I sent a request for debt validation to a CA and they sent back a copy of a statement. I waited 30 days and sent out the Estoppel letter. I just got back a letter from the Collections Agency's lawyer and I don't know what to do next!! Here is a copy of what their letter says. *** Your letter of September 22,2003 references â??possible inaccuraciesâ? in CRA reports. We are not aware of any inaccuracies in CRA reports. Please provide us with copies of the CRA reports noting which inaccuracies you are referring to. DCI Credit Services cannot respond to something as vague and indefinite as â??possible inaccuraciesâ?. Please keep in mind that DCI Credit Services is a collection agency, it is not a credit reporting agency. If you feel that there have been criminal violations of the FDCPA or FCRA, or other federal statutes, then you should file the criminal complaints, not threaten to do so. Any presumption by you that there is no debt would be an inaccurate presumption. In your letter of October 28, 2003, you state that you are restating your demand for proof of the debt. In reviewing your letter to DCI dated September 22, 2003, I donâ??t see where you have demanded any proof of debt. Your letter deals with credit reporting agencies. Your letter of October 28, 2003 references 15, USC 1692 and requests evidence of authorization. I donâ??t understand your request for authorization. DCI Credit Services is not in violation of Section 1692 (e) or (f). Again if you feel that they have been in violation of that statute, then you should take legal action. If you feel you have been defamed, that there has been a violation of any federal law, or that there has been fraud, then we invite you to pursue those remedies through the court system. **** I don't understand a word of this!!! I sent them a debt validation letter from the sample letters on this site and then after 30 days I sent the Estoppel letter because all they had ever sent me for debt validation is a copy of a statement with no signatures!! I sent all of the above certified mail so I can prove they got it. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!
No, I don't know what it's for. It isn't my debt. I didn't sign for anything. All they have sent me thus far is copy of a statement that looks to be a medical bill. But the place the medical bill is from isn't even in my town and I haven't ever been to a doctor anywhere else and my local clinic and hospital have no idea what it is.
Send them one more letter copy the attorney demanding validation. After that dispute with cr after you get your green card. File suit if no response. We have to be tough to win these battles with these bozo ca,s
What if they just send me another copy of the statement?? Does the letter they sent me make any sense to you?
Just trying to scare you tell them you are not a expert but you are very concerned about them causing you financial injury and deformation to your character over there mistake. Validation if medical is the record from the service provider with your signature. Nothing less.
Would you post the letters you sent (without the real names, of course)? This will help us find out if their lawyer is right or not.
Here are both of the letters. **** To Whom It May Concern: I am formally requesting that you validate all tradeline notations you have submitted to the three major credit reporting agencies by â??Crappy Collection Agencyâ? for me, John Doe. Due to possible inaccuracies in these CRA reports, I must demand that the validation I hereby lawfully request be in the form of a notarized statement by a person with original knowledge of the debt as it was constituted and who can testify that the debt was incurred legally, was not subsequently disputed as a result of returned, faulty, or recalled consumer products, was not utilized as a profit-loss tax deduction during the period it may have been payable, and was not claimed as a loss with any insuring entity during the period it may have been payable. Please be advised that I am not requesting a verification that you have my mailing address; rather, I am requesting validation, i.e., competent evidence that I had some contractual obligation sans consumer protection encumbrance. Please know that you have 30 days from the tracked and confirmed delivery of this lawful notice to either answer these demands or to remove the associated negative tradeline notations from the CRA reports. Any other action may constitute evidence of your intent to abridge one or more civil or other constitutional rights. Please be further advised that continued unsubstantiated reporting of possible inaccuracies to third parties may provide a basis for criminal complaints being filed in accordance with FDCPA, FCRA, and other federal statutes. I look forward to a timely and amicable resolution to this matter ******** I sent the next letter 30 days later. ***** As I have not heard back from you in over 30 days regarding my notice of dispute dated 09/22/03, and you have not supplied the demanded proof of the alleged debt, under the doctrine of estoppel by silence, Engelhardt v Gravens (Mo) 281 SW 715, 719, I may presume that no proof of the alleged debt, nor therefore any such debt, in fact exists. In a good faith effort to resolve this matter amicably, I restate my demand for proof of the debt, specifically the alleged contract or other instrument bearing my signature, as well as proof of your authority in this matter. Absent such proof, you must terminate this collection action and correct any erroneous reports of this debt as mine. For the record, I state again that as I have no account with you, nor am I your customer, nor have I entered into a contract with you, I must ask for the following information: Please evidence your authorization under 15 USC 1692 (e) and 15 USC 1692 (f) in this alleged matter. What is your authorization of law for your collection of information? What is your authorization of law for your collection of this alleged debt? Please evidence your authorization to do business or operate in the state of North Dakota . Please evidence proof of the alleged debt, including specifically the alleged contract or other instrument bearing my signature. You have fifteen (15) days from receipt of this notice to respond. Your failure to respond, on point, in writing, hand signed, and in a timely manner, will work as a waiver to any and all of your claims in this matter, and will entitle me to presume that you sent your letter(s) in error, and that