When you send a validation letter and are disputing a debt the CA is no longer able to attempt to collect the debt under the FDCPA. Is this correct? I'm wondering because I sent a validation letter on a debt that was a CO sold to a law firm/CA and the receipt was returned to me signed a few days ago. The law firm continues to call me every day though. Can this be constituted as trying to collect. I haven't been answering the phone, but I know it's them since I have caller ID. If they are in violation I want to document the times they call so I have record of the violations. Anyway I wasn't sure if a phone call fell into that category.
According to the law. If you request validation after the 30 days, which they first contacted you, then they can continue to collect while validating. So if you requested validation within the first 30 days of there initial contact, then it is a violation. However they still must validate within 30 days.
arrgh pick up the phone and see what they want. Document the call. Calling everyday becomes harasment after a while but it takes two to make phone call .. Ask them do they have any new information ?? If you have nothing better to do ask then to explain your rights.. WHen they say this call is for the purpose of pissing you off . Then ask for clarification then say I don't quite understand so I would NOT want to lose my rights and tell them you are going to hang up cause that statement scares you and you fell threatened. heh When they say tehya re from the law of Jack Meoff and Howe ask them are they licensed in this state do they intend to sue YES or NO.. Then start crying etc lol Then you have no need to call me I requested you respond by mail. Have a nice life CLick Then put in caller ID cause then they have to punch in numbers..
I am not sure legally attorneys can be classified as CAs under the FDCPA. My state laws specifically say attorneys are NOT CAs. Kind of weird when they do everything a CA does and bill the same way.
I'm just a bit nervous about this since this is an unpaid CO. I did request validation within the 30 days after they notified me so it looks like a violation. I am not one to advocate not paying off what you owe. In this case I have a hard luck story just like everyone else and did in fact try to work with these people, but I can't pay what they want. The reason I am nervous is I just got through reading the Credit Net primer and I think it's Quixote in there that doesn't necessarily recommend going great guns with an unpaid CO. I have read the primer many times before and just didn't catch that reference. I just do not want these people to sue. Oh well. At this point all I can do is wait the 30 days and see what happens. Maybe they won't verify. Since they haven't reported to the CRA yet do I ask the OC for deletion if they don't verify? Anyone know? Biting my nails and ruining my pearly whites!
Well I have not been her long but been in biz for over 30 years on and off. And i can tell you that getting sued for bad debt is not a common thing .. Unless you have a bunch of assets they can grab for the most part they are not intersted in you .. However if they decide to sue then I think it's all over bar the shouting once they have made up their minds.. WHy becasue if they state to you they are going to satart proveeding they better or they have broken the law If you think this will happen make sure you have no cash in the bank and make sure you turn up in court Many time they do not appear.. Also you can settle on the steps of the court also .. This is where most of the cases gets settled. It;s really a game of documentation and bluffs.
I remember reading a thread here recently about this issue and whether these attorney collectors are subject to the FDCPA, as CAs are, or not. I'll look for it tomorrow and see if I can bump it to the front page or post a link here... It seems to me that these 'law office of xyz' collectors are considered CAs unless an attorney actually has specific knowledge of the case in question, but usually they are just unsigned computer-generated form letters to collect on a debt, and any affiliated attorneys are not brought into the loop until legal measures are to be taken (so sometimes not ever; they just lend the officiality of their titles to the stupid CA notice for drama value). So, as I understand it, in most instances, these are considered CAs. Wait, it just occurred to me--perhaps I read this when I was looking at some of the staff opinion letters that accompany the FDCPA literature. (I've been on such a reading spree that I can't even tell which end is up anymore. Got to get to bed now.) In any case, this topic is worth knowing more about, and I'll try to find something on this.
Curious about whether you put in a C&D statement when you send in your validation letter to them. In any case, I think that a phone call does constitute a collection effort, even if you're not answering the phone to see what exactly they want. But I bet it would be better documented if you got the tape recorder that oz was suggesting to me in the post you guys helped me with. Does this particular CA leave you messages or just hang up? If they just hang up, then that phone company service that intercepts callers may be helpful. Someone mentioned to me that it costs about $5 per month...
You can request validation at any time. You never give up your rights to validation and you have not admitted ownership of the debt if you don't request validation in 30 days. A lot of CA's try to pull this one on you but don't fall for it. One tried to tell me the same thing but they deleted when they got me intent to sue.
