Is that valid? Can I tell them to respond in 15 days?
It would be helpful if you could give us more details than what you have provided here.
Anyway, have you consulted a lawyer? Maybe a strong letter from the lawyer known as the 'lawyer's letter' could set in the impact that you are serious. Going to court may hamper future relationships with the other party and you.
Sven, sometimes a collection agency will send out a letter like the one you are speaking of. It is a so called scare tactic to get you to contact them. It also may very well be a letter of intention to sue. You need to let us know a little more detail like if this is from an original creditor or a collection agency who took over the debt.
The best thing you could do now is to get out a debt validation letter to whoever sent you the letter. This will make them prove they own the debt and they will have 30 days to do so. Also be sure it is proper validation, which is the original signed contract. Be sure to send it out certified mail for proof.
What is the letter regarding? If it is about validating a debt, then the CA has 30 days to validate after you have made the request. So doesn't matter if you give them a deadline of 15 days or not.
I hope you are sending all correspondence through certified mail and asking for a return receipt. You surely do want to be careful about this, don't you? :)
There it is. I have explained my whole situation before.
They keep ignoring my requests and just send me a plain copy of the move-out statement. This is not a proof that I owe it.
The letter I am talking about right now is this one here:
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is to serve as formal notice that you are currently violating my rights under the FCRA § 616 Civil liability for willful noncompliance [15 U.S.C. § 1681n]
As I have not received valid proof from you in over 3 months, regarding my demand for validation in my letters dated March 19th, April 20th, May 21st of 2008. You have not supplied the requested proof of the alleged debt, under the doctrine of estoppel by silence, Engelhardt v Gravens (Mo) 281 SW 715, 719, I may presume that no proof of the alleged debt, nor therefore any such debt, in fact exists.
In the spirit of compromise, I am willing to pay this account IN FULL (or settlement percentage) if you agree to immediate deletion of this account from any and all credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). The purpose of this settlement is merely to have this item removed from my credit files. It is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of liability for this debt in any form.
If you agree to the terms and accept this agreement, certified funds for the settlement amount of twenty-five dollars ($143.44) will be sent to Collection Agency in exchange for full deletion of ALL references regarding this account from my credit files and full satisfaction of the debt. As certified funds will be used for payment, there shall be no waiting period regarding the deletion of this account from the credit reporting agencies.
Collection Agency agrees to delete ALL information regarding this account from the credit reporting agencies WITHIN TEN CALENDAR (10) DAYS following receipt of payment as specified above and will not discuss the terms of this settlement with anyone, excluding your client on this account. If contacted by any third party, including credit-reporting agencies, Collection Agency will not acknowledge that any settlement offer was made, accepted or executed and will, in fact, deny knowledge of any such account.
If you agree to the above terms, please prepare a letter on your company letterhead explicity agreeing to the same terms as the above settlement offer and have it signed by an authorized representative of Collection Agency. It will be implied that this letter shall constitute a legally binding contract, enforceable under the laws of my state.
Your response must be postmarked no later than 15 days from your receipt of this settlement offer or this offer will be withdrawn.
I retain the right to use your receipt of this notice by me or my legal representative in any further legal action I may pursue Your failure to respond, on point, in writing, hand signed, and in a timely manner, will serve as a waiver to any and all of your claims in this matter, and will entitle me to presume that you sent your letter(s) in error, and that this matter is permanently closed.
Failure to respond within 15 days of receipt of this registered letter (with return receipt) will begin my small claims action against your company. I will be seeking damages for the following:
1) Defamation
2) Negligent Enablement of Identity Fraud
3) Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Please address all correspondence regarding this account to:
I sent it cause they keep sending me invalid proof or ignore my letters.
Wow that is a pretty good letter. I am glad to see you did not admit to the debt. I would get a dispute in with the credit bureaus and send them a copy of this letter. You can also get in contact with the FTC and atty general (if you sent everything by return reciept, certified mail). If you sent out requests for verification that many times then they have had plenty of time to provide you with the proof. Get on your computer and look onto the atty and call them and the FTC.
If they have not sent you proper velidation by now then my guess is they do not have it. They more than likely purchased the debt (like most do) without all the proper paperwork needed to legally sue.
No, the credit Bureaus don't care. I already tried that.
BTW, they only did send me a plain faxed copy of my move out statement. But I requested:
1. The agreement which authorizes you to collect the debt on the assumed debt.
2. The signed agreement from the debtor confirming to pay the debt.
3. The documents regarding the payments made on this account AND validation of the amount.
Obviously they do not have anything else. But I am not sure if I can sue them. Most say that is not a valid proof, though.
Hi Sven
Is that valid? Can I tell them to respond in 15 days?
It would be helpful if you could give us more details than what you have provided here.
