No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
Well, you can't send debt validation letters to the credit bureaus. You can only dispute tradelines with the bureaus. If the can't VERIFY the account, then they have to remove the tradeline.
You can send debt validation letters to collection agencies, but there are timing issues with that in most states. If the collection agency sent you a letter and you didn't dispute it within 30 days, then the collection agency do not have to validate.
A good start is to check all three of your credit reports for accuracy - this includes date of first delinquency, status, terms, balances, etc. Try to find inaccuracies and dispute IN WRITING with the credit reporting agencies.
Try another round of goodwill letters for the paid collections. Sometimes it may take more than one letter sent to a different person to get the negative stuff removed.
Hope that helps a little - good luck!
Ditto. DV letters are mentioned in the FDCPA and the FDCPA only covers CAs.
You might want to consult a lawyer who is better informed about credit reporting.
There is no requirement, unless you live in Texas, for a debt collector to respond to your DV within 30 days. They can wait as long as they wish, with their penalty being, if your DV was timely, the cessation of collection activities until such time as they validate. The 30-day period is set upon the consumer for the filing of a timely DV.
The DV process is a debt collection practices matter covered by the FDCPA that is solely between the consumer and the debt collector. DVs aren't reported to a CRA, and their is no provision of either the FDCPA or the FCRA that requires CR deletion based on failure to provide debt verification.
As for a DV being considered a dispute, while the FDCPA does use the term "dispute" in section 809(a), the "dispute" is not one of credit reporting, but rather a dispute over the debt itself, in whole or in part. They are not "disputes" over credit reporting, within the meaning of the FCRA. DV requests should not result in an FCRA dispute flag being posted to your credit file.
However....... there is a growing practice, reported by several consumers on this site, of some debt collectors responding to a DV request by "mistakenly" considering the DV to be a direct dispute. They ask for more information, supposedly to perfect your "dispute," and some even report your DV to the CRAs as a dispute.
While this is clearly improper, dont be surprised if it happens to you.
RobertEG wrote:.However....... there is a growing practice, reported by several consumers on this site, of some debt collectors responding to a DV request by "mistakenly" considering the DV to be a direct dispute. They ask for more information, supposedly to perfect your "dispute," and some even report your DV to the CRAs as a dispute.
While this is clearly improper, dont be surprised if it happens to you.
VERY TRUE!!! Midland did that to me. Pond scum!!!!
@UpmyscoreinFL wrote:
I have free legal service through my employer. I called a lawyer that deals with credit issues and we went over my credit report. She said we should sent debt validation letters to. The credit bureaus on all my negative items. If they don't validate in 30 days they have to remove the negative stuff. So has this worked for anyone? Does it put dispute remarks on your reports? I a, not disputing anything just sending dv letters in hopes a few don't respond in time. Has anyone tried this route? I have a short sale, three paid collections, one unpaid, and some late payments. Only one of my gw letters worked and whatever remains after this I am going to start good willing again. Advice? Thoughts?
My advice is to find a different lawyer because this one does not know about credit reporting. You can send disputes to the CRAs and they have to respond within 30 days. However, they will usually simply forward the dispute electronically to the reporting party who will usually electronically "verify" it pretty quickly. A debt validation, however, as others have mentioned, comes with no time limit for a response. Also, no attorney should be advising you to dispute debts with the CRA that you now to be valid. To file a dispute, you have to specify what exactly you are disputing about the account and in doing so, would have to lie if you find nothing wrong with it.