Collection Agency Harrassment

You should write the collection agency requesting "full validation of this debt".

Have you received a notification letter from this collection agency, or has it been only telephone calls?

 

Validation letter:

RE: Acct: xxxxx

To whom it may concern:

I dispute this debt in its entirety and request that you validate this debt in accordance with the FDCPA.

Thank you,



Your name here.

Anything more than that is a waste of ink.

If you are litigiously inclined, be sure to start keeping track of their FDCPA violations:

1) not sending you the required notification or your rights in the required time period

2) continued collection without validation

if you play your cards right (and they don't), there could be a payday in this for you.

 

Good example of an effective letter of Debt Validation Request. Just be sure to send Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested, to evidence your sending and receipt of the letter.

 

Yes, definitely! I also put the notice Sent Certified Mail: Receipt No: XXX at the bottom of the letter just to "dot the I's and cross the T's." There can be no denying receipt when the letter and the receipt match the post card and record from the USPS' web site.

When I was playing letter wars with the last CA, I just went to the post office and grabbed a handful of CMRRR postcards and receipts so I could do all that in the comfort of my home. I also made letter templates in MS Word so all the forms were printed from the computer.

Part of that is because my writing borders on illegible and part if it is to show that I'm in it for the long haul and ready to do what it takes. I'm sure they could give a rat's ass what the CMRRR post card looks like, but I felt better

 

A "debt validation request" is asking for "proof" of the debt.

You should always send a debt validation request to a collection agency to protect your rights under the law. Some of the steps/procedures may seem a bit out of the normal, but they are the law.

As for what to expect, I doubt they will provide the validation/evidence, since this is such a small amount. There's a chance that they will just put it aside, and sell the debt to another agency.

Also, have you checked your credit reports? Are these accounts showing on them?

 

They didn't give it to you?

How would they know to credit the right account if you paid them?

You could call them up and ask for it, if it's not listed on your credit report.

 

Will they find out a little later that you owe another $500 to "OLD NAVY"? Without any evidence, it's not clear what to do. If it is opened in 2001, when was the last date of use or payment? Is this owned by OLD NAVY or was it sold to a third party? Consider this, what happens if you do pay it and then in a few months someone else calls and claims you own them the $185?

 

I wouldn't give them your credit card number. Didn't they have an account number for you to reference when you sent payment? If not, use whatever account number is showing on the collection account on your credit report.

If that's enough for them to report it, that's enough for them to find it.

 

There is no limit to the number of times a debt can be assigned for collection or assigned without limitation, sold.

 

You wrote you never received a billing statement. Even though it is past sixty days, write the CA a FCBA dispute.

 

If the debt is from 2001, you may not even legally owe it anymore even if the balance is "correct."

Check the statute of limitations in your state.