I'm speaking from being on the other side of the fence. It is completely reasonable and justifiable for someone to request DV, but it can be a very time consuming process for the collectors. I work as a collector myself, for a highly respectable CA (there are many awful/unlawful CAs out there that have given the business a bad name) that primarily serves credit unions (on consignment/assignment, not a debt buyer). Some of our clients send us electronic assignments with minimal paperwork, and it can take a bit of time and follow up to complete a DV request, due to the sheer volume of deliquent accounts in this economy, on top of the efficiency of various internal filing protocols the credit union may/may not have.
In the vast majority of the cases where I have provided DV to the person requesting, they stop communicating once I send it to them, as they never had any intention to take responsibility or make arrangements regarding their financial obligations. I'm left with the sentiment that many of the people who request DV are just pinging the CA to see if they can get out of the debt/negative mark on their credit. As a result of this, I always always request "suit authorization" from the clients whenever someone requests a DV on a larger balance, as the documents necessary to refer a file to our attorney for a lawful suit are quintessentially the DV docs.
The clients I serve are a bit of a special case as credit unions are non profit organizations that typically exist to provide reasonable lending options to their members. If every defaulted account requested DV, the credit unions and their agents (the CAs) would not be able to effectively recover lost assets in a timely fashion, which could result in many CU's shutting their doors. In my personal opinion, credit unions are pro-consumer lending institutions compared with big for-profit banks that have the overhead to write off huge losses. It'd be a shame if credit unions had to shutter their doors or change their policies/rates towards potential borrowers due the overhead costs of deliquent accounts fighting their lawful debts tooth and nail.
Now I'm not trying to point fingers, just trying to enlighten the original poster with what is potentially is going on in the heads of the people on the other side once you request DV, as I don't think the behaviour I've experienced is necessarily unique to my demographic (State of Kommiefornia). When it comes to debt buyers/resellers, yes, I would always recommend requesting DV. I have a few opinions about those kinds of businesses, but that's not within the scope of op's question.
While I am a collector, I do breathe through my nose, not my mouth, I'm educated, and I did not eat any babies this morning; I'm a human too.
Starting Score: 425
