I have a 17k Discover account that was charged off May 2004.I received a letter on June 7 from ENCORE saying that my act. has been referred to their office for collection of the balance in full.They list Discover as the original creditor.They go on to say that "unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of this debt,this office will assume this debt is valid."They go on to say"If you notify this office in writing within 30 days from receiving this notice,this office will: obtain verification of the debt or obtain a copy of a judgement and mail you a copy of such judgement or verification.I f you request this office in writing within 30 days after receiving this notice,this office will provide you with the name and address of the original creditor,if different from the original creditor."What,if anything, should I do at this time?I'm freaking out!This is a valid debt and July 7 is right around the corner!HELP!
First, you need to try to stay calm. When you freak out, you are only going to make a mistake. Now, especially with a LARGE & RECENT account like this, you want to take everything nice and slow, so you don't make a mistake. You need to do a whole lot of reading, BTW: its not 30 days from the date on the letter, its 30 days from when you RECEIVED the letter. Presumeably, that is believed to be about 5 business days from the date of the letter, unless it was postmarked after that date. You want to read all of the introductory threads, the ones which are at the top of the forum, and all of the threads which are recommended in them. Yes, its a lot of reading, but you need to understand everything about the process, before you start the process.
BTW: the paragraph that you typed is called the "Validation Notice" that is a standard paragraph which has to appear on the first letter from a CA in order for them to comply with the Fair Debts Collection Practices Act. The paragraph can be changed slightly from company to company, but it has to present essentially the same major information, in order to comply with the law.
NEW MEMBERS READ THIS. http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=410243#post410243 Read this and send the Validation Letter. ************************************************************
You want to read all of the introductory threads, jam237 ==================== Which can be found by ckicking the following link NEW MEMBERS READ THIS. http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=410243#post410243 ************************************************************
Okay guys.I've read most of the newbie section.I'm potentially running out of time here to respond to this CA,so let me make sure I understand this.Ineed to send a Validation letter to ENCORE within this 30 day time frame or do I continue to lay low for now?Thes people are leaving me voice mails at my office every day!I will continue to study here but I need to know pretty quickdo I respond by letter to these people now or what?
Okay guys.I've read most of the newbie section.I'm potentially running out of time here to respond to this CA,so let me make sure I understand this.Ineed to send a Validation letter to ENCORE within this 30 day time frame or do I continue to lay low for now?Thes people are leaving me voice mails at my office every day!I will continue to study here but I need to know pretty quickdo I respond by letter to these people now or what?I appreciate any sound advice you guys can give me ASAP.
There is not much you can do...17K is a lot of money and the debt was just charged off in May... If you ask for validation they probably will provide it. At this point you should seek to settle this debt and try to keep your CR's as free as possible of derogatory info!
What if she can't settle the debt? If she could pay, her account wouldn't be in this "charged off" state. If she can't settle the debt, does she declare bankruptcy? What are her options?
