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Per the instructions at http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Debt-Validation/m-p/7133 I should send a letter:
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USPS CERTIFIED MAIL xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx (I guess I'll get that number once I go to the post office?)
To whom it may concern,
I received your letter claiming I owe you a debt. Per the FDCPA, send me validation of this debt.
Thank you,
My Name
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1) I've seen some suggestions to never sign anything - so should i sign this?
2) Should I date it?
I would add "I dispute the debt" and "I refuse to pay". The refusal to pay triggers a C&D. When you dispute the debt then the collector must list their tl as disputed, if they list a tl for the debt.
It has been debated that one cannot ask for dv and a C&D. How would the collector send dv if they cannot contact you? However, the FDCPA allows three specified remedies where the collector can contact the debter after a C&D. The validation can be sent with any one of these remedies.
I never sign any of my correspondenses.
You should date the letter. The green card you get back and the receipt will have the dates on them. Keep an eye on the green card because sometimes they either don't come back or there is no signature or no postal markings. The sooner you follow up on a mishap, the better.
You do not want to confuse the DV process the dispute process (especially if doing a direct dispute with the creditor) and the C&D. The purpose of the DV process is not just to bar collection but to establish the legitimacy of the collection effort. There are many highly regarded posters in the Rebuilding forum who can guide you in the proper process.
It is not the purpose of these forums to discourage people from paying legitimate debt, we simply want to help people ensure that the processes provided for in law are followed and the creditor as well as the debtor are following procedures. If a debt is outside of SOL then it is an individual decision on what action the debtor chooses to take as far as payment or ignoring them. But the original debt remains legitimate until satisfied.
Your basic letter is okay but you might as well get more bang for the buck. You definately should ask for dv because there is a time limit....30 days from reciept of your validation rights. Time is ticking.
A dispute fits well into a dv letter. The C&D is optional. Once you invoke a C&D you leave the collector little collection methods except to sue. However, PRA is probably going to sue anyway once they get your dv letter and you tell them that their dv is not dv.
I have personal experience with this particular situation. I did as I am suggesting you should and I have a check for $2,000 coming in the mail from PRA. I had issued a C&D, PRA went away but started contacting me about 18 months later.
Legitimate debt and JDB do not mix. They do not review your case to see if you owe the debt. They don't care. They just use underhanded tactics to collect because it works. This is the reason the FDCPA was incarnated. Congress has given the consumer tools to use against unethical collectors.
You can go over to the Rebuilding forum if you want but no one there will tell you much different than I have. If they do then I am willing to argue point by point with case law and FTC opinion for support.
Don't wait another day on the dv. Print it out tonight and certify it tomorrow. The dispute and C&D can wait but I'd send both of those too.
I sent DV to PRA they returned it with all valid information and statements showing that the account was mine, they are very meticulous. The account with them was sold to them from Capital One and is now passed SOL. I sent many emails and physical letters for PFD but they have yet to return one. I might just end up calling them and asking for a PFD through that.
They are very pesky lol
You should include any identifiable information that was included in the letter they sent you. I would not give any further info, just what they have. I wouldn't want you to send the letter with not enough info jsut to have them tell you that and you break the time limit. Good luck and make sure to keep us updated. I really wish I would have written down the name of the CA's that I dealt with. I was able to get EVERY CA off my CR by just asking and being polite.
I usually write the dv like a regular letter...(1) my return adress (2) the date (3) collector's address (4) RE: dispute (5) salutation (6) body of letter (7) sincerely (8) my typed name. I never sign. What would be the purpose?
I usually say that I dispute the debt you referred to in your letter dated ####. I don't give them the account number because there are usually at least two different account numbers after the JDB gets the account, the OC's and the JDB's. Which would you use? Anyway, they wrote you. They know who you are and which accounts belongs to you.
They'll figure it out. Giving the JDB bare bones information is a way of seeing if they do know who you are. How do you know if some disgruntled PRA employees didn't run off with a bunch of accounts and are surreptitiously collecting for themselves?