this matter is permanently closed. Your continued silence is unacceptable. Either provide the proof or correct the record to remove the invalid debt from my credit files with the three primary credit-reporting agencies. You are currently in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Act. Failure to respond within 15 days of receipt of this registered letter will result in a small claims action against your company. I will be seeking $5000.00 in damages for the following: Defamation Negligent Enablement of Identity Fraud Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act After obtaining the judgment against your company, I will obtain a Writ of Execution from the Sheriffâ??s office in your county and I will begin the process of attaching property or funds to satisfy the judgment. For the purposes of 15 USC 1692 et seq., this Notice has the same effect as a dispute to the validity of the alleged debt and a dispute to the validity of your claims. This Notice is an attempt to correct your records, and any information received from you will be collected as evidence should any further action be necessary. This is a request for information only, and is not a statement, election, or waiver of status. I affirm under penalty of perjury under the Laws of the Land for the United States of America, that the foregoing is true and correct, to the best of my knowledge and belief. *****
Hate to say it, but IMHO the lawyer is right ... 1. In the first letter you dispute the TLs in your CR. In the second letter you request a debt validation. 2. When you dispute a TL, you must clearly state the account number and the creditor, so they can identify the TL. The "possible inaccuracies" is a very, very, very, very subjective phrase. No law has define it yet. Besides, you must dispute specific inaccuracy, not the inaccuracies in general. 3. You are trying to dispute a TL with a CA. No DF is obligated by FCRA to provide YOU with any evidence or to even respond to YOU. Not in 5 days, not in 30 days, not ever. You have to dispute TLs with the CRA first, because DFs are obligated to respond to THEIR request and to provide THEM such evidence (see OC: True or False?, Statement 5, 6A and 6B). 4. FDCPA § 809 (b) gives you the ability to dispute a debt with the CA and obligates the CA to respond to you in certain way. So, dispute the TLs with the CRAs. Dispute the debt with the CA. If needed, send the appropriate follow-up letters to both. There are some sample letters here and here. Last, but not least, there are plenty of people here who would help you, so don't be shy - ask BEFORE you do something like this ...
Re: Re: HELP!! EXPERTS NEEDED!!What now??? I DID ask for advice on this stuff BEFORE I sent this, on THIS SITE in fact. The first letter I got off another website and it was called a hard core validation letter. It says in the first paragraph that I am asking for validation of the tradelines that have report about me. So wouldn't that work for validation? They must have thought it was a validation letter because they mailed me a copy of some statement with my name on it but no signature. I was told on this site to send the estoppel letter 30 days after I sent the validation letter. I have also already disputed this with the Credit Reporting Agencies with no luck. So if I send a validation letter now and they send me the copy of the statement again, then what?
Re: Re: Re: HELP!! EXPERTS NEEDED!!What now??? LL, I didn't mean to offend you ... I know you did ask, I've read your questions. As I remember I've even posted some answers about the debt validation. So wheh I said "ask BEFORE you do something like this" I meant ask as much as you need so you fully understand it. There are two laws that concern you - FCRA, dealing with reporting of information to CRAs, and FDCPA, dealing with debt collection. They are not that complicated. Read them few times and you'll understand them. You must know your rights, only then you can defend yourself. You must understand everything you put in writing. You can't just take a letter, replace few words and send it. You must know what you are saying with this letter. You have to be consistent. As I said before, in the first letter you request a CA to remove some TLs. In the second letter you complain that they haven't validated the debt. Of course they haven't validated it - this is not what you asked them to do. According to FDCPA, this proves nothing ... [color=0066FF]§ 808. Unfair practices ... the following conduct is a violation of this section: (1) The collection of any amount ... unless such amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law. [/color] You can't send them the Estoppel Letter, because you haven't send them a correct Debt Validation letter. In your first letter you disputed some â??possible inaccuraciesâ? in your CR. This is not a DV letter. In your second letter you've referenced 15, USC 1692 and have requested "evidence of authorization". This phrase does not exist in FCRA or FDCPA, so this isn't a DV letter either. Again, be careful what you send to the CA. Any weakness in your letter will show them that you are not familiar with the law and they can do anything they want. Post your letters here before you send them, get them "approved" by the experts here, be sure they comply with the applicable law. Here is a simple DV letter: «Your Name» «Address1» «Address2» «City», «State» «Zip» «Company» «Address1» «Address2» «City», «State» «Zip» «Date» Dear Sir/Madame: I do not believe that I owe what you claim I owe, and I request that you please do the following: - Tell me what this money that you say I owe is for. - Show me how you calculated what you say I owe. - Give me copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe. - Show me that you are licensed in my state, and give me your license number. - Stop contacting me about this or any other matter you have, except to provide me with proof that I owe what you say I owe. I demand that you also send a copy of this dispute to the company that you say I owe money to, so that they do not report this on my credit report. I further demand that if you have reported me to a credit reporting company, you tell them that I do not agree with this debt. Sincerely, «Signature» «Your Name» FDCPA § 809 (a) clearly states what their responce should be. If you don't get such responce, then send the Estoppel. You may also post here the letters you already sent to the CA and CRAs, so we can take a look and see if something's wrong.
