Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Does a collector violate the FDCPA when they send validation?
Of course not. However CREDITWRENCH has stated:
If the debtor demands validation of the debt and receives only a copy of the contract he signed then the 3rd party collector has violated FDCPA.
The FDCPA does not define what constitues a valid debt, and for good reason. A valid debt is a question for a trier of fact to determine, and it relates to state law, not the FDCPA.
The sole purpose of the FDCPA is to control the behavior of a collection agency, not to settle contracts.
What constitutes a valid debt in court would necessarily qualify as proper verification. An actionable violation under 15 USC 1692g can therefore only be determined if the court deems the signed contract to represent an invalid debt. A cause of action cannot occur from the mere offering of a signed contract as verification.
CREDITWRENCH stating that a collector sending a signed contract as validation is a FDCPA violation is false and misleading.
