Whenever you are contacted by a debt collector, the initial letter from the debt collector will state that you have the right to request validation of the debt within 30 days. Even a debt collector like Persolve, Midland Funding, CACH, FFIF, Cavalry, or Asset Acceptance puts the notice on the initial letter. Why do you care about this right?
Debt validation requests serve several purposes. First, by making the debt collector validate the debt, you stop all collection activities. The debt collector cannot continue its efforts to collect the debt until it provides you with validation. This also means that they cannot report the alleged debt to a credit reporting agency. By requesting validation, you can get some time to figure things out while the collector looks for validation.
Second, sometimes there is no validation. If the collector cannot validate the debt, the collector cannot collect the debt from you. Its a simple method to end the collection efforts. When a client comes to me with litigation, I serve a request for production. That request asks for the same information you would receive if you send a validation letter. This can sometimes result in a case being dismissed.
In addition, now the Fair Debt Buying Practices Act will require debt buyers to confirm the identity of the consumer, as well as prohibiting a lawsuit from being filed without the debt buyer being able to verify ownership and the amount of the debt. Over 90% of consumer debt collection cases end in defaults. A lot of these lawsuits are based on nothing more than papers that don’t prove anything, even who owns the debt.
Requesting debt validation can go a long way towards helping you resolve a dispute with a collector. But you must make sure you ask for the validation immediately.