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I have been dealing with a company who recently pulled my credit report that has pretty much ignored the FDCPA. Ultimately, they sent me one letter telling me they pulled my report in regards to a debt with Clout Financial Services and gave an account number. However that is the only communication I received from them and I never received the required dunning notice within 5 days. I have drafted this letter to send out and wanted to see if anyone had any advice on possible changes to make. Thanks!
March 26, 2012
From: jimbo831
CERTIFIED MAIL
To: Enterprise United Partners
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is jimbo831 (“consumer”) and I am writing to you regarding recent violations of the FDCPA and FCRA by Enterprise United Partners, Inc (“Enterprise”). On March 5, 2012, the consumer’s credit report was obtained by Enterprise. The consumer sent Enterprise the enclosed letter requesting details of the permissible purpose for obtaining the consumer’s credit report. In reply, Enterprise sent the enclosed incomplete response only mentioning it was in regards to an alleged debt to Clout Financial Services.
This response represented the “initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt” according to FDCPA §809. According to this section, the debt collector is required to send a written notice within five days of this initial communication containing the following information:
The only exception to these requirements is if the initial communication contains the required information. In this case, the communication sent by Enterprise did not contain any of the above required information, nor did Enterprise send the required written notice to the consumer.
Furthermore, FCRA §604 requires a permissible purpose for obtaining a copy of a consumer credit report. To date, Enterprise has not provided the consumer with any documentation showing its permissible purpose, other than a statement claiming that Enterprise owns an alleged debt from the consumer.
This inquiry on the consumer’s credit report was a stated reason for denial of two recent credit applications. According to the FDCPA §813 and FCRA §616, violation of these statutes carries a civil liability of up to $1,000 for each violation, in addition to any actual damages sustained. Because I would prefer to settle this matter out of court, I offer a settlement with the following demands:
If you do not accept the terms of this offer within 14 days of receipt of this letter, this offer will be automatically and permanently withdrawn. Upon the withdrawal of this offer due to your nonacceptance, I will further pursue this matter through the court system. If legal action is required, I will seek damages of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) for each violation in addition to actual damages from these violations in addition to all court costs and attorney’s fees, as allowed by the FDCPA and FCRA.
I await your response and hope that you will accept the terms of my settlement offer.
Sincerely,
jimbo831
Enclosures: 2
It is well written and sounds professional. You know more about this topic than I do, so I can't opine in that area.
However, keep us informed!!
And good luck!!!
Great job.
I would leave out the portion about what you will be seeking should you resort to legal action.
This issue embraces both the FCRA and the FDCPA. The $1,000 limit is under the FDCPA.
Dont commit as to what you may or will ask should you bring legal action. It may bite you in court, should they determine a more expansive view of damages, particularly with respect to the FCRA.
PS: the credit inquiry issue is, in my opinion, a bit iffy, but give it a whirl. All they need under section 604 is a statement of legitimate business purpose on a transaction that was intiated by the consumer in order to make an inquiry without your express permission. Probably not a very difficult matter to show in court.
@RobertEG wrote:Great job.
I would leave out the portion about what you will be seeking should you resort to legal action.
This issue embraces both the FCRA and the FDCPA. The $1,000 limit is under the FDCPA.
Dont commit as to what you may or will ask should you bring legal action. It may bite you in court, should they determine a more expansive view of damages, particularly with respect to the FCRA.
PS: the credit inquiry issue is, in my opinion, a bit iffy, but give it a whirl. All they need under section 604 is a statement of legitimate business purpose on a transaction that was intiated by the consumer in order to make an inquiry without your express permission. Probably not a very difficult matter to show in court.
I actually got the $1,000 from the FCRA Section 616 where it says:
(a) In general. Any person who willfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed
under this title with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount
equal to the sum of
(1) (A) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or
damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000; or
(B) in the case of liability of a natural person for obtaining a consumer report
under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose, actual
damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or $1,000,
whichever is greater;