Building new credit after disaster

Hello Matt,

I do have some advice for you. The first, this is the internet so you should be careful what information you give to who. In the future I would not give out more then my first name.

Now as far as you question goes, I am a HUGE fan of debt validation. You can find some great letters on this site to start yourself off but, I use this one:

Your name
your address

Creditors name
and address

Date: 4/05/2008

Re: Acct #1234XXXXX

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is being sent to you in response to a claim filed in my credit report in 3/2004. Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.

This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you.

Please provide me with the following:

What the money you say I owe is for;
Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
Identify the original creditor;
Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent

At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:

Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Defamation of Character
If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following Declaration, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.

Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.

If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately.

I would also like to request, in writing, that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communication with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls and calls or correspondence sent to or with any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter by USPS.

It would be advisable that you assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action. This is an attempt to correct your records, any information obtained shall be used for that purpose.

Best Regards,

Send this letter to EVERYONE that shows up on your CR. Perhaps some wont be able to validate but, three year old debt will probably have the required documentation. The DV letter will really serve to break the ice between you and your creditor.

After you have gotten a response from your creditors use whatever holes might be in the documentation to try and get yourself a lower settlement price. Also, ALWAYS ask for a pay for delete with payment. This will help your credit more then anything.

Now if you send your letter and you don’t get anything from DC send the letter again about 45 days after the first *your sending both certified mail* Now personally, I did well with this letter that’s a nice combination of a DV letter and a PFD offer for the second letter....

Date: 3/23/08

Dear Collection Manager:

This letter is to inform you that I still dispute this debt. The information or documentation you provided is insufficient to meet the "validation"
requirements under the FDCPA. Please find a second copy of my original letter enclosed for your reference, as to what documentation
satisfies the FDCPA.
Note, I have not agreed yet that this debt is mine. I do retain the right to seek further proof from your agency of this debt. It has come to my
attention that your agency regularly purchases debts in the course of doing business. Suffice to say, as the source reporting the debt, you hold all
the rights to alter or delete the unverified debt in question to the credit bureaus as you see fit. Paying this unverified debt to you means little to me
if we cannot mutually agree that you will report the debt as mentioned below.
While I realize that your purpose is to collect debts as a collection agent, I am also aware of what a paid collection would represent for me, which
is not favorable. My goal is to arrange a term acceptable to both us since this debt is questionable.
If you agree to the terms and accept this agreement, certified funds for the settlement amount of INSERT AMOUNT ($$) will be sent to
DEBT COLLECTOR 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.
DEBT COLLECTOR 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, DEBT COLLECTOR 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 explicitly agreeing to the same terms as the above settlement
offer and have it signed by an authorized representative of DEBT COLLECTOR. It will be implied that this letter shall constitute a legally binding
contract, enforceable under the laws of CT. No payment will be made without written confirmation.
Your response must be postmarked no later than 15 days from your receipt of this settlement offer or this offer will be withdrawn and I will require
the originally requested full validation of this alleged debt, as provided for by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This is not a renewed
promise to pay but rather a restricted offer only. If no terms can be met, no new arrangements will be made and the offer will be void.

This is an attempt to correct your records, Any information obtained shall be used for that purpose. Please note that none of the foregoing is an acknowledgment of the legitimacy of the debt in question.

Best Regards,

YOU

Now I am not going to get into all of the details of this process here but, I will HIGHLY recommend that you research it. The more you know about your rights and the laws in your state the better you will do with all of this. Remember to look up the SOL in your state and to see of your state requires DC to be licensed. These are all things you can use to your advantage to get that PFD. Just dont start the DV if you don't have the money to pay the DC. If you have to do one account at a time, great.

Once you finish the DV you can also work on getting any inquirys you may have off of your CR.

As far as the judgments, I read that you can get the PAID judgments deleted from your CR if you were not served but, I am still looking into the legitimacy of this. You might want to research that too while your looking up DV. :wink:

Good luck!

no problem! I hope it helps

Good point!! With DV..if a DV is sent to a CA and the CA cannot validate the debt, can I 'dispute' the debt with the CB's and let them know the CA cannot validate it? Will this 'leverage' help in removing the debt, from my CR, even if the SOL has expired?

I am a huge fan of chapter seven bankruptcy...chapter thirteen, not so much. Your credit probably stinks right now, but if you get your debts under control (especially eliminated), it is much easier to rebuild.

sdchargers_63,

If a CA cannot validate your debt they are legally obligated bt the FCRA to remove it from your CR. You can actually sue them for 1,000 if they refuse.

