LVNV Help Please need to responsd to a BBB

[Gill_N]

Can someone please help me with a response to the following response from LVNV on a BBB complaint I have against them.    I do not understand why they will not delete something they cannot provide documentation on.  I also don’t understand why I have to wait another 30 to 45 days for them to do additional research on something I asked for in the first response to the complaint I filled more than a month ago.  I need to fill out a response to this by tomorrow and I want to word it the correct way that will be most effective.  This is killing me that I have asked them to send me proof that this is my debt and I get a response that they cannot provide documentation but that they will just place it as disputed on my CCfile which won’t do anything to help my file at all.

Thank you in advance for any help anyone can provide me, I am trying to make things better but keep running into a wall with LVNV.

April 18, 2013

RE:      xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

Reference Numbers:  2351, 1827, 4101, 4066, 6308

Dear Ms.:

This letter is in response to the additional concerns Mr. xxxxxxx submitted on April 8, 2013.  LVNV Funding LLC (“LVNV”) owns numerous accounts for Mr. xxxxx  Resurgent Capital Services L.P. (“Resurgent”) is the servicer of these accounts owned by LVNV.

Our previous response satisfies the requirements for validation of debt in compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).  Additionally, enclosed is a bill statement on file for Mr. xxxxx account number ending in 6471. Account documentation is not available for Mr. xxxxxx account numbers ending in 3692 and 0621. Account documentation for Mr. xxxxxx account numbers ending in 8235 and 5784 has been requested from the seller. Please note it may take a minimum of 30-45 days to receive the requested documentation from the seller and we will forward the documents upon receipt, if available.

The tradelines will not be deleted; however, they are being reported as “disputed” to the three major consumer reporting agencies. They will continue to report as “disputed” until the accounts are closed due to a valid dispute or the statute of limitations for credit bureau reporting expires.

If you have any further questions, comments or concerns, please contact Customer Service at

Sincerely,

P. Holladay

Compliance Department                                             

Resurgent Capital Services L.P.

Enclosure

[guiness56]

What previous response are they talking about and what did you receive from them?

[RobertEG]

In response to a request for verification of the debt, a debt collector is not required to provide documentation or "prove" the legitimacy of the debt.

They are required under FDCPA 809(b) to obtain verification and pass that determination on to the consumer.

That may appear contradictory to an assumption that verification requires proof, but that is they way both the dispute and DV processes work.

They are both limited administrative processes that require the party to investigate the accuracy, one relating to reported information, and the other related to the debt itself.

They are required to conduct a reasonable investigation and make a reasoable determination based on their investigation.

Any requirement to provide documentation or proofs would create additional problems that the processes cannot address.  First, any proofs would most likely be one-sided and most likely not complete.  Second, what they show would always be subject to interpretation.  There are no admin law judges under either process to compel both sides to provide all documentation, and then rule on what they show.  Thus, sending proofs would not result in a legal finding of facts, and are not required under the statute.

[Gill_N]

I have seen others get LVNV to delete things off the credit report, I am not sure why I am having such a hard time with them on this.

[RobertEG]

I cant answer that question.  Perhaps a BBB complaint might result in their desire to preserve their business standing, but I dont see a clear violation of the FDCPA upon which to base further action, such as an FTC complaint, dispute, or civil action.

Is the debt actually valid?  If not, then the consumer has the option to pursue from that perspective.  However, simply putting the onus on them to prove validity based on a DV request is not what debt verification requires.