What is debt validation?
Debt validation is the debtor's right to ask for validation of a debt a creditor claims he owes. A letter requesting validation of the debt should be sent to the creditor or the collection agency, if they claim that you owe the debt, either by sending a collection letter or by reporting the debt on your credit report.
Debt validation letters (DV letters) should always be sent by certified mail requesting a return receipt or faxed, so that you have proof that you have asked for the debt to be validated if the creditor fails to validate the debt. When you ask for debt validation from a debt collector, they need to provide you with a copy of the original signed contract between you and the original creditor and the account statement showing your outstanding debt. In addition to these two documents, the collection agency must provide you with proof that they have been given the right to collect the debt by the original creditor, or they have purchased the debt from the original creditor.
On receiving the debt validation letter, the creditor or the collection agency must provide you with proper validation within a few days from the date they receive your DV letter. If they fail to validate the debt within this period, then you are no longer liable to pay the debt under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Here is a sample debt validation letter which will help you to ask for debt validation.
Your Name
Your Address
Name of CA
Address of CA
Date:
Re: Your Account No:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I checked a copy of my credit report and realized that there was a collection reported from your agency, which I was not notified about. I do not reject to provide with the debt amount. However, this is a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b), that your claim is disputed and a validation is demanded. This is asking for proof regarding the debt that I owe and verifying it.
I am requesting you to stop all collection activities including reporting this information on my credit report. I am sure that you are aware of the fact that non-compliance with this request may end up in legal obligations.
Please dispatch copies of the following with your reply:
1. The agreement which authorizes you to collect 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.
With regards,
Your Signature
Your Name
Hope this helps :)
Hi Hellofamess ,
It seems that you are confused about two terminologies but i will recommend you to just take it easy!
Debt validation or validate which one do you ask from the CA
Both the terms are same only.You just need to tell them that you want to just confirm that the collection agency is the authorized entity and they have actually purchased the loan from OC.
This simple process is called as debt validation and this has to be given in written documents.
keep us updated.
:idea: :idea: :idea:
How much time do I have to give them? They received mine on April 21st. Last time they responded the same day. Now nothing so far. I took the letter that 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 document.
The first letter was a pay-for-deletion. Only sent me a copy of my move-out-statement. That ,I already had myself duh. Apparently they are having troubles now.
I think it's 30 days, right?
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not prescribe any time limit by which a creditor needs to validate the debt. However, the creditor has to stop collecting of the debt till the time they validate it. Moreover, the FDCPA is also silent about what should considered a proper debt validation. As a proper debt validation, the creditor can send you a statement showing the details of the amount already paid and the outstanding.
The CA only sent me a plain move-out statement when I first sent them this letter. About 1 month ago, I sent them another letter saying that I want a signed agreement etc. that they are allowed to collect the debt ( the letter someone posted here that requests 3 things). They have not responded yet. I will send them another letter now. The follow-up letters here basically threaten them that you sue them etc. Is that an apporpiate letter in my case? They did send me something, but basically no real prove ( I had that move-out statement myself anyway ). Or can they disregard the second letter cause they already supplied something?
Anna ,, Hope this is not too late ,, It is the law firm
Anna ,, Hope this is not too late ,, It is the law firm that has purchased the account. Please reply to the summons that you do not owe the amount. Or you do not acknowledge the account as yours.
Very Important.
If you say you owe the amount it’s pretty much over with.
The CA only sent me a plain move-out statement when I first sent them this letter.
I think there is no harm in asking again (remind letter) for the validation of the debt as they have provided very limited source of information which do not prove you to be debtor.
Send them remind letter as earliest.
keep us informed.
:arrow: :arrow: :arrow:
Hi Sven,
Following are the 3 documents that the collection agency(CA) should provide you, when you ask for debt validation:
1) Any written proof that the CA has either purchased the debt or has been assigned by the your original creditor to collect the debt amount.
2)Your account payment records, so that you can verify the debt amount and any late fine that have been included.
3)Either the copy of the original contract between you and your creditor or the account statements from your creditor.
If you haven't received these documents you should send follow-up letters to the CA. You may mention in your letter that according to the FCRA, if the CA is not able to validate the debt, you are no longer liable to pay the debt amount.