Wow CMB That was some really awesome sample letters. Youe are also absolutley correct on their being able to validate the debt. If a debt can not be validated I myself would not pay it.

I can ACTUALLY sue a CA for not validating a debt?! Never knew that. Do they have to validate the debt with BOTH the CB's and myself? MORNINGSTAR.........I appriciate the advice..thank you. I'm finding out that I don't have NEARLY enough debt as some people on this forum ( don't get me wrong please. i don't mean I'm 'better' than they are because I have less debt). I've been looking at my debts, etc. I just don't think BK is a 'good move' for me. ALOT of items will be 'dropping off' this year, as well.

I am sure they didn't think badly of you SD. I have alot less debt also but its not hard to feel for the others since I was in that boat once. One thing is no matter how little or massive the debt it all comes with one definate price tag..if you add up the stress of it all.

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!Lots of stress behind ANY kind of stress. I fixed a few 'small' things on my credit already. So...when I get to the 'bigger' items, I'm alittle better prepared with how to handle them. Make sense?

Makes great sense. Little steps is sometimes better than bigger ones. Less chances of falling down. Sometimes I have to keep repeating these things in my own head. The stress REALLY gets to me.

This 9 the thread) remeinds me of a saying. " It's better to try and fail, then NOT try at all." Most people learn from their mistakes. But...if people DON'T make mistakes ( yeah..right), how will you learn from them? If you DO fall, the only way to go is 'up'...ya know?

I can ACTUALLY sue a CA for not validating a debt?! Never knew that. Do they have to validate the debt with BOTH the CB's and myself?

Yes, you can sue them but, there is a process to follow.
1) you sendyour DV letters out CERTIFIED mail.
2) Send a second DV letter if no responce 45 days from CA reciept
3)15 days after second DV letter goes out dispute with all 3 CRAs
4)If CA sends insufficent validation send dispute letter
5) if the CRA says they validated debt request the method of verification, which is your right under the FCRA section 611 (a) (7). The credit bureau must give you this information within 15 days of the request.
6) If the CRA doesnt send you the info send them a letter telling them that they are in willful noncompliance with the FCRA.
7)If they still do not validate send intent to sue letter
8)file at your local court

You may find that after you send your DV letter(s) that you will get letters from CAs telling you listings have been removed. You might also find that when the CRAs contact the CAs with your dispute that they will erase the listing due to poor validation.

As I said before only do this with accounts that you can afford to pay if they are validated. You dont want to put these CA through the mill getting all that paperwork together and then say "Well, this all looks good I will get to it when I can"

Yep..I get it. Doing all of that, and then NOT having the money to pay for the validated debts, would make me look bad. Yep.makes sense.

Firstly, I would like to thank CMBV for posting such an informative letter in the fourm. If the CA fails to validate the debt, you can ask them to remove the debt from your CR. If they do not respond or remove, you can complain against the CA to the FTC and sue them for 1,000 $. One should always make all correspondence with the CA and CRAs through certified mail. I think the steps of correspondance as mention by CMBV should be followed.

Yep..I get it. Doing all of that, and then NOT having the money to pay for the validated debts, would make me look bad. Yep.makes sense

Personally, I couldn't care less what CAs think of me. I just wouldnt want to know that i had just made them get all of the paperwork togther they would need to sue me and not be able to pay them off

~And thanks Scott :)

Hi sdchargers
It is not the question of what the CAs think of you, but of how you can get out of the debt. The CAs are there only to harass you and so after getting the validation try to get a deal with the CAs for a repayment plan. Agree for the repayment plan only if you find it suitable for you. You can also go for a debt consolidation if you think.

People can only do what they can do. A CA should 'appriciate' that. If a CA tells me "this is how it is and 'we' won't take anything less..." well.....I guess they get nothing. You can only afford what you can afford..ya know?

I got ya there sd. I mean if there isn't money in the budget how and where do they think you can pull this from? Even if you consolidate or agree to make payments they are usually high ones. I don't know about others but I would be lucky if I could find any extra money in my budget for anything other than neccesities. Whats a person to do?

sdchargers_63,

save yourself the headache and stop talking to them on the phone! Send them a FOAD letter expressing calls to your home/work are not allowed and do all of your talking through the mail.

I too agree with CMBV on the point that we should stop all communications with the CAs over phone and have everything in writing.