RobertEG, is this still the ideal DV letter?

[-Cain-]

Re: Need a Sample DV Letter [ New ]
10-23-2008 11:55 PM

Dear […]
 
On [date], you sent to me a Notice of your debt collection activities under section 809(a) of the FDCPA.
 
This is my responding notice under section 809(b) of the FDCPA that I dispute the validity of the debt, and am requesting your full validation of the alleged debt.
 
Following is, at a miniumum, what I need from you as validation of your collection activities under the FDCPA.
 
First, in order to determine your authority to act in collection of the alleged debt, verification of your legal contract authority is required.  Until proof has been provided of either your legal assignment of collection authority from the original creditor, or of proof of your ownership of the debt, it is not possible for me to determine whether your Notice is lawful under section 812(a) of the FDCPA, and thus whether further communications with or from you have any legal status.   As such, mere assertions cannot provide me with such documentation.  Please provide with  a copy of the most recent letter of assignment or ownership upon which you base you authority to Notice me for your collection activities.
 
Second, upon receipt of proof of your legal authority to act with respect to this matter, I further request full verification of the original debt asserted by the original creditor.  Specifically, I request disclosure of the name and address of the original creditor upon whom this activity allegedly originated, and a copy of the original signed agreement between myself and that creditor. 
 
Third, I request verification of the complete amount of the currently asserted indebtedness. I again request that this verification come directly from the creditor, and not merely from an itemization from your files.  I do not consider records from your files as being sufficient for this purpose.  Statements from the original creditor are essential  Further, if you are have added any additional charges to the amount of the alleged original debt, such as your fees, additional interest or penalties, or any legal fees, I request specific itemization of all such asserted debts and fees as your full disclosure of my asserted current liability.
See FTC Opinion Letter, 3/10/93, available at www.ftc.gov/statutes/fdcpa/letters/wollman.htm,
and federal court precedent, e.g., Fields v. Wilber (7th Cir 2004). 
In summary, this is a request for full validation under section 809 of the FDCPA.
Upon receipt of this letter, I demand that you fully cease any and all collection activities until such time as you have provided the required verification and validation.
 
Sincerely,

[Anonymous]

I'm not RobertEG, am I'm not an expert by any means in this department, but that letter looks darn good to me!

[LS2982]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I'm not RobertEG, am I'm not an expert by any means in this department, but that letter looks darn good to me!

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+1

I'm interested to know if this is legit myself!

[-Cain-]

It is taken from one of Robert's older posts, I just wondered if anything has changed since then.

[RobertEG]

It is FAR beyond what is normally considered adequate debt validation.  Most jurisdictions hold to the interpretation that obtaining concurrence from the credtior as to the validity of the debt and providing a listing (not documentary support) of the debt is adequate.  Some courts have ruled that more is required.  There simply is no univeral standard.

Due to the vaugeness of the statute, which only states that they must obtain verification and provide that to you, along with a statement of the debt, those specific requests for documentation are not based on a statutory requirement.

You will find yourself in a predicament if they provide verification that they consider adequate, and you do not.  They will resume collection activities.  You then assert that those activities are a violation of their cease collection bar, lacking prior verification of the debt to your satisfaction.

Your recourse then is to go to one who has the authority to agree with your interpretation of what is adequate debt verification.  That person is a judge.

It is not inadequate debt verification until a judge says so.

I dont recollect an older post that asserts such requirements, but if I made such a post, I would amend it.

"I request validation of the debt under FDCPA 809(b), including identification of the original credtior (if you want/need their name/address), verification of the debt, and an itemization of the current asserted debt."

[MarineVietVet]

I agree with Robert to keep the letter short and sweet. The law doesn't require a CA to supply some of the things in your sample letter. I would make it even shorter but the final decision is yours of course. I would write something like this:

"I pulled my credit bureau report, and I discovered that you claim I owe you a debt. Under FDCPA 809, send me validation of this debt."

"You claim I owe you a debt. In accordance with FDCPA, send me validation of this debt."

"I received your letter claiming I owe you a debt. Per the FDCPA, send me validation of this debt."

Send the letter CMRRR. 

[-Cain-]

It was a letter I found from 2008, it looked good so I was wondering if that'd still be good to send now.

So the last paragraph from Robert's post in this thread or the three examples you (MVV) gave should be good enough.

[MarineVietVet]

As a follow up this is all the FDCPA says about validation:

809. Validation of debts

(a) Within five days after the initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt, a debt collector shall, unless the following information is contained in the initial communication or the consumer has paid the debt, send the consumer a written notice contain­ing—

(1) the amount of the debt;

(2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;

(3) a statement that unless the consumer, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector;

(4) a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt col­lector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt col­lector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector; and

(5) a statement that, upon the consumer’s written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

[-Cain-]

Got it!

Thanks MVV.