I would caution against reliance only on a DV letter,and then waiting to do anything until they "validate." That could be risky, and is not my general recommendation. Sure, send it, but dont see it as a reason to cease further actions.
Unless you are a resident of Texas, the debt collector has no obligation to provide validation at all, let alone within any specic time period. DVs require cessation of active collection until they choose to DV, but certainly does not require any CR deletion if they dont.
Debt validation under FDCPA 809(b) is really not that difficult for a debt collector to provide. For the most part,it is little more than what they originally provided to you in their initial collection (dunning) notice, where they have already provided to you the name of the original creditor, and the amount of the debt. Upon receipt of a DV request, that adds the requirement that they provide you the address of the original creditor, and if you also request it, an itemized view, on their part, of the debt. They dont have to provide documentation, such as their internal business records, agreements with the OC, and certainly not any OC account records, in order to provide validation under FDCPA 809(b).
I know that many report CA deletions after sending a DV, but I would not necessarily conclude from that they could not provide validation. Maybe they felt the SOL had, or was soon to, expire. Maybe they have sold the debt to another debt collector. Maybe the debt is too small for them to continue to put their resources into.
After you send a DV, and decide to just sit back and wait, the debt can continue to accrue interest,and they can still bring legal action. The same thing when you send a PFD offer, and jsut sit back and wait. A PFD is a conditional offer that requires no response at all, let alone even a letter of non-acceptance. Acceptance of any PFD by a creditor or debt collector requires them to directly violate the terms of their reporting agreements with the CRAs not to delete prior accurate reporting based on subsequent payment, and many will simply refuse to grant PFDs (or GWs) for that justifiable reason.
Both the DV and PFD processes have risks. Only you can evaluate the risk. The very first thing I suggest in evaluating that risk is to know your SOL, and thus perhaps take the threat of legal action on their part out of your risk evaluation.
Starting Score January 1, 2010: 640