Hi Sven
The follow-up letters here basically threaten them that you sue them etc
Did you find a sample of a follow up letter the Letters of Credit section? What document did the collection agency send you when you requested for debt validation?
Or can they disregard the second letter cause they already supplied something?
Whether the collection agency will disregard your repeated debt validation letter, is totally up to them. But under the FCRA, the CA has to stop collection practices until they are able to validate the debt.
Thank you guys!
I did send them a follow-up letter now.
That's the one I used.
I did edit out the suing part. I just added that it is illegal and that they need to respond.
What do you mean by what document I sent them? The first letter was just a letter I found here and I changed the information on it.
I trequested:
1. The agreement which authorizes you to collect 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.
Pretty much looks like they are having lots of trouble to supply that information. Like I said, the first time they responded on the same day.
[System detected duplicate content;converted to image. Thanks]
Yes dear this will really help me and also to all. thanks for this.
ugh. today I got the response. I got the same meaningless letter from them AGAIN!!! I am so sick and tired of it. Apparently they do not have anything else.
They just have the move-out statement the apartment faxed them.
But I requested:
1. The agreement which authorizes you to collect 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.
I have no idea what I can do now. But I will try to fight it.
debt validation returned
I sent in a deb validation letter to creditors and they sent me a copy of a bill but they aren't the original creditors the debt has gone to the third collector is that copy of bill sufficient? if so what next?
clearing a debt
My sister signed the contract for my mobile home which I was paying for until 2008.I surrendered it while in bankruptcy. Now they are trying to collect the debt which is $67,000. She never lived in it. How can she clear her name?
Hello Laura,
Nice sample letter. It will help people immensely. Keep the good work going. :D
dv
I saw a copy of your sample letter. Do collection agencies generally attempt to provide the information that is requested. I spoke w/ one earlier and they told me that they only had the final bill. I asked them to send information as to how the final bill got to the amount that it was. There response was that they didn't have it. Is it likely that this will come off?
Hi Kenny g
If you have any doubts with the bill they are showing you you can ask them to validate the debt. Do this in writing and trhough certified mail so that there is documentary evidence that you have asked for validation. If the CA doesn't validate your debt as per your request, you don't have to pay them a dime.
Collection Account from Nco
I just founded on my credit report this week. Nco claimed that I owe $788 to Sprint PCs which is not true because I only owe$250 the most $300. I never received a bill and they denied to give a deal to pay. What can I do?
If a CRA has removed a fraudelant account from my credit report, is it true the creditor can not try and collect on it or sell it to a third party to try and collect the debt?
Hmmm..
What can I do if I have not gotten any response to a debt validation letter? I did send it via registered mail and I kept my copies for proof... What do I do now?
I received a "Notice to Appear for a Pre-Trial Conference/Mediation" on the 1st of the month and the court date was for the 19th of the same month. That's only 19 days!!! Up until this point, the Assignee used a different law firm in the past. I of which sent out a certified VOD letter and never heard from them. Now the assignee using a different law firm is taking me to Pre-Trial.
Does the request for Validation start all over again with different law firms even though it's the same Assignee?
I did show up for court and asked for validation of debt, and it is now set for a Non-Jury trial thirty days from Pre-Trial.
Do I need to prepare anything for the Trial? Is it worth me sending out a written VOD letter to the new law firm even though I will see them in court in thirty days?
BTW the amount they are stating is different from what my credit report states.
Check this out! Free Credit Repair until September only...
Hey guyz, I want to share to all of you a great resource that I found regarding Do it yourself Credit repair. If you have credit problems, just register as a beta user then start repairing your credit for free!
Hope this helps... "http://www.creditsmartpro.com/beta_program.cfm" :D
Question
I have been paying on a old credit card that has the wrong balance on it for about a year now. It is with a Hostol and Buchan in Little Rock Arkansas and they state that the person who bought it off the original creditor will settle out but I dont know what to offer them. Is there a guage or something to go by. I owe around $1300.00 on the old account that I really never charged this up to that amount.
judgement
lawyer has won a judgement against me and the judgement was for 8000.00 now it is to the stage of production papers, and i received a letter saying that they would settled but she has added another 6000.00 for interest accued. is this legal. this is in texas
I am sure that I join other whenever I say that I think that you have some really good advise to offer and wish you would contribute more information, free to members, please give this request some consideration.
