I need help with validation. In June Encore Receivable Management, CA for Providian started calling about my Providian account. I sent validation letter, the 30 days were up on July 28. I received the green card on June 28. Between June 28 and July 28 Encore was calling every other day. Each and every time I informed them that I requested validation. Encore response was â??we donâ??t validate, your correspondence has been forwarded to Providianâ?. I have them on 6 violations for that alone. For a while it just seemed like Encore just went away. Until, today that is. In todayâ??s mail I get a large envelope from Providian. It contained a letter on Providian letterhead dated August 8, 2002. The letter reads: August 8, 2002 Addressed to me RE: Providian Account ##### Dear Me: We received your letter concerning your MasterCard account listed above. From your letter, it appears that your are requesting documentation in an effort to validate your debt. Enclosed please find reproductions of the information contained in the billing statements that we sent to you from April 2001 to July 2002. Also enclosed is a copy of your Account Agreement and Reply Card. Sincerely, Signature of their Credit Services Associate. First of all I never wrote to Providian, I requested validation from Encore the CA. Am I correct in my understanding of the FDCPA that THE CA must provide the validation and NOT the OC? Enclosed in the envelope were copies of my monthly statements listing charges, but no signed receipts, which I requested. Is a copy of the monthly billing statement sufficient for an itemized account of charges? Lastly, there was a copy of a reply card that bears my alleged signature authorizing Providian to open an account in my name. It is incomplete. It only shows my name, address, a signature and date but no other information. What should I do now???
Ignore it. Act like you never got it and send the estoppel to the ca. The reason is, when you request validation from a ca, the ca is to obtain the info from the oc, and then, the ca is required to send it to you, not the oc. So, in reality, the ca has not yet validated.
Enigma, If you're nearly current and not chargedoff, I'd suggest you work on getting current and staying current. If Providian sues you, that is plenty for a small claims court judge to rule that is your debt. What the FTC says is validation and what a judge will accept as proof can be two entirely different things.
Enigma: LKH is right. The ca is required to obtain validation from the oc and send it to you. You can just ignore what Providian sent you. However, keep in mind that when you do send the estoppel they will likely send you a copy of what Providian has just sent you. The problem here is if this eventually ends up in court the you will have to conclusively say that is not your signature on the documents. You will also have to explain why there were so many payments made on the account if in fact it is fraud. Your best hope is to not let it get to court. What I would do is draft the intent to sue to the collector with as many violations as possible. The point being that it may not be worth their while to pursue this if the amount of the commission that they will receive from Providian is not large enough to cover the cost of the violations if they lose in court, which they will at least on that point if you've got violations.
Thanks to everyone. I am still new at this. I have drafted an Estopple letter that I will mail out in the morning. I am doing it to buy some time. I have Encore (CA) on at least 10 violations. I am expecting my financial position to improve by years' end. Just trying to keep them at bay until then.
