Hello again everyone. Hope you all have read my previous two blogs and are ready to finish up the post about DEBT VALIDATION. This is the most important step in any credit repair process and the most effective. To recap, debt validation is where you try to find out whether the collection agency actually has the legal right to ask you for payments. Its a process where you request the collection agency to prove that you LEGALLY owe them money. And the FDCPA is the federal law that gives you the right to demand validation of the debt from the collection agency. The collection agency should provide you with proof that they actually hold the debt or was assigned the debt, your payment history, and a copy of the original contract. Now, with that said, we will now explore what to do if the collection agency actually attempts to validate the debt and send you some information.

The first thing to do if the collection agency actually responds to your validation request is to check to see whether or not they are licensed to collect debt in your state. If they are not licensed send them a letter notifying them of this fact and have them cease and desist all further communication with you. Also, if the collection company merely sends you a computer printout, this is not sufficient to meet the FDCPA requirement and your initial request. You must INSIST that they prove to you that you owe the debt and show a signed contract. Keep in mind, you are forcing them to show you what they may or may not have. If you are forced to sue them in court, if they cannot show the court that you LEGALLY owe the debt (signed contract) they would lose the case. So, by forcing them to provide you with this information is showing you what they have on record for you. It is interesting to note that 85% of all companies only keep copies of contractual paperwork on file for up to 3 years. So, if you request the signed contract and they cant provide it, they must STOP reporting this information to the credit bureaus. If they do not validate the debt, you will send them a letter giving them 15 days to validate the debt or stop reporting it to the credit bureaus. The letter you send will have a copy of the initial validation letter you sent them, copy of the return receipt (proof of mailing), and a statement that the collection agency has violated the FDCPA. If they continue to try to collect the debt without validating the debt, they are in violation of FDCPA and you can sue them in small claims court. You will find that 80% of collection agencies do not validate debts correctly or at all and the listing will be removed from your credit report. Please tune into the next blog because I will go into the next step after debt validation and have some fun on how to silence the collection agency and put the law and leverage on your side. See you in another 3-4 days.