Collection Letters Will Not Break Your Kneecaps

Collection Letters Will Not Break Your Kneecaps

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It may help you to know that today we have business practices and laws that actually prohibit people from coming to your house and kidnapping your dog or breaking your kneecaps simply because you did not pay your debt. Instead, you will find they use words printed on a piece of paper, this is much better for your health and totally harmless

A collection letter is much like a gauge, it informs of you of approximately where you stand in relation to future collection attempts. For example, the more collection letters you are receiving the more of a delay you will experience before any real collection attempts take place, such as a referral to an attorney. Remember also that a collection letter is not the same as a summons and complaint from a court. A summons must be responded to with either a motion to dismiss or an answer or an answer and counterclaim.

If you get a collection letter from a creditor and it looks like it is a form letter (usually signed with a font or not signed at all) it means that no one has actually taken a serious look at your account, no matter what the language in the letter says. Also, the date of the letter is very important. Look to see how long it has been from the date of your last payment to the date of the letter? The more time between these events there is, the better for you. And another factor is who sent the letter.

Did the letter come from the creditors in-house collection department, an attorney in another state, a local attorney, or a third party debt collector or a third party debt collectors attorney in another state or the third party debt collectors local attorney? It is important to understand whether a collection notice is coming from a third party debt collector (who is not the creditor) or from the creditor. Attorneys are not debt collectors, they represent either, but they are not debt collectors themselves. A third party debt collector is not in the banking or credit business and is a corporation that never provided you with credit. Most of us are familiar with the corporate names commonly known as creditors, such as Citibank, Discover, but companies like Asset Acceptance Corporation and NCO and First Select are not creditors.

In response to a third party debt collector, do not send the same responses as you would for creditors, instead, your letter should be dated and state that you dispute the claim, are not refusing to pay but are requesting validation. Sign it and include a copy of their letter for reference.

Because of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act you can request a validation of any collection account that is in dispute. In the case of Chaudhry v. Gallerizzo, 174 F.3d 394, 43 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1063 (4th Cir. 04/05/1999), the court ruled that the collector (or creditor) is only responsible for providing some record that they have your name spelled correctly and that the account number and mailing address is correct. What this does for us is help us determine how they will respond and what information they actually do have.

The collection letter might say that if you do not dispute this within 30 days it will be considered valid however, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act specifically states the opposite. It states that it will not be an admission of the debt if you do not respond within 30 days of receiving the letter.

Copyright 2010 John Gliha

About the Author:
This is your key to Quick Debt Relief. My experience is your gain. You never need to use an attorney and I guarantee the results if you follow my system. In as little as 90 days you can be free of the burden of debt. Not a payment plan or bankruptcy and it's legal in all 50 states.



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