Dispute with CA onto 3rd letter now. Help

If they are reporting it to the CRAs and they haven't sent any validation, then they are in violation of the FDCPA. So you need to plan on going to court over this for that to really mean anything.

BUT...reread the initial letter they sent you. It may have all the validation information on it already providing them with a defense.

I'm not clear as to whether that gets them off the hook for validation and continued collection or if they have to send you another letter with the original creditor information.

If you do go to court over an FDCPA violation, it's irrelevant whether you actuall owe the debt or not (that's a separate matter). Of course if you go raising the stakes by taking them to court, they might return the favor over the debt so, as they say in chess, think two moves ahead.

 

You need to learn about estoppel so you understand what it is and what it is not.

Estoppel basically says "Stop doing that which you are doing which is illegal.
There are several different forms of estoppel but the most common can be likened to a 3 legged table. If any leg is missing the table falls over.

The first leg of Estoppel is that somebody has to do or say something
The second leg is that you have to rely on what they did or said
The third leg is that as a result of your reliance on what they did or said you did something which turned out to be to your disadvantage.

(1)So what did they do or say(2) that you relied upon (3)that later turned out to be to your disadvantage?

They neither did or said anything to you. Therefore you relied upon absolutely nothing at all. No case for estoppel exists.

The estoppel letter found on most message forums quotes a Western District of Missouri case which has absolutely nothing to do with debt collection.

My understanding is that it was probably written originally by a man named John Gliha of Ocala, Florida many years ago now. It used to work extremely well but debt collectors are much smarter now and most of them just ignore such letters.

You can send it if you want to but don't be surprised if they don't answer that either. Over time there have been a lot of posters who sent 1,2, maybe even 3 demands for validation, all to no avail and then came back asking what they should do next only to get told to send an estoppel letter. A month or so
later they were back saying that didn't work either and wanting to know what to do next. They never get any answers to that final question or at least I've never seen anybody give them any answers. So they move on to some other message board hoping to get answers elsewhere.

Then they are seen asking how to prepare their defense to the lawsuit they just got served with.

 

Hi! I just happened to come in this site a while back. I got an email reminding me about it and I came on and scanned the letters. Yours caught my eye. I have been in severe debt for some time due to becoming disabled. Recently I had to go court over a debt. Part of my disability involves a brain injury. I have no recall of the debt in question. I cannot find anything on the debt (other than on my credit record). The Atty. who was representing the CA on behalf of the company I allegedly owe, EVEN IN COURT IN FRONT OF THE JUDGE, did not expound on the debt. I had called the CA when I first got the letter to appear. They don't seem to know exactly what type of company it is or what services (if any) they provide. I had to appear on a couple of occasions in court. First time, the JUDGE recommended I file Bankruptcy given my situation. The second time, I was told I either had to go through a jury trial or accept a lien on my property. I had a month or so to think about it. About two weeks prior to the jury trial, I got a notice from the CA AND from the court that the case was cancelled. I called the CA and it was explained that the case was still on, they had accidentally filed twice and were only cancelling one of the two. Then, a couple days later, I got another one. DISMISSED (again?) Well, for the hell of it, I waited. I didn't go to court on the appointed date. I held my breath expecting a lien or something. Ironically, I checked the records via the internet. Guess what? They cancelled BOTH the cases. Whether inadvertently or because they saw no point, I will probably never know.

Though you are SUPPOSED to be allowed to know what you are being sued for, that incident taught me different (and I used to work as an Exec. Legal Sec'y.). I contacted the court and they couldn't tell me anything, except that the case was cancelled and no action was being taken.

As for CRA's, they would have only placed your letter on file and if a creditor wants info regarding your credit, they can advise them of the letter. Seldom do they respond to the consumer. I had something on my report that wasn't even mine. Eventually, through the company, after numerous hours on the phone, they dropped it, admitting it couldn't me my acct. (NOTE: this is a separate issue than the one above). The CRA's however never once contacted me regarding my letter to them that this was not my acct.

I would be curious to know if you sent the letters to the CA certified, return receipt requested? The reason I ask, at least if they take you to court, you CAN prove than you tried to find out about the validity of the debt.

You SOUND as if you would like to pay the bill and perhaps in time you will if your finances permit. That being the case, have you considered attempting to contact the original creditor to see if something could be worked out? Not knowing your personal situation, I am hard pressed to advise you on how much to tell them. I caution you though (on the off chance you don't know), that IF neither has your phone number (if you've had it changed since you had dealings with the original company), a phone number CANNOT be blocked if you are calling a toll free number. It registers on their computers and you are then giving them free reign to call you and pester you to death as well.

I would suggest trying to contact the CA and explaining whatever your situation may be, via a Certified, Return Recipt letter. I would also try to contact the original creditor. Is there something you can do to work it out with them? Sometimes you can talk them into a lower pay off, sometimes you can get someone in a department called "Hardship Dept" (especially true with credit card companies) who will help you work it out rather than take you to court. They figure something is better than nothing.

I'm afraid my overall answer is not quite what you asked for. Unfortunately not knowing your current situation or the original creditor info, I'm hard pressed to go there. I hope I have helped some in this matter and I wish you the very best of luck!