I just received my first response letter in the mail in regards to a DV letter that I sent a few weeks ago. Everyone on these forums always says to DV a CA after the SOL, but according to the FDCPA the CA only needs to validate if the DV is sent within the first 30 days of the debtor receiving a letter about the collection (unless you live in Texas).
Just about all posts say that if you don't hear from them in 35 days you can send the GC to the CRAs to show they failed to validate or that the CA will send proof of the debt, but nobody ever mentions what to do when they assume the debt is yours.
I'm very surprised that this doesn't happen more frequently, but what do you do when the CA says they don't have to validate? According to this they won't even give me any proof that I opened this account so why should I have to pay it? I never received a letter from them about the debt and just saw it on my credit report. I think it may even be older than 8 years so it's definitely out of SOL and FDCPA.
This is part of the letter I received where they say that they assume the debt is mine:
We have received your request for validation of the above-referenced account.
The FDCPA, provides that unless you demand validation of your debt within thirty days of your receipt of our first letter to you, we are entitled to assume that your debt to us is valid and to continue our collection efforts.
Please be aware that we may continue to contact you regarding this account.
What should I do?
- Act like I never received their DV response and just fax the GC to the CRAs and say they failed to respond to my DV? (since they didn't send it CMRRR how do they know I got it?)
- Tell them I never received their first letter informing me of the debt, so unless they provide proof that I did receive it then I will require them to validate the debt?
- File a dispute with the CRA (again) and say the account is not mine or inaccurate?
This is what I was thinking of sending them. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I never received a letter in regards to this debt as I only learned about it after reviewing my credit report. The only thing that I ever received from you is the letter that you sent on March 14, 2008, in response to my debt validation letter. Unless you have information that proves that I received the statutory notice (such as a certified signed receipt), I require you to mail the following documentation to my address in order to prove the debt is mine:
To make matters worse, these scumbags just started reporting this debt to a CRA it previously wasn't be reported to, right after they received my DV!
Message Edited by iltph on
03-19-2008 05:52 PMMessage Edited by iltph on
03-19-2008 06:14 PM
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