XYZ BANK P.O. Box Phoenix, AZ ***CMRRR# 7** Re: Account Number: Dear Sirs: This letter is sent to memorialize several recent events that you should immediately act upon to correct. You were advised in my letter of October 3, 2003 which was received by your office on October 6, 2003 that you were not to contact me by phone at work as I am not able to receive personal calls. Additionally, I made the request that I be contacted only in writing at the aforementioned address and I requested complete verification of this debt. However, someone at XYZ obviously chose to ignore this request, documented by the calls your employee Jacquelyn made to my office on October 17 and October 20, 2003. As I am sure you are aware by my first letter, this is a serious violation of state and federal consumer laws, so I wonâ??t bother re-stating what I have already stated previously. Now, I have received a letter confirming your receipt of my October 3, 2003 letter which asks for me to now send a signed copy of the letter before XYZ will respond. If in fact this debt is valid XYZ should have that information on file. Furthermore, the blatant violations of applicable laws are magnified by the fact that XYZ has done absolutely nothing to provide validation of this debt as was previously requested in my October 3 correspondence. I also have documented proof that you have declined to list this account as â??in disputeâ? with any of the credit reporting agencies. As it stands today, XYZ has amassed a whopping $18,300 in penalties for violating both Texas and federal laws. At this time I would still be willing to offer XYZ the opportunity to completely settle this matter with me in exchange for full deletion of this account from all credit reporting agencies, along with the agreement to close this account and not sell, transfer, or reassign this account to another lender along with XYZ's check payable to me in the amount of $5000 in exchange for me not retaining an attorney and me dropping any and all legal claims against XYZ and itâ??s associates. I am sure you would consider this settlement fair as we can be sure that the repercussions from a lawsuit, attorney fees, repeated violations, statutory and possible punitive damages and the potential of a class action lawsuit would most likely be far greater than the amount I am willing to settle with now. If you agree to the above, please acknowledge with your signature and return a copy to me along with your release for my inspection by no later than November 20, 2003. Furthermore it is expressly agreed that once I return the properly executed release, a check in the amount of $5000 will be forwarded to me within 5 business days. Upon receipt of this signed acknowledgment, I will promptly review any necessary releases you may require to conclude this matter. Notice: This agreement is restricted. This is not a renewed promise to pay but rather a restricted settlement offer only. By not signing below, you agree that the debt has not been renewed nor has any concrete written agreements been exchanged. Creditorâ??s Authorized Signature: _____________________________ Date:____________ Name Title : Cordially, TallSmith
Great Letter, if it was to a CA. But I'm not sure that all the same laws about validation apply to the OC. I am sure when things pick up later this evening someone more knowledgeable will respond.
received that same oc response letter "requesting my personal info and signature" and was wondering about the best way to handle the response. will be watching this thread to see what others respond on your letter. Thanks
I HAVE THE SAME SITUATION. THROUGHOUT THE PAST TWO WEEKS I HAVE SENT SEVERAL DISPUTE LETTERS TO OCS. I HAVE RECEIVED TELEPHONE MESSAGES TO MY HOME PHONE NUMBER FROM AT LEAST TWO OF THEM WITH THE MESSAGE, "I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU REGARDING YOUR LETTER/ACCOUNT WITH US. PLEASE CALL US WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION." MY POSTURE IS THAT THE PROOF OF THE STATUS OF THESE ACCOUNTS IS THEIR BURDEN AND THAT I SHOULD IN NO WAY ASSIST THEM IN MEETING THEIRS. THUS, I HAVE NOT RESPONDED. I'M NOT SURE IF THAT IS THE RIGHT TACTIC. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY THOUGHTS ANYONE HAS ON THIS ISSUE. ADDITIONALLY, I HAVE RECEIVED IN THE MAIL A LETTER FROM ANOTHER OC ALSO REQUESTING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WHICH I HAVE ALSO NOT RESPONDED TO. IS THIS THE APPROPRIATE WAY THE DEAL WITH THIS ISSUE?
You need to be careful when pursuing an OC as if they were a CA. First, check your state laws, and the state laws were the OC office is located. They can be bound (or freed) by both. Next, you need to determine (and evidence!) that the OC is acting as the CA in your matter. If you can PROVE that the OC is acting as the CA on their own behalf, then they are bound by the FDCPA. You also must be careful with the "requests made by the OC". If you do take them to court, and they show up, then it doesn't look good if you did not comply with their "reasonable requests to verify/validate". At that point it is a gamble with the judge your are in front of. The judge himself could require that you provide this information for HIS validation (that you are not just trying to avoid a debt). Also, how old are these accounts? Are there any SOL issues here? Make sure you look at ALL the laws, and their applicability to your situation. Good Luck
OC's are not bound by the FCDPA. Your language in the letter is therefore offbase. The best approach for the OC is to use the FCBA (billing dispute) for recent accounts or use the accuracy in reporting. OC'a are bound by law to report accurate information and they must deal with your dispute of accuracy. You need to carefully review your credit reports (including the FICO "notations" in order to find errors). A common violation of OC's is reporting incorrect dates, balances and "reaging" of charge off dates. Remember, the dates reported to the CRA is when the account became delinquent not when the OC decided to report it. The law states that ALL information reported by the furnisher must be "complete and accurate". Send a simple letter to the OC's address on your credit report as follows: (Date) OC Name Address City, ST. Zip Re: Incorrect credit reporting of Account XXXXXX Dear Credit Reporting Manager: I am hereby disputing your credit reporting of account # XXXXXXXX, specifically the (state a specific erroneous piece of info.) I am requesting that (OC name) correct this information immediately or removed this account from my credit files. Please correct this account listing in your credit bureau reporting and send me a written confirmation once you have done so. Sincerely, (Name)
I forgot to mention that you must dispute with the CRA AFTER you send the letter to the OC. This forces the OC to respond in their updated credit reporting. If they fail to correct the changes, you have evidence for court. Be careful, because the CRA may delete the TL altogether. This may or may not be your goal.
