When a debt collection company sends you a letter telling you that you owe them for some alleged debt or you see a collection account on your credit reports, you should immediately fire off a letter to them exercising your right to dispute their claim and demand validation, What this means is you are telling them that they have to prove you owe them money and until they do, you have no obligation to pay them anything and until they validate (prove their claim), the law requires them to stop all collection activity.
Collection activity means phone calls to you or people they may think know you, letters to you claiming you owe them, furnishing, updating or verifying information on your credit reports, and even filing a lawsuit against you. This is why it is so important to demand validation from 3rd party collectors.
In your validation letter you need to tell them to send you certain items that will prove that you owe them money. It doesn't have to be a long list. It doesn't have to include outrageous things like proof that they complied with GAAP or items required under the Patriot Act, though you can actually request those items. But the most important items to request are things that prove there is a contract and proof of what they lent you and proof that they have the right to take the place of the alleged original creditor and even proof they have the right to furnish information on your credit reports.
Once you've demanded validation all collection activity should stop. I say "should" but that's not usually the case. Some will just notate the credit reports that the information they furnished is being disputed. Sometimes they add more nonsense like "resolved, consumer disagrees" or "dispute resolved, meets FCRA requirements" or something similar to that. Utter nonsense because they put that on there before they even send you something they claim to be validation.
So if they respond, do you know what qualifies as validation? Validation means the documentary evidence or proof. If you receive a copy of a contract you need to review the contract closely. It won't be a contract between you and their company because in most cases you haven't agreed to do business with them. I say "most cases" because some people sign payment plans with collection companies so they end up having a contract with them. But usually if they send a copy of a contract, it's between you and the alleged original creditor. This is what you need to read carefully.
When you read any contract that they send you, look for their company name on that contract. You will see your name and maybe the alleged original company name and maybe another company name of possibly a servicer or guarantor. You won't find the collection company name 99% of the time. So, this contract is not validation.
The collection company may send you a bunch of monthly billing statements. You won't find the collection company's name on these billing statements. So whether they send you one billing statement or thirty or more billing statements, they aren't validation, They don't prove that they collection company lent anything to you or that you agreed to pay them money.
For medical collections, they may send you the admissions paper that has your signature on it. That form may say that you agree to be responsible and that if you don't pay the medical facility it may go to a collection company, If they don't specifically name the collection company that is claiming you owe them something, it is not validation. YOU have the right to choose who you do business with, If an alleged original creditor decides to sell your information to a 3rd party collection company, in order for it to be enforceable they have to get your permission In Writing PRIOR to the alleged original creditor releasing any of your personal identifying information or account information to them. If they do this without your consent, it voids the alleged contract. (There's actually a lot going on behind the scenes that voids the alleged contract but this is a big obvious unlawful action),
So, when you get their claim that they Validated, which usually they wrongly claim they "Verified", you need to be all over that and respond to them claiming that you reject their attempt to validate because they neither verified their claim nor did they send the documented proof that shows you contracted to do business with them nor that they lent you anything, Reject their claim, remind them that the law requires them to stop all collection activity unless or until they actually validate (which they absolutely cannot do), and that they need to Cease & Desist until they validate and verify (sworn testimony - they can't do that either because they have no 1st hand knowledge), and make sure to remind them that anything other than removing their lies and slander from your credit reports is collection activity, and is a violation of the FDCPA and the FCRA and is actionable in a court of law.
Good luck and go get 'em.
By the way, if you can or feel led to, please help support my family with funeral expenses for 4 of our family members. They all died one after the other in less than 30 days and we are not able to pay for all the expenses out of our own pockets. We have to pay for all the funeral and burial costs before we can hold the services. So, we are grateful for any help you can give us. Please also share the information on your social media. I really thank all of you and appreciate your help and prayers at this time.
Here is the link to the information about my family's situation right now.
