The Right to Verification of the Debt
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When a debt collector communicates with you the first time, it is required to give you written notice of your right to dispute the debt and require “verification.” In my opinion, the level of verification required by law – if you make your dispute in writing – is pretty minimal. Still, the fact is that requiring validation seems to make a significant number of debt collectors go away, so it is apparently worth doing for that reason. It’s also an important first step in preparing to defend yourself from a law suit if it happens.
Remember, they don’t HAVE to verify – they simply have to verify before taking any further actions to collect. If they leave you alone, they don’t have to do anything else.
Deceptive Notice of a Right to Verify
A Dirty Trick by Debt Collectors: “This is a Communication by a Debt Collector” on the Lawsuit
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The essence of this trick is the habit debt collection lawyers have of putting on the legal pleadings that “this communication is an attempt to collect a debt… [ and on to the right to require verification].” The problem with this is two-fold. If it WERE a qualified communication, it would violate the FDCPA because the fact of the lawsuit and the timing required by that would “overshadow” the right to require validation.
HOWEVER, A LAWSUIT IS NOT A COMMUNICATION attempting to collect a debt under the FDCPA. Suggesting that it is one, and offering a “right” to require verification, can lure consumers into disputing the debt and requesting validation instead of answering the suit. Then, while they’re waiting for the debt collector to answer their dispute, the debt collector is getting a default judgment against them.
I know they do this trick, and I know that some people fall for it. If you have, you have a strong case for a motion to vacate the judgment. And the whole thing is probably a violation of the FDCPA and would give you a counterclaim under the appropriate circumstances.
Doing Things Right When Sued or Threatened with Debt Suit
When it comes to talking with debt collectors, Silence is Usually Golden.
The biggest risk you face when dealing with debt collectors – especially when sued for debt – is that you will do or say something wrong. Be careful when talking to debt collectors, and know that anything you say could come back to haunt.
But if you have something it is in your interest to say, then say it – and hang up afterwards.
The Nature of the Debt Collection Beast
Debt collectors and their lawyers are not, of course, all the same, but the process of litigation, and the relationship between debt buyers and the people they’re chasing for money are pretty similar. It will help you to know the nature of the beast that is debt law.
Debt Collectors and Debt Law – The Nature of the Beast
What you’re facing when you take on the debt collectors
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This video was originally part of a tutorial on what people facing debt trouble should do.
For People Sued or Threatened with Debt Suit
Debt Litigation – Early Stages of Suit
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Debt Litigation Manual – Pre-suit
If you are in the “pre-suit” stage, you are at least pretty sure that you are either going to sue or be sued. Of course this is not true of most debts – a vast majority of them never get litigated at all. But you almost never know for sure whether a debt will, or will not, go to litigation. Therefore you must make efforts to protect your rights.
As soon as the possibility of litigation enters the picture – and for as long as it stays there – you must remember that you are playing by different rules than you would in ordinary life. In ordinary life, for example, people think it admirable to admit your wrongs and try to make them right. To pay at least a little even if you can’t pay it all. And above all to communicate with the other people to minimize bad feelings and maximize possibilities.
This all changes if the possibility of litigation is there. All those usual things would just hurt you then. For example, admitting the debt and trying to work out terms might – and most likely would – constitute an admission that made it easier for them to sue you. And making it easier to sue you means making it more likely. Making any partial payment would “re-age” the debt, making it start all over from the point of view of the statute of limitations.
Thus if litigation seems at all likely, you need to start acting more strategically: make them think that suing and winning isn’t likely or at least that it will be expensive. Any doubts you can encourage about their ability to get any money even if they win are good ones. And if you don’t see how you will pay it all, you probably shouldn’t pay anything.
Time line of Debt Trouble
Like most things, trouble can be analyzed as a series of discrete steps you can consider. And you can fix them one thing at a time, too.
Timeline of Trouble
This time-line probably doesn’t tell you anything you don’t already know. Our point here is to “build system” to help you approach things systematically. It’s easier to take things one step at a time and in order than to take everything on at random. So much of what makes debt troubles so hard is that they are overwhelming and dispiriting. If you break them into simple steps and allow yourself the patience to do them one at a time trusting the results to add up over time, you can handle the problems.
We also suggest that you think “strategically,” which means keeping your end-results in mind from the very beginning.
Strategic Thinking
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Be Aggressive – Sue the Debt Collector
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Right to Verification Can be Deceptive
The Right to Verification of the Debt
____________________________________________________
When a debt collector communicates with you the first time, it is required to give you written notice of your right to dispute the debt and require “verification.” In my opinion, the level of verification required by law – if you make your dispute in writing – is pretty minimal. Still, the fact is that requiring validation seems to make a significant number of debt collectors go away, so it is apparently worth doing for that reason. It’s also an important first step in preparing to defend yourself from a law suit if it happens.
Remember, they don’t HAVE to verify – they simply have to verify before taking any further actions to collect. If they leave you alone, they don’t have to do anything else.
Deceptive Notice of a Right to Verify
A Dirty Trick by Debt Collectors: “This is a Communication by a Debt Collector” on the Lawsuit
____________________________________________________
The essence of this trick is the habit debt collection lawyers have of putting on the legal pleadings that “this communication is an attempt to collect a debt… [ and on to the right to require verification].” The problem with this is two-fold. If it WERE a qualified communication, it would violate the FDCPA because the fact of the lawsuit and the timing required by that would “overshadow” the right to require validation.
HOWEVER, A LAWSUIT IS NOT A COMMUNICATION attempting to collect a debt under the FDCPA. Suggesting that it is one, and offering a “right” to require verification, can lure consumers into disputing the debt and requesting validation instead of answering the suit. Then, while they’re waiting for the debt collector to answer their dispute, the debt collector is getting a default judgment against them.
I know they do this trick, and I know that some people fall for it. If you have, you have a strong case for a motion to vacate the judgment. And the whole thing is probably a violation of the FDCPA and would give you a counterclaim under the appropriate circumstances.
Sample motion to Dismiss
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