I disputed a few things on my Exp. report a few weeks ago. One of the items, from a CA, came back Verified. Surprise, Surprise when I get not one, but two, letters from them about a week later. Have lived at this address for two years and haven't heard a peep from them in that time, so I had a feeling it was a result of my dispute with the CRA. I send a validation letter over asking for a signed contract, complete billing etc. etc. Sent CMRR, delivered and signed for on 6/17. Today (6/22) I get another letter demanding payment. The letter is dated 6/20 and postage marked 6/21. I have also checked my Experian report again today, and there is no notation that says "Disputed". My question is, do I have two violations to work with right there? Any advice or direction you can point me in?
Technically, yes. Could they weasel out claiming they didn't know they had received your request when they sent their next letter? Probably. Keep it and see what else comes. Did their letters include all the FDCPA required disclosures, that you could request verification of the debt, that you could request the name and address of the original creditor, that if you didn't dispute it within 30 days, they would assume it was valid, etc?
I have a related question. I sent a DV today. I purchased the Certified with return receipt, but I didn't attach the return receipt green card to the envelope. Nutty ole me is staring at it right now. Is that DV worthless? Should I send another. Can anyone suggest what I should do next? This is for an account the OC previously turned over to a CA, but I later paid the original creditor. Still the entry remains on my CRA account.
As to the "green card," you are out of luck. However, if you have the number printed on the left side of the PS Form 3800 (US Postal Service Certified Mail Receipt), you can log onto the USPS web site, enter this number in the tracking section, and get an indication of when your item was delivered. You can then print the page with this information as proof of delivery.
How can they weasel out of it - I have the green card which states it was signed for by a "J. Jones" on 6/17 and this letter to me is dated three days after that? Additionally, my letter was send "to the attention of" the same person who "supposedly" sent this most recent letter (and the previous letters). So, unless their company policy is to throw away correspondence, I'm assuming it should have went to the proper party? No? I just looked at the first two letters they sent to me and this most recent one and No, none of them contain the FDCPA disclosures. The only thing stated on the very bottom of the letters is "This is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose". At the very top off the letter it has the company name and "COLLECTION DEPARTMENT" across the top. Also, the newest letter has an amount that is a few dollars more than the letter from last month....
How? Just tell the judge "We are a big company collecting on millions of debts. Our receiving department takes several days to get received mail to the intended party. In the mean time, our computer sent out the follow up letter. Bona fide error." If it is truly an "accident", they will not continue to violate the law. If their compliance policy is to ignore the law, they will continue to accumulate violations. You have at least 2 already: 1) Failure to send the notice of your dipsute rights required under FDCPA; 2) Continued collection without providing validation (which is only a violation if you disputed timely.) They will probably claim they sent you a letter months ago with the required notice (whether they did or not), you failed to dispute timely, so they are off the hook. They may even claim they don't have to validate anything, for various reasons, or that a printout from their own computer, or some affidavit from one of their employees, is "validation". Did your validation request letter reference the first letter you received, and when you received it? Did it indicate that letter was the first contact you had received from them? Let them accumulate enough violations to overcome any defense they might bring. They may even call. Does your state allow single party permission for recording?
If you have the Certified number you can print out a delivery receipt, showing the date of delivery, from the USPS web site. It may not be as strong as showing they signed for it, but it shows you mailed it, and that an impartial government employee claims they delivered it.
They could not have mailed me a letter months ago, they did not have my new mailing address and any mail sent to my old address is forwarded to me. They updated their file after I disputed with CRA. Yes, my letter did reference my receipt of their letters and it being my first communication from them. Here's a question though. Do I count 30 days from date of letter or from date of postage mark or from the date I receive it? I'm not sure if my state permits recording or not, but I specifically stated in the letter to only contact me via US postal mail not to contact me at my employer nor at my contact number which happens to be my cell. We have a phone at home but no one ever calls it, we never answer it and there's no answering machine. It's basically just for our DSL line.
Ontrack, I have some other information/details that I want to pick your brain about but I don't want to post them here for troll reasons. Can you email me? Thanks,
The 30 day clock begins when you recieve the communication. Unless you can show that for some reason you didn't recieve the communication, it is presumed that receipt was within 5 days of the date that they sent the communication. So, post-mark date + 5 days + 30 days is the drop-dead deadline to post-mark your reply, and be able to have an easy arguement that it was timely.