Capital One Credit card
Hello, I paid my Capital One credit cards off back in '07.. Well now in 2009 Capital One says another card was opened without my knowledge. I have not signed a contract, however there was activity on the account showing purchases, I did not make, Can they collect based on the activity or do they have to produce some from of contract that I agreed to get the card.. Please help.
Default judgement
Stupid me did not answer summons in time. Default judgement awarded against me!
Prior to answering summons, i did contact creditor's lawyer over phone and request DV. Was williing to make payment arrangements if proper vaidation would be provided. I am a SAHM, and my spouse is the only wage earner. It is an old cc debt that is only in my name. The debt at the time was $2270, i tild them I could give them $300 down and $100 per mo. That was'nt acceptable at the time, but they did offer to take $1800 in a lump sum anc call it settled. Since then mo validation, only request to give them all my personal info.
Have filed motion to vacate, and have requested debt validation right on the motion. I still have received validation of the debt. I have acourt date for motion to vacate judgement in 2weeks. am writing up DV letter today and will send it MON., this time via certified mail. Unfortunately, have no record of any other correspondence w/ CA.
Any advice on what i should bring/how to prepare for the motion to vacate hearing????
Oh yeah, motion to vacat filed july2, court date Aug. 18, and yeaterday received a "summons to judgement debtor for examination" for Sept. 17th...REaL NICE!!!
what is credit
answer my question
Validation letter prior to summons answer
I am going to reply with an answer to the summons. Just wondering if I should also follow up with a validation letter to the attorney/creditor? There will probably be a court date set, so
that would give more time correct?
I also see that I should deny the debt, for the ending balance from when I notified them to close acct is alot less then it is now after fees, overlimit etc....
Judgement
I received a couple of letters from local credit attorneys requesting their assistance for a judgement that was filed against me 2 weeks ago. I have yet to see such judgement - could this be a ploy from the creditors who have apparently filed this? If a judgement was filed, should I expect to be served soon? And if so - is it best to seek counsel to assist me in this process? Any input is greatly appreciated. The debt is 2 yrs old.
I got my summons and responded. Two different ones actually. The first one I responded and went to court. If you do not show up on the day of court you automatically lose. So make sure you go. The judge read a form that basically said should I not show up he was to grant their judgement. Since I showed, all he could do was dismiss it. But also warned me that they could come back at a later date should they chose to pursue it further. I have not heard anything in 3 months. But that doesn't mean it is off my credit report.
My second summons I responded to and then they sent me a questionair they wanted me to complete, of course in their alloted time. The last few pages were questions that they said I was to agree to. I read through them. I answered the questions but the one that irritated me was the one that said I was to agree to the $11,000 I owed them. My answer was that I disagreed. I owed my credit card company a total of no more than $7500 as my agreement was with them. From that point, they postponed my hearing date and I have not gotten any letters. But they keep calling my house and leaving me messages. I just don't call them back.
Not sure if I stumped them or if they are now trying to figure something else out, but I refuse to pay them. As the minute you pay even a dime, you are liable for the whole balance.
case law for 12 credit card statements
How can you defend yourself when the CA provides 12 monthly credit card statements in one year although it represents only a fraction of the total debt? I have sent dispute letter but fear they may sue. Do you know the case law for proof of debt? I have heard of a court case in Connecticut in which 12 consectuive months was sufficient for collecting debt.
summons service and misinformation
I was handed a debt collection summons for my wife from Mann Braken LLC at our home in California. Is that a proper summons service? The summons has her name, but an incorrect account number in the ¨cause of action is based upon account number¨
The last four numbers is not the same as the original credit card statements.
Will this just make the CA attorney just draw up another summons?
I will be sending out a debt validation letter and waiting for a response.
Thank you Optimist for the sample DV letter and any replies to my questions.
validation
I have learned that validation letters = court summons. I've sent 2 validation letters & received 2 summons.
30,000.00 worth of credit cards being sued
I have a tremendous amount of credit cards which is unsecured.
