things like common sense, or something you read somewhere on the internet. Some CAs have no problem defending an FDCPA suit all the way through trial and appeal.
FDCPA Section 809. Validation of debts [15 USC 1692g] (b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector. taken from: creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/debt_validation.shtml there are debt validation procedures there, im using those procedures myself now. also sample letters
Those letters (e.g. Sample Leter 9 - Request to a collection agency to validate a debt) are the sure way to not be taken seriously. (Sample letter 10 - A sample letter requesting a collection agency to validate and remove a listing from their database. on the other hand is much better.) There's nothing in either the FDCPA or any related case law that says a CA is required to provide anything more than the name and address of the original creditor and nowhere does the FDCPA say the CA has to respond in 30 days or delete the entry. I followed that site (until I found this one) and, in my experience, much of the information is ill advised and flat-out untrue. It might have been true and helpful some time ago, but these days, it's more misleading than helpful. Letters to CA should be focused and to the point and devoid of any legal citations or threats, explicit or implied. They could care less what you think and if they don't know the relevant laws, they sure as heck aren't going to believe anything you cite in a letter. Make your request. If that doesn't work, take 'em to court. Anything else is a waste of postage, IMO. as they say in the internet, YMMV, and caveat emptor.
