This is a question you might be asking yourself if you’ve found yourself pulling one of these pieces of paper out of your mailbox. It may lead to even more questions, such as, “Who sent this form?” and “Who do I contact for more information?”
In short, under the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act, a debt collector is a person or company that regularly collects debts owed to others, usually when those debts are past due. These letters are sent out after the first attempt at contact from a debt collection agency and require immediate action from the recipient to get the matter resolved. Luckily, this blog post can help answer all the questions you may have so that you can begin to take those steps as needed.
Review Your Validation Notice
If you receive one of these notices in the mail, you should first be aware that collectors are required by law to send you a written debt validation notice containing information about the debt they’re trying to collect. This letter must be sent within five days of the first attempt at contact from the collection agency. These regulations are set out by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and all collections agencies must strictly adhere to these rules.
Your letter should outline all of the following information:
- The amount owed
- The name of the creditor seeking payment
- A statement that the debt is assumed valid by the collector unless you dispute it within 30 days of the first contact
- A statement that if you write to dispute the debt or request more information within 30 days, the debt collector will verify the debt by mail
- A statement that if you request information about the original creditor within 30 days, the collector must provide it
Next Steps: How to Dispute or Pay Your Debts
Once you thoroughly review your Validation Notice, if you have concerns about the amount that is being claimed, or the company contacting you, you have a few choices on the next steps. First, you can speak to an attorney or credit counseling organization to discuss what your best next course of action is.
Next, you can opt to write a Debt Verification Letter to request more information. These letters are best used if you’re looking to pause collection efforts for a time to get more information from debt collectors or if you intend to pay the debt. In both cases, as the recipient of the Validation Notice, you are requesting more information to take the best course of action.
The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau, or CFPB, has sample letters available online that debtors can use to respond to a Validation Notice should they receive one. These samples are intended to help consumers as a starting point to get more information, set limits, or request a stop in communication from a collection agency.
Not all Collection Agencies Are the Same
If you’ve gotten a Validation Notice from a collection agency, more than likely it will have been after initial contact from a debt collection agency such as Capital Recovery Partners. A recipient may assume that all collections agencies are the same, but we believe that we’re different from the rest. Our team has to undergo specific ongoing training to uphold the strict rules and regulations for collecting debts, and we take these very seriously. We also believe that empathy and understanding towards a person’s debts is key to working out a way to get the debt handled quickly and efficiently.