Requesting Validation - One of Your Best Weapons Against a Collection Agency

If a collection agency is coming after you, protecting your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), may be as simple as writing a letter.  Many times debt collectors are collecting on old debts with no way to verify that the amount they claim you owe is accurate or that they have the right to collect it.

The FDCPA is very clear on what must happen after initial contact by a debt collector.

809.  Validation of debts   [15 USC 1692g]

(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.