DV Response - What Now?Is this proper Validation?

[johnwantsahouse]

I sent a DV to palisades fora collection on my report for Alltel which was bought by Verizon. This is from 2006 and past SOL.  Aren't they required to show me what the actual charges are for? What should my next steps be?

[johnwantsahouse]

Bump

[johnwantsahouse]

Updated with pics of the papers they replied with.

[MarineVietVet]

FDCPA 809 says this about validation. You'll need to decide if the CA has sent everything required by law.

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.

[RobertEG]

The requirement that the debt collector "obtain verification" is normally construed in the case law to require only that they receive a verification statement from the creditor that the debt is, in fact, valid and that they provide an itemization of the debt sufficient enought to permit the consumer to challenge the amount.

The statute does not require supporting documentation.  If you wish to interpret the statute as requiring supporting documentation, and some courts have in fact required such, you need to get a judge to concur.  Most jurisdictions dont make that more limited interpretation of the statute.

In my opinion, they provided at least the minimum verification required by section 809(b).  The issue of verification now essentially means that they feel they can continue collection activiities, and you dont.  If they do continue collection activities, you can file a complaint with the FTC or initiate legal action.

[llecs]

IMO, they went beyond where they needed to. I know this has been awhile, and looks like they'll delete soon anyway based off the statement date from Alltel, but if you wanted to proceed I'd contact Alltel and ask for statements from early 2006/late 2005 and see how they came up with the balance.

[johnwantsahouse]

I would but Verizon bought Alltel. Verizon said I don't owe them anything. They can't prove what the charges were even for with this. It doesn't show what that amount is from so I see it as they can't prove I owe it. Just don't know what to do now.

[llecs]

I'd call Verizon then and ask for this statement info. They are probably saying $0 because they may have sold the debt to this CA. But somehow, somewhere, this CA got a copy of your statement from 2006. Someone within Verizon has that info. It might take several CSRs to weed through, but they have it somewhere.

[johnwantsahouse]

Would you even mess with it or should I just wait it out since its past SOL?

[llecs]

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@johnwantsahouse wrote:
Would you even mess with it or should I just wait it out since its past SOL?

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IMO, SOL is unimportant. SOL is onl yimportant if you fear being sued, but if you have 100% saved up somewhere, then SOL is meaningless. The thing to consider is CRTP. The 7-7.5 yr CRTP is not up yet, but very soon will be based on the screenshot. I don't know when the DOFD was, but I bet inside a year you'd hit those 7-yrs.

It's always a personal call, but I'd rather take care of the debt even if pushed to or near the end of CRTP. Even if SOL and CRTP passes, a CA can call or bug forever and I don't mind paying them off to make them go away. I'd do so via a PFD of course if I'm at it. And I'm not saying to cave in on the balance. If you are questioning it, then definitely find the answers before coming at them with a PFD.