Anyway, have you consulted a lawyer? Maybe a strong letter from the lawyer known as the 'lawyer's letter' could set in the impact that you are serious. Going to court may hamper future relationships with the other party and you.
Sven, sometimes a collection agency will send out a letter like the one you are speaking of. It is a so called scare tactic to get you to contact them. It also may very well be a letter of intention to sue. You need to let us know a little more detail like if this is from an original creditor or a collection agency who took over the debt.
The best thing you could do now is to get out a debt validation letter to whoever sent you the letter. This will make them prove they own the debt and they will have 30 days to do so. Also be sure it is proper validation, which is the original signed contract. Be sure to send it out certified mail for proof.
No, it's a letter I sent to the CA :wink:
What details do you guys need?
No, it's a letter I sent to the CA
What is the letter regarding? If it is about validating a debt, then the CA has 30 days to validate after you have made the request. So doesn't matter if you give them a deadline of 15 days or not.
I hope you are sending all correspondence through certified mail and asking for a return receipt. You surely do want to be careful about this, don't you? :)
http://www.creditmagic.org/repair/dispute-bureaus.html
There it is. I have explained my whole situation before.
They keep ignoring my requests and just send me a plain copy of the move-out statement. This is not a proof that I owe it.
The letter I am talking about right now is this one here:
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is to serve as formal notice that you are currently violating my rights under the FCRA § 616 Civil liability for willful noncompliance [15 U.S.C. § 1681n]
As I have not received valid proof from you in over 3 months, regarding my demand for validation in my letters dated March 19th, April 20th, May 21st of 2008. You have not supplied the requested proof of the alleged debt, under the doctrine of estoppel by silence, Engelhardt v Gravens (Mo) 281 SW 715, 719, I may presume that no proof of the alleged debt, nor therefore any such debt, in fact exists.
In the spirit of compromise, I am willing to pay this account IN FULL (or settlement percentage) if you agree to immediate deletion of this account from any and all credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). The purpose of this settlement is merely to have this item removed from my credit files. It is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of liability for this debt in any form.
If you agree to the terms and accept this agreement, certified funds for the settlement amount of twenty-five dollars ($143.44) will be sent to Collection Agency in exchange for full deletion of ALL references regarding this account from my credit files and full satisfaction of the debt. As certified funds will be used for payment, there shall be no waiting period regarding the deletion of this account from the credit reporting agencies.
Collection Agency agrees to delete ALL information regarding this account from the credit reporting agencies WITHIN TEN CALENDAR (10) DAYS following receipt of payment as specified above and will not discuss the terms of this settlement with anyone, excluding your client on this account. If contacted by any third party, including credit-reporting agencies, Collection Agency will not acknowledge that any settlement offer was made, accepted or executed and will, in fact, deny knowledge of any such account.
If you agree to the above terms, please prepare a letter on your company letterhead explicity agreeing to the same terms as the above settlement offer and have it signed by an authorized representative of Collection Agency. It will be implied that this letter shall constitute a legally binding contract, enforceable under the laws of my state.
Your response must be postmarked no later than 15 days from your receipt of this settlement offer or this offer will be withdrawn.
I retain the right to use your receipt of this notice by me or my legal representative in any further legal action I may pursue Your failure to respond, on point, in writing, hand signed, and in a timely manner, will serve as a waiver to any and all of your claims in this matter, and will entitle me to presume that you sent your letter(s) in error, and that this matter is permanently closed.
Failure to respond within 15 days of receipt of this registered letter (with return receipt) will begin my small claims action against your company. I will be seeking damages for the following:
1) Defamation
2) Negligent Enablement of Identity Fraud
3) Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Please address all correspondence regarding this account to:
I sent it cause they keep sending me invalid proof or ignore my letters.
Wow that is a pretty good letter. I am glad to see you did not admit to the debt. I would get a dispute in with the credit bureaus and send them a copy of this letter. You can also get in contact with the FTC and atty general (if you sent everything by return reciept, certified mail). If you sent out requests for verification that many times then they have had plenty of time to provide you with the proof. Get on your computer and look onto the atty and call them and the FTC.
If they have not sent you proper velidation by now then my guess is they do not have it. They more than likely purchased the debt (like most do) without all the proper paperwork needed to legally sue.
No, the credit Bureaus don't care. I already tried that.
BTW, they only did send me a plain faxed copy of my move out statement. But I requested:
1. The agreement which authorizes you to collect the debt on the assumed debt.
2. The signed agreement from the debtor confirming to pay the debt.
3. The documents regarding the payments made on this account AND validation of the amount.
Obviously they do not have anything else. But I am not sure if I can sue them. Most say that is not a valid proof, though.
Well, I just congratulated you on another thread for getting your CA to agree to a pay to delete :)
http://www.creditmagic.org/repair/about7395.html#30658