If the collection agency failed to validate the debt, it is not allowed to continue collecting the debt. It can't sue you or list the debt on your credit report. Why request validation, even if you're ready to pay and you know it's your debt? Simple.
However, they're required to send a debt validation letter within five days of first contacting you. If you don't receive a debt validation letter within 10 days of initial contact, you can submit a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
What Happens Now? If a debt collector can't verify your debt, then they must stop contacting you about it. And they have to let credit bureaus know so they can remove the debt from your credit report.
Collectors are required by Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to send you a written debt validation notice with information about the debt they're trying to collect. It must be sent within five days of the first contact.
Does a Debt Collector Have to Show Proof of a Debt? Yes, debt collectors do have to show proof of a debt if you ask them. Make sure you understand your rights under credit collection laws.
Your Right to a Validation of the Debt
After receiving your request, the debt collector must provide you with information about the debt, including the amount owed and to whom it was owed. Collection activities must stop until they provide this information.
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 request verification, send a letter to the collection agency stating that you dispute the validity of the debt and that you want documentation verifying the debt. Also, request the name and address of the original creditor.
How do I dispute the debt? Within 30 days of receiving the written notice of debt, send a written dispute to the debt collection agency. You can use this sample dispute letter (PDF) as a model.
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.
Send a 'drop dead' letter
You have the right to ask them to stop contacting you. To do so, you can send what's sometimes referred to as a “drop dead letter” — a written notice to the debt collector informing them you want no further contact. By law, debt collectors are required to follow this request.
You cannot remove collections from your credit report without paying if the information is accurate, but a collection account will fall off your credit report after 7 years whether you pay the balance or not.
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.
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.
Once your debt has been sold you owe the buyer money, not the original creditor. The debt purchaser must follow the same rules as your original creditor. You keep all the same legal rights. They cannot add interest or charges unless they are in the terms of your original credit agreement.
If the collection agency bought the debt from the creditor (rather than the creditor just assigning the debt to the agency for collection), the agency owns the debt. If you negotiate with and make payments to the creditor, the collector may refuse to credit you for those payments.
In this article, “debt validation letter” means the initial notice a debt collector must send you under federal law, and “debt verification letter” means a letter you send to the debt collector to request more information and/or to dispute the debt.
For example, if a collector is unable to make satisfactory arrangements with a consumer after a few months, the individual debt may be bundled with many others and sold to another collection agency. That process can be repeated many times over, even beyond the applicable statute of limitations for the consumer's debt.
Collection agencies can access your bank account, but only after a court judgment. A judgment, which typically follows a lawsuit, may permit a bank account or wage garnishment, meaning the collector can take money directly out of your account or from your wages to pay off your debt.
A 609 dispute letter is actually not a dispute but is simply a way of requesting that the credit bureaus provide you with certain documentation that substantiates the authenticity of the bureaus' reporting.
How likely is it that you will be sued for a debt? According to one Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report, 1 in 7 — or about 15% — of consumers contacted about a debt in collections were sued. But the likelihood of a debt collection lawsuit depends on several factors.
Does disputing a debt restart the clock? Disputing the debt doesn't restart the clock unless you admit that the debt is yours. You can get a validation letter to dispute the debt to prove that the debt is either not yours or is time-barred.
a statement that, upon the consumer's written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.