I have several accounts being reported by Midland Credit Management and Arrow Financial Services. The accounts were acquired from the OC in 2005. I submitted DV letters to the CA. Letters were sent certified mail with electronic signature confirmation. I have proof that both companies received the DV request letters. I heard no response so I disputed with the CRA's. The CRA state that the accounts were verified by the original source and I should contact them regarding any questions. The CRA have rejected by dispute request claiming the information has been investigated and verified.
I complained to the Attorney General. The reply to the attorney was that the time constraints under the FDCPA have long passed and they are not obligated to honor the DV letter.
So, now I am stuck and looking for direction.
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Debt Validation of old accounts
Hi Wasco,
You can try the debt validation for a second time. However if the collection agency fails to reply, try to dispute the item with the collection agency itself, telling them that they have failed to validate your debt. You should remember that there is no such rule mentioned under FDCPA, that the collection agency needs to validate a debt within any stipulated time.
If the dispute comes back as verified then it is a violation of FDCPA rule. You can then try to dispute the item with the credit bureaus. If they send back the disputes as verified they too are under FDCPA violation. You can then notify them as they are under violation of FDCPA, you can sue them.
In your letter to the collection agency, you should attach the copies of your debt validation letters. Mention that as they have failed to validate the debt, they are under FDCPA violation, so they should cease the collection process and stop harassing you.
who were the original creditor? what state do you live in? what was the DOFD?
Debt validation of old accounts
I submitted a debt validation letter (CMESC) to Midland Credit Management. They did not reply. I disputed the tradeline with all 3 CRA's. All 3 disputes came back as verified by reporting source as being my accounts. I filed a complaint to the Attorney General of the State of California.
Midland repsonded to the Attorney General stating that the DV request was received and they were not repquired to honor it because the FDCPA allows a specific time to request validation; which had long since past.
Should I submit another DV letter? The account is from 2004. It was acquired by Midland in 2005. SOL in California is 4 years. DOFD was in November of 2004 (I think). The original creditor is reporting the account as charged off.
Looking for help from the forum.
Failing to contact within 30 days only means that they don't have to cease collection. Under 623 they still have to investigate your dispute.
Did midland explain how they knew the 30 days had past. Do they have proof of postage?
Debt validation of old accounts
Midland's letter to the Attorney General states the following:
"Mr. XXXXX writes that he has not received responses to his requests for validation of the debt. As you are aware, the Fair Debt COllection Practices Act (FDCPA) expressly provides certain time limitations for the submission of such a request. Because the request was not timely, the obligation to provide verification under FDCPA did not apply.To date he has failed to provide Midland Credit any documentation to substantiate his dispute."
Midland, also, states they became the servicer of account (5 in total) on October 11, 2006, June 7, 2005, March 6, 2007, February 29, 2008 and Novermber 15, 2007; respectively.
Midland, also, states that data provided shows the account was charge-off as an unpaid deliquent-bect on March 12, 2004, December 31, 2004, March 6, 2006, March 31, 2004 and march 24, 2004; respectively.
There is absolutely no way that Midland can provide proof of delivery with RRR for any documents mailed regarding notice of acquisition of these accounts. The only way they can produce any notice of documents mailed would be by regular u.s. mail and the date the letter was produced and mailed (from their account records).
Again, I initiated contact with the DV letter this last year.
don't send a DV letter. The DV letter under the FDCPA forces the CA to stop all collection activities until they respond with no time for for response.
A 623 is different. the collection activities (which in this case is listing the tradeline) don't stop But they have 30 days to respond. 623 applies to all including CAs. A DV letter should in general invoke your 623 rights to investigation but clearly it has not been interpreted that way. Write a letter that quotes 623.
Debt validation of old accounts
cinnamngrl,
Should I sent the 623 letter to the CA or the CRA? Midland is in violation of FDCPA Section 809(a), 15 U.S.C. section 1692g(a)
"FAILING TO SEND REQUIRED CONSUMER NOTICE: The FDCPA requires that debt
collectors send consumers a written notice that includes, among other things, the amount
of the debt, the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed, and a statement that, if
within thirty days of receiving the notice the consumer disputes the debt in writing, the
collector will obtain verification of the debt and mail it to the consumer. Many
consumers who do not receive the notice are unaware that they must send their dispute in
writing if they wish to obtain verification of the debt" - This is direct from the FTC 2008 Annual Report of the FDCPA.
ISn't a 623 letter directed towards the CRA to provide the Method of Validation? If so, then the CRA's only have to answer back that they verified the account through E-Oscar. That is the position that the CRA might take. With the establishment of E-Oscar, all the CRA's are relying on this format to satisfy consumer disputes in a time fashion.
How can a consumer fight e-Oscar verification? Even if the accounts are being reported correctly or incorrectly....I see this as a consumer loss. WOuld a 623 be sent to the CA reporting the tradeline? Would this be helpful? Would they be required to honor a 623 request.
no the 623 is sent to the creditor and in this case the CA.
dispute with cra (you've done this)
623 to CA
MOV to CRA (method of verification)
Debt validation of old accounts
Thanks. I will look for a good template to generate the letters.
I'm sure I will other questions and scenerios; as I my credit needs alot of work.
I usually get alot of activity every week from the CRA, CA, FTC, Attorney's, etc.
Trying to figure out what works best in my situation and hope my success' can be passed onto the forum.
I expect to post more information on roadblocks from CA, OC and CRA during this process.
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iLxvYi Wow, great article post. Want more.