Who to contact regarding collections letter?

[Dynamo24]

I got a collections letter in the mail on my old capital one account. This is a legit collections, so I'm not confused about that. It was from a CA, but my credit report shows the OC still reporting. Who should I contact? Do I send a DV to the CA or write a letter to the OC? It shows up as a charge off on my report, not as a collection. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

[RobertEG]

Their letter, which is presumably a dunning notice, sets a 30-day period for sending a timely DV.

The OC has no part in the debt validation process.  The DV goes to the debt collector, and if timely, imposes a cease collection bar on them until such time as they choose to provide the requested debt validation.

The DV requires the debt collector to obtain verification of the debt, and pass that on to the consumer before they can continue collection on the debt.

The OC is presumed, by way of your account agreement with them and statutes related to billing on an account, to have "validated" their claim of debt as part of those activities.  Thus, neither the FCRA nor the FDCPA have procedures for requiring debt validation by the creditor.

[Dynamo24]

Thanks for the reply. I was vague when I said "a letter to OC". I should have said should I contact them (OC) regarding their name on my credit report and not that of the CA? Or should I just move forward and send the DV to the CA? 

[RobertEG]

Any reporting done by the OC, such as a charge-off, relates to your activity with them under the original account.

If a debt collector subsequently reports, it reflects further action in the form of their attempts at collection of the debt.

Subsequent reporting of a collection does not require deletion of the reporting made by the OC.

It is common for both an OC and debt collector to report based on the same debt.

[Dynamo24]

Okay, thank you for the explanation, much apprecaited. So should I contact the CA or the OC? I have a letter ready for the CA.