Saturday, January 08, 2005
When must a 3rd party collector respond to a request for validation
According to the CREDITWRENCH web site, under the FDCPA they must respond in a reasonable amount of time. The site goes on to further say that the courts have held that this reasonable amount of time is 30 days, and that if they don't do so they are in violation of the law.
Recently I asked CREDITWRENCH CEO Billie Bauer to cite where the FDCPA required validation from a debt collector in a "reasonable amount of time". And, to cite one court case that upheld this.
He couldn't.
The reason he couldn't is that there is no such requirement in the FDCPA, nor is there any supporting case law.
Quoting relevent statute 15 USC 1692g(b):
"If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing.....that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed......the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt ." (Full text here)
The FDCPA does not impose a requirement that a 3rd party collector ever respond to a request for verification. The only thing the FDCPA requires is that they cease collection activity until they do provide it if it was requested of them.
They can supply the verification in a week, a month, 20 years, or never. They just have to stop collection efforts until such time as they do provide it.
The CREDITWRENCH statement that they must provide validation in a reasonable amount of time is false and misleading.
Recently I asked CREDITWRENCH CEO Billie Bauer to cite where the FDCPA required validation from a debt collector in a "reasonable amount of time". And, to cite one court case that upheld this.
He couldn't.
The reason he couldn't is that there is no such requirement in the FDCPA, nor is there any supporting case law.
Quoting relevent statute 15 USC 1692g(b):
"If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing.....that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed......the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt ." (Full text here)
The FDCPA does not impose a requirement that a 3rd party collector ever respond to a request for verification. The only thing the FDCPA requires is that they cease collection activity until they do provide it if it was requested of them.
They can supply the verification in a week, a month, 20 years, or never. They just have to stop collection efforts until such time as they do provide it.
The CREDITWRENCH statement that they must provide validation in a reasonable amount of time is false and misleading.
