Comments on: Writing Your Debt Collection Dispute Letter

By: barbcinque

barbcinque — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:01:04 +0000

I followed the advice on this site and put the debt in dispute and asked for validation within the 30 day window. Then they froze my acct. I thought they had to stop all actions until they validate the debt. The debt is from 1992 and was filed in court in 2006. THE DEBT IS 30 YEARS OLD!
I now have a fair debt attorney and Im suing.
I learned two things thus far:
1) Income deposited into the acct and used for paying bills over the last two months is 90% exempt from the hold. That was nearly all the money in my acct.
2) you are allowed a one time withdrawal on that acct of 1740.
3) if a collector misrepresents themselves as attorneys…which mine did…it is illegal.

Reading the fine print in the paper work of everything the bank gives you is really important.
At this point their hold is only affecting several hundred dollars AND my attorneys will compensate me for all the fees and penalties resulting from this collection agency.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:52:55 +0000

I followed the advice on this site and I sent the letter putting the debt in dispute and requesting the validation of the debt. Which is what I had requested all along since the first contact. My debt is from 1992 and was filed in court in 2006. How is that possible? One week after recieving my letter, within the 30 day window, they froze my acct with a substantial amount of cash in it. I hired a fair debt lawyer and we are now in the process of suing.
Two points to add:
1) if the acct money is money that comes in as direct deposit from your employment and it is used to pay bills: 90% IS EXEMPT FROM THE HOLD.
2) You are allowed a one time withdrawal from that acct of 1740$
The bank gives you a list of exemptions in addition to the these above.
Question: I thought disputing the debt and asking for validations stopped any further action from the collectors. How is it that they were able to put a legal hold on my acct without ever providing me validation?

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 03:06:33 +0000

This is my first time at this site. What is intersting people are airing their troubles about their credit card and how to dispute them. And what do I see on this website? An “AD” for Citi MasterCard. (Conflict of Interest-almost a play on words.)

By: Mike Sierra

Mike Sierra — Fri, 21 May 2010 06:41:29 +0000

My Parents have a situation … my father retired 7 years ago. He paid off all his credit cards. One card he sent in $.47 short. He never got any balance due statements or letters. 7 years later a collection agency is now harassing them and saying they owe $234 because of interest. When asked of proof they would not provide it and have harassing with phone calls everyday so far for a week asking for their credit card for payment. Can a collection agency do this? And how can they fight back?

Thanks

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:41:34 +0000

This information is outdated – Try Again!

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:29:36 +0000

My son went to jail in 2003 owing a loan and credit card debt. The company was notified after sending a couple of charge off notices, and threatening to garnish, that he was incarcerated and unable to receive or respond to their notices. They stopped writing. In 2004 they took his state tax refund. Nothing more was heard (even though his address has not changed) until this year when they took his 2009 state tax refund. How does the statute of limitations apply here. We live in Michigan.

By: meaisaculpa

meaisaculpa — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:06:29 +0000

Blasted them with what? A letter indicating that they have no power to collect? I think that does effectively the same thing as a dispute and validate letter, no? I’d love to see a template of one of those letters you wrote for me to use with the CA’s I’m dealing with.

By: meaisaculpa

meaisaculpa — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:04:22 +0000

That would be great…but then what? Do you report them to the FDCPA to have the collection removed?

By: meaisaculpa

meaisaculpa — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:02:36 +0000

@codename47, is that true? It would be really great if it is! I live in Texas and have a CA from Texas contacting me regarding an account that I should’ve validated long ago, but never did. I’ve tried finding information about Texas maybe not being limited to 30 days, but this is the first I’ve seen it. Do you have a URL or good source? Thanks for posting!

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:42:23 +0000

A coincidence but those guys are just fishing for someone who will just send them $33… fortunately you’re smarter than that!

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:17:28 +0000

A strange thing happened to me today. First of all, I have no outstanding debts.
I bought some music CDs at a record store today.
Later this evening I get a call from a “recovery agency” (800) 814-6580. I spoke someone who identified himself as “Manny”. He told me I owe $33.00 to Columbia House Records for a music CD I bought sometime back in 2005. I never bought or ordered anything from Columbia house ever. I knew it was some sort of con, so I hung up the phone.
Strange conscience or what? !.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:30:11 +0000

First, I have a “debt” in collection that I dispute because on my first office visit I specifically asked “what if the insurance company does not cover all of the bill?”. I was told not to worry about it, that they would not come after me for it. The girl now deny’s she said that after I got a bill. Second, the collection agency does not have my name spelled correctly, it is 2 characters off. Does anyone has any legal advice for an ohio resident? I feel I was mislead by the girls statement of not “worrying about it”. The amount is under $180 and I quit going there when I discovered that they were billing me.

By: Travis

Travis — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:31:12 +0000

While I consider myself lucky in that I’ve never had to go head to head with a debt collector like that, I know far too many people who HAVE had to go head to head like that. A lot of the get too scared and just pay, often giving away free money in the process! Like you mentioned, so many collection agencies tack on a ton of unneeded funds just for their sole gain.

By: Steven

Steven — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:46:08 +0000

Excellent article. Here’s what we recommend to our clients:

1. Debt validation be sent certified and also first-class regular under USPS Form 3817. Mailing under 3817 carries with it the three day presumption of receipt. So this process ensures delivery and proofs.

2. If you are beyond the 30 day response window, mail a debt validation letter anyway and request Validation Accommodation. 90% of the time they honor this and this can mitigate not responding within 30 days.

3. Remember to send a copy of the debt validation letter (dispute) to the credit agencies.

4. Demand or request that the collector’s response be “with particularity” or in detail. This enables you to see all charges, real, fraudulent, and how accumulating interest is calculated by the debt collector’s computer systems. Many problems here.

5. In the letter state you expect validation response in 30 days.

6. If the collector has also been engaging in harassment demand they stop all contact with your right reserved and expectation that validation will be acted upon and sent to you.

Three things will happen:

a. you will receive an interim letter stating they are working on it; or –
b. you will receive no reply, or –
c. you will receive debt validation.

If they choose to ignore you they will return the case to the lender marked as disputed; or sell the debt and NOT mark the file as disputed; hence the PROCESS WILL RE-START.

It’s up to you to demand a specific level of validation, normally consistent with the precedent within your federal district.

There is a complete and deep strategy to this process which I cannot list here.

We do this everyday and you can call 888-466-2009 for some help. On Twitter: @DebtResponse or helpme@cpinstituteonline.org

Steven

By: Free Your Mind

Free Your Mind — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:43:16 +0000

Actually to my knowledge, Debt collectors have no legal right to collect anything from a consumer unless that consumer agreed to do business DIRECTLY with THEM.

So even if they had proof that you owed somebody else… that is what you owe somebody else!

If you never agreed to do business with THEM then they have no power to collect.

I have blasted a couple of debt “collectors” with this and gotten zero balances in return.