Actually, our telephone portion of the line doesn't even work...only the DSL. Some kind of bad wiring or something, I don't know. Regardless, I got ANOTHER letter from them today. This confirms a violation, correct? It's been nearly two weeks since they signed for my letter.
You drew a line, they crossed it. How much are they trying to collect, and how do your violations stack up against their likelyhood of suing? In other words, who is likely to blink, and if no-one blinks, and you both go to court, what is the likely outcome? Or do you have no clue what this is, and the faster you force their hand, the better you limit their damage to you?
They are trying to collect $200 some dollars. They are EXTREMELY unlikely to sue for $200, it just would not be worth their time. I'm not 100% sure I know what this is, which is why I disputed it with the CRA in the first place. Then I got the original letter which does not state anything other than an amount they are claiming I owe. If I am right about what this *might, maybe* be it is within the SOL for 1 more year. It's already on my CR, but only one of them. The other two deleted after a dispute. From my assumptions it appears I have the following violations: 1. Continued Collections 2. Failure to Report the Account as Disputed and I guess 3. Failure to supply their documentation with FDCPA required disclosures? Also, on the one CR last month it stated "Closed, Charged-Off", now it states "Open, Was Charge-Off" ...........how can something re-open after being charged off?
Second thought... Is it possible the FDCPA required disclosures were missing because this was the OC? (Obviously I would know better than you, but I don't recognize the name of this company and I konw OC's and CA's don't have the same rules...) But, if that is the case, why is this particular company registered in my state for "Collection Practices" and why do the letters says Collection Department on them? Any input on this OnTrack?
Are they an OC? Do they normally sell a product or service, or lend money like a CC company? Does this debt they are trying to collect on arise from a sale or loan they themselves did? They may not need to comply with FDCPA, but if they report to CRAs they must comply with FCRA and FACTA. For disputed CC billing, they must also comply with FCBA. Or are they a debt collector? Do they collect debt originally owed to an OC that sold something? Then they must comply with FDCPA. If they report to CRAs they must comply with FCRA and FACTA. Even if they are the collection department of the original creditor, but represent themselves as a "collection agency" under a different name, they are then a "debt collector" covered by FDCPA. "This is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose" The above statement is normally required on all correspondance from debt collectors. The first contact letter, however, must also include the additional notifications or dispute rights required by FDCPA. What business does BBB say they are in? If they have a legitimate debt, they should be able to obtain records from the original creditor to substantiate the amount of the debt and who owes it. If it is what you think it might be, was the original bill legitimate, or in dispute? Or did the OC sell or assign a questionable account instead of resolving a dispute?
If they are the OC, which I'm not sure if they are or not, however if they are then yes this would be from the "sale" of a service they did themselves. This was my biggest question. So even if they are in fact the OC, they are stating they are the "collection department" which means they must follow FDCPA rules, correct? So that means I continue to treat them like any other CA, if they are in fact not a CA, because they are representing themselves as though they are a CA, right? This was not on any letter I have received from them in the last month or so. I may have received a letter from them 5 years ago containing this information, but I don't recall. Can they wiggle out of that one? There are two listings. One says Consumer Finance and Loan Co. (which has a few complaints) and the other says Credit Services. Both have the same address and info. They are registered with my state (they're a local company) as debt collectors. It was a legitimate bill if it is what I believe it to be. I do remember phone calls from this company years ago. They kept calling my employer, even though I asked them not to, and would threaten me and sometimes use foul language. If I only knew then what I know now....... That just gave me hope that they would continue to pile on the violations to give me something to work with.
Did you take out a loan (or open an account) with this company directly? Or did you take out a loan, or open an account, or incurr a bill, from some other company, and this company is trying to collect on the debt? If the former, they are the original creditor. If the latter, and they bought or were assigned the debt after you defaulted, then they are a debt collector subject to FDCPA.
I won't really know until they respond. I took out a loan from a company; however, I do not know what the name of the company was at that time. It was for a membership. Should I just continue to assume they are a debt collector until they show me otherwise? They're definetely acting like a debt collector and are licensed as a collection agency.
