To whom it may concern: I have been contacted by your company about a debt you allege I owe. I am instructing you not to contact me any further in connection with this debt. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a federal law, you may not contact me further once I have notified you not to do so.
You have the right to send what's referred to as a “drop dead letter. '' It's a cease-and-desist motion that will prevent the collector from contacting you again about the debt. Be aware that you still owe the money, and you can be sued for the debt.
While debt validation requests can be a useful tool, they are not effective at resolving the issue. In most cases, creditors and collection agencies are able to provide the necessary documentation to prove the validity of the debt.
Don't provide personal or sensitive financial information
Never give out or confirm personal or sensitive financial information – such as your bank account, credit card, or full Social Security number – unless you know the company or person you are talking with is a real debt collector.
If you are struggling with debt and debt collectors, Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC can help. As soon as you use the 11-word phrase “please cease and desist all calls and contact with me immediately” to stop the harassment, call us for a free consultation about what you can do to resolve your debt problems for good.
If you notify the debt collector in writing that you dispute the debt within 30 days of receiving a validation notice, the debt collector must stop trying to collect the debt until they've provided you with verification in response to your dispute.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect debts from you, including: Misrepresenting the nature of the debt, including the amount owed. Falsely claiming that the person contacting you is an attorney.
In California, there is generally a four-year limit for filing a lawsuit to collect a debt based on a written agreement.
A 609 letter is a credit repair method that requests credit bureaus to remove erroneous negative entries from your credit report. It's named after section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a federal law that protects consumers from unfair credit and collection practices.
Once you receive the validation information or notice from the debt collector during or after your initial communication with them, you have 30 days to dispute all or part of the debt, if you don't believe that you owe it. If you receive a validation notice, the end date of the 30-day period will be specified.
To dispute a debt, you must send a debt verification letter to the debt collector. These terms can be confusing, but think of a debt verification letter as your way of saying that you intend to dispute the debt. Debt collectors send debt validation letters; debt verification letters are sent in response to one.
The old resolutions forbidding reporting have been a dead letter for many years. It is a dead letter, because it has never been invoked. The trouble is that it is a dead letter. He replied that his experts said that it had been a dead letter.
a law or agreement that is no longer effective: The ceasefire treaty was a dead letter as soon as it was signed, as neither side ever had any intention of keeping to it.
It's a violation of the FDCPA for a debt collector to refuse to send a validation notice or fail to respond to your verification letter. If you encounter such behavior, you can file a complaint with the CFPB, the Federal Trade Commission or your state's attorney general.
Key Takeaways
Even if you owe money, debt collectors aren't allowed to threaten, harass, or publicly shame you. You have the right to order a debt collector to stop contacting you, and they must comply. If there's a mistake, and you really don't owe the debt, you can take steps to remedy the error.
By paying the collection agency directly, the notification of the debt could stay on your credit report longer than if you attempt to use another option, like filing for bankruptcy. When institutions check your credit report and see this information on it, it may harm your ability to obtain loans.
Typical debt settlement offers range from 10% to 50% of the amount you owe. Creditors are under no obligation to accept an offer and reduce your debt, even if you are working with a reputable debt settlement company.
Although the debt won't be factored into your credit score after seven years, there are still consequences. When you stop paying your debt, the creditor will start charging late fees and interest will continue to accumulate, increasing the balance you owe.
Unpaid credit card debt doesn't go away after seven years, but it's possible that no one can make you pay it. Debt is legally yours forever, but state laws on collecting debt limit what creditors can legally do.
Let's Summarize... If you're facing debt collection, it's important to understand how the process works and what options you have. If you ignore a debt in collections, you can be sued and have your bank account or wages garnished or may even lose property like your home. You'll also hurt your credit score.
Generally speaking, negative information such as late or missed payments, accounts that have been sent to collection agencies, accounts not being paid as agreed, or bankruptcies stays on credit reports for approximately seven years.
Under this Act (Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act), third-party debt collectors are prohibited from using deceptive or abusive conduct in the collection of consumer debts incurred for personal, family, or household purposes.
Your original creditor may be most willing to take your debt back if you have already worked out a plan with your debt collector and begun repaying what you owe. So, if you want to bypass a debt collector, contact your original creditor's customer service department and request a payment plan.