Re: Re: Re: Re: HELP!! EXPERTS NEEDED!!What now??? Thanks, the tradeline shows a zero balance so would the above letter work. I don't know what it's for and it's not mine so I want it off my report even though it shows a zero balance. What do I send if they say I don't owe anything but are still reporting it?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: HELP!! EXPERTS NEEDED!!What now??? Yummy, the above letter is to dispute a debt with a CA. You probably need a letter to dispute a TL with the CRA. Post the TL here (without the actual account number), so we can better help you.
Quick question. How many reports is this on and what are the differences, no matter how seemingly insignificant, in the different TL's.? ??? ?
Re: Re: HELP!! EXPERTS NEEDED!!What now??? It is only on my equifax report. It is reported by a DCI Credit Services for Sidney Health Center.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: HELP!! EXPERTS NEEDED!!What now??? It reads Collection Account DCI Credit Services Inc. Date: 12/99 "Sidney Health Center" Original Amount: $137 Amount Due: $0
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: HELP!! EXPERTS NEEDED!!What now??? Now you got me confused ... Am I talking to the same person about two different cases?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: HELP!! EXPERTS NEEDED!!What now??? No, Yummycakes is my sister-in-laws account. I didn't realize she was still signed in on my computer so it showed her user id when I replied. Sorry.
Re: Re: HELP!! EXPERTS NEEDED!!What now??? Ok well ... a bit of a mistake LL. No big deal. We can fix it. It'll just take a little time. Relax. First, you are merely a nitwit consumer in the eyes of these laws. In fact you are minimally sophisticated. You're not expected to know the in's and out's of every technical word you used in your letter. So in short, the answer to your question is yes. Your letter, regardless of the fact that it was the wrong one, lol, does demand validation of the debt. And we'll treat it as such. It's backed up by the fact that they did make an attempt to validate, albeit rather pathetic. Moreover they understood the val. demand component of your letter, that's why they sent the copy of the statement. If they really were so horribly confused you would not have received that. Second, this is a "civil" case not a "criminal" one. Third, we shall ask this atty. what specific law requires YOU to furnish information about an alleged debt which isn't even yours. "All I know, Mr. Atty. (and yes we will be very respectful) is that this alleged debt is NOT mine, and you have failed miserably in your attempt to prove that it is. PERIOD - END OF STORY. According to the FTC, in a case called FTC v. PCM, we see the following: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2000/08/performance.htm For Release: August 24, 2000 California Debt Collection Agency Settles FTC Charges Of Fair Credit Reporting Act Violations The proposed settlement would require PCM to provide correct delinquency dates when reporting collection accounts to credit bureaus. The agreement also mandates the proper investigation of disputes. Where PCM learns during an investigation that account records no longer exist for a disputed debt, the company must delete the information from credit bureau files within five days. Finally, the agreement would require PCM to report as "disputed" all accounts where consumers have disputed the information with PCM. Fourth, should I be forced to resolve this in court, I shall make certain your employer understands it was done upon your personal invitation. Encouraging an expensive, legal fiasco when a simple, one minute remedy is available, in order to advance your billable hours would not, I'm sure, be perceived warmly by your employer. So, we need to work up another letter to address this one from council. Are you prepared to file suit, should it come to that? ??? ? CC: Copy to CEO of DCI Credit Services. .
