My DV Turns Into Identity Theft..

What did you say in your letter? Did you dispute it as "not mine"? Did you request validation? Did you request any specific information on the account?

You don't have to state a reason to request validation of a debt. FDCPA says you can request it; the CA doesn't get to rewrite federal law.

On the other hand, if it is not your account, filing a police report and submitting it to the CA and the CRAs is probably the most direct way to get it off your reports permanently.

 

Some CAs routinely send "fraud affidavit" forms in response to validation requests. Why? They can't or don't want to validate, but they want to be able to claim they responded to the request so they can continue to collect, and so they can cover their a$$es if you pursue them for FDCPA violations.

They might not have access to records from the original creditor (often cheap out of statute debt is sold with this restriction), the amount in collection might make doing any validation too expensive to justify, or they might know sending validation might uncover some defect in the debt, such as that it is past SOL, was already settled or paid, or they are collecting on an authorized user while claiming it is a joint account. Not only would this undermine their attempts at collection, but it might undermine the legitimacy of the "debt" should they choose to resell it to another CA.

The least sophisticated consumer who receives such a reply would think that they have no right to validation unless they can send in a fraud affidavit, and since most people will not falsely claim fraud, or even say anything under penalty of perjury about a debt they may know nothing about, the CA has effectively blocked many consumers from exercising their rights under FDCPA. Later, they can then claim either that the consumer was apparently satisfied with their reply, or that the consumer must have concluded the debt was theirs.

They really have nothing to gain from validating out of statute debt, and more to gain from bullying. That is why we have so many bullies doing debt collection.

You, for example, think that they are "investigating" it as fraud. They have done nothing other than send you a form, and if in return you do nothing, they will continue to collect.

You got nowhere, which was their goal, and it cost them nothing.

 

"I definitetly want to make it clear that I'm not basing my dispute because of fraud or ID theft.."
You requested validation. You did not have to indicate at this point what you were basing your dispute on. You might know nothing about this debt at all, or you might want to know how they arrived at what they are collecting on, both legitimate reasons to want validation. You don't have to say, and at this point don't even know, whether there is any issue of fraud or ID theft. You are a dumb consumer; you don't have to have ESP, and you shouldn't have to guess.


They did not send validation. If what they sent they intended as a requirement before they would send validation, then their action was deceptive and illegal. If not, and it was a "misunderstanding", or "we always assist potential debtors in filing fraud reports" (Yeah, right!), then it is at least irrelevant, and they have not sent validation.

Validation is information on the debt obtained from the original creditor and sent to the alleged debtor by the CA.

 

It is strange that people requesting validation report get fraud affidavits instead, but people disputing a debt based on fraud or id theft report only getting promises of fraud affidavits that never seem to arrive.

 

First time replying, but I've been following for a while. I have requested by certified mail Validation. I also received ID Theft Affidavit, I responed by stating this not what I asked for and again requested Validation x3 not responce. Called CB and was told to talk to their fraud side of the house and was told that the company had verified with them and my only recourse was to forward ID Theft Affidavit and wait for a responce. This is over a 4 month period.

The dept is truly not mine. At this time do I need to send the ID Theft, or is it time to go small claims court for no validation. I even told them in a letter that they could not hold my credit hostage.

Thanks in advance for responce

Have a great day

 

To summarize:

1) You requested validation from a CA. They did not send it, but instead sent an ID Theft Affidavit.

2) You replied that you had requested validation, not an affidavit. They ignored you.

Was your first request for validation sent "timely", within 30 days of your first letter from them on the debt? Did you dispute with the CRA following your confirmation of the CA's receipt of your validation request? Did you also "dispute" the debt in that letter, and did the CA fail to mark the CR entry as in dispute?

If so, the CA may have made several FDCPA and FCRA violations. Even if it ultimately turns out to have been ID theft, that does not leave the CA off the hook for failure to comply with the law.


You contacted the CRA. Did you dispute with the CRA, and did they inform you that the CA had "verified" in response to your dispute? Did the CRA send you the results of their "investigation", in writing? Did the CRA "fraud department" indicate what information the CA had "verified", such as SSN?

Can you show you have been damaged by this erroneous reporting? Have you been rejected for credit, or have you been notified that your interest rates (or insurance rates) have been raised due to information from a CRA on a credit report containing this negative TL?


Actually, at this point, you could proceed to court against the CA, for violations of FCRA, since they are reporting erroneously, and have verified. You might consider running this by an attorney, since waiting for the CA to do something they have already shown they do not intend to do just results in more damage to you.

You might also file a complaint with your state AG.

If you know the account is not yours, you could also file a police report for ID Theft. It might later turn out to be a misidentification, but based on what little you know, that it is not yours, and that both the CA and CRA have suggested you file an ID Theft affidavit, that might get it resolved quicker.

The problem may be if the police want some information on the account, which the CA has so far ignored your requests to provide, but it is not productive to speculate on barriers that haven't yet occurred. If you did file an ID Theft affidavit as part of getting a police report, the police might be better able to get some information out of the CA than you have been.

If it turns out that the CA's own stonewalling presents a barrier to your being able to obtain police cooperation, contact an attorney. It sounds like you already have enough for an FCRA and probably an FDCPA case, with at least statutory damages. If that shakes lose any information on the account, that also points to ID theft, follow up with a police report, to force the CRAs to block it, and force the CA to be unable to sell the debt, as required by FACTA, regardless of the FCRA suit outcome with respect to damages.