I have been trying to pay the attorneys which have these accts
monthly since 2005. I AM NOW AT MY WITS END, i CANNOT PAY THIS
ANYMORE. i AM thinking of going into chapter 7 or debt settlement.
I live with my children, have no assets, do not own anything,
and the only money I RECEIVE IS SOCIAL SECURITY RETIREMENT.
i AM ALSO UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT THIS IS EXEMPT, IS THIS
CORRECT. PLEASE, PLEASE HELP.. THANK YOU.
valedation letter validated
after the debt is validated by the creditor or collection company what do I say next,
deleted fraud accounts
first let me say that i am a victom of id theft,well robed at gun point.
i went and got a police report right after it happend.this happend 1996.i did not have credit and did not won`t it.so about three years ago i went to renew my state id at penndot and found out that someone used my id to get a driver license because the face on the monitor was not me.so they told me to get a credit report as soon as posible.when i did this person opened bank accounts,credit cards and ran up a 1300 dollar medical bill and 12000 dollars in credit cards .it took me three years to get these accounts deleted,but i can not get this medical bill off of my credit report.i have trying for three years and they keep saying that it`s mine.what should i do.i sent them a copy of my police report..thank you.
debt not belonging to me
My ex-step daughter son had a circumsion (spelling) she did not pay the doctor. My insurance paid for the delivery. My ex-stepdaughter daughter was covered. I did not agree to pay for the circumsion didn't sign anything. At first the collection agency was calling and sending her letters. When I told them her mother and I was divorced and I don't know the whereabouts of my ex-stepdaughter they went after me and put this on my credit report. She was 18 years old at the time.
You should file a dispute with the credit reporting agency immediately. I would also contact the creditor and tell them that you are not responsible for the debt and you are not going to tolerate them reporting information on accounts that you are not responsible for to any reporting agency.
credit card debt/collection
i received summons, 2 actually. I enrolled in a settlement program and paying them monthly for that. I m paying 2 settlements/accounts (2 summons that being settled by the company) already monthly for 2 accounts that i included in the settlement program . I spent the savings that supposed to be for the settlements due to family crisis that it needed to attend to re: death in the family. How do I answer the summons? do i need to admit it? Do I need to write a letter? how?can u help me? do i need a hardshipletter? and a budget plan? im scared really...
Please help!
I received a letter regarding a firm may sue me if I dont pay their debt. I sent for a debt validation letter and received a summons. I never received validation. I plan on answering the summons, but what should I do next?
debt validation
I was served papers in Jan. 2008 and then recieved a letter after to to settle out of court. I responded that to my knowledge I did not owe debt and they needed to send documents to prove I owed the debt and sent copy to court and attorney. Nothing was ever sent to me. Its been a year and a half. Then recieved cort date after notice of dismissal. Apparently new attorney requested to resume lawsuit. Can I file a letter like the one above to attorney and file with court? My final contest is in Dec 2009.
dismiss lawsuit
Can I submit request to drop lawsuit after final contest hearing is set for failurte to prosecute and failure to validate debt?
Hi corebeth,
If you have a lawsuit then I going to assume you have an attorney. So if I were you I would ask your attorney to be on the safe side. But if they couldn't validate the debt why would you want to? If it was me I believe I would take my proof to court and the judge it most likely going to rule in you favor.
dismiss lawsuit
No I don't have an attorney, not yet. I really can't afford one. After they filed papers they sent letter to me requesting to settle out of court in January 2008. Recieved notice that final contest hearing set for December 2009. I don't recall this credit card. Its taken 18 months to get this notice and its now a new lawer. I requested documents on debt in January 2008 in response to settlement letter but they never sent anything to me.
Did you check the SOL for your state to see if it has past. And if you sent the debt validation letter did you send it certified with receipt?
debt validation
I sent a QWR for validation of debt. The only response I got is a modification paclet. I filled it our but want validation of amount claimed I owe. no response after almost two months. What are my options before accepting any modification agreement?
You have the right to proper debt validation, you can request it again, did you send the first one certified mail, return reciept requested? If not, make sure that you send the next one that way so that you have record of you sending it and them recieving it.
CA
What does CA mean?
Would I need to send a validation letter to just the original debtor or to the collection agency as well?