First, let me point out that I'm licensed only in Virginia and admitted to practice in the Federal Courts in Va. I haven't ever done class action suits, although this is certainly a good opportunity for one, but they're highly technical and I generally represent defendants, not plaintiffs. If anyone is sued in a court in Virginia over one of these things, I could certainly represent you there or find someone who will.
I see that my email address has been deleted from the msg I sent earlier, so I'll post the text of the demand for verification letter here, with some loss of formatting (highlight the entire thing, press CTRL-C to copy, open Windows Notepad, Wordpad or your word processor with a new document window and press Shift-Insert to paste the text. Edit appropriately to meet your needs.)
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____
Quote:
___________________________________
Date of this Letter
Addressee:
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________ ___________
__________________________________________________ ___________
Re: Your demand for payment letter purportedly mailed on ____________________. (copy attached.)
I deny the indebtedness you claim, and demand written verification of the debt. The verification shall include copies of any and all contracts, acknowledgments of indebtedness, writings or other instruments upon which you will rely or which you claim form the basis for your attempts at enforcement of the purported debt or which you claim demonstrate either legal damages or my liability therefor. You will also provide a complete statement of account and all information required under 15 U.S.C. § 1692(g) including the true and correct name of the purported creditor. In addition, and to the extent the claimed indebtedness represents sums allegedly due by reason of the provision of products or services, documentation supplying the five additional items of information is demanded:
the date and time the service was performed or materials delivered;
the identity of the person or persons who performed the service or provided the materials;
a complete description of the service performed or the materials delivered;
the amount of time expended or other quantifiable basis for billing; and
the hourly rate or other measure of the amount purported to be due.
A failure to provide me with the documents upon which you will rely to demonstrate both liability and legal damages will be taken as a failure to provide the verification demanded. Any further attempt to contact me or to collect on this purported debt will be treated as a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as well as any other applicable legislation. This demand for verification is made without prejudice and is neither an attempt to settle any claims, nor is it a waiver or release of any rights or claims I may have or causes of action which have already accrued against either you or your principal.
__________________________________________
(signature)
Name and address of purported debtor:
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
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Suggestions for use of this form letter:
First and most important: you have thirty days in which to send the debt collector a letter in which you deny the debt and demand verification after your first receipt of a notice conforming to the fdcpa, usually contained in the demand letter. The notice usually says you have thirty days in which to contest the debt after which the debt collector is entitled to consider the debt valid.
You have to be able to prove you mailed the demand for verification within the thirty days. By the way, there is no advantage to waiting until the last minute to send the letter; you're much better off sending it promptly, so that issues like "what constitutes 'receipt' or 'mailing" won't matter (e.g., should the letter be mailed on the thirtieth day, is it too late because the debt collector won't have received it within the thirty days, and does the first of the thirty days count as "one" or "zero"?).
The debt collector has five days from the date of his first contact to you, regardless of what form that contact takes, in which to send you a written notice of your rights under the FDCPA. Make a copy of the demand letter and attach it to the letter you send so they can't complain that they didn't know your account number or name as it appears in their computer.
Have a reliable friend with you, someone competent to appear in court if necessary as a witness, to read the demand for verification, and initial it at the bottom in a corner (for later identification in court). Have the witness watch you fold the copy (keep the original for your records - don't send a debt collector originals of anything) and place it in an envelope. Have the witness read the "address for other correspondence" on the debt collector's demand for payment letter to you, and compare that name and address with that on your envelope.
Note that there is always a different address for payments and "other correspondence" - that's so they can safely ignore anything that comes in the P.O.Box designated for payments other than a payment. You must send the demand for verification to the "other correspondence" address.
After the witness compares the name and address to be sure it's right, have the witness go to the post office with you and watch you mail it. The witness has to be able to testify that the same letter you put in the envelope is that which was in the envelope that went into the mail, so after you fold and seal the envelope, give it to the witness who will hold it for you until you mail it.
At the post office, either send the letter by (1) registered mail, return receipt requested or (2) first class priority mail with delivery confirmation. Regardless of which method you choose (all you really have to do is prove you mailed it, so it doesn't matter whether the green card actually comes back) get a "certificate of mailing" for an extra buck or so and a cash receipt.
I prefer priority mail, since registered mail can be rejected or ignored, and that way I can get an email that tells me when the letter was actually delivered by date and time (so I can measure violations of the FDCPA from and after that date and time). The certificate of mailing, along with your witness' testimony and the original letter will be necessary to prove when and what you mailed. Then keep a log of each and every letter and phone call from the debt collector.
Each one made in violation of the FDCPA is worth a thousand dollars or more plus attorneys' fees when you sue the debt collector. If they send you documentation purporting to verify the debt, look through it carefully and see if you can find information that they could use to prove (1) that there is a valid debt of the amount claimed and (2) you're the person who owes the money. If you're not sure, take it to a lawyer and pay the lawyer to look through it.
Don't count on this information being up-to-date; see 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. for the full scoop on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It is believed to be useful as of February 16, 2006. This form is provided as a suggestion based on actual usage in a law practice since about 1997. You are acting as your own lawyer in using this form, and you are expected to adapt it to your specific purposes based on your own knowledge and legal research. The use of this letter assumes that you can, in good faith, deny that you owe the amount of money that is claimed.
You can use it if you believe you do owe money, but that the amount you owe is materially different from that claimed. If you do owe the money as claimed, you can create more problems than you can solve by using this letter - if you don't want to pay them, wait until they file suit and see what kind of proof they can offer the court. If you simply want to make the debt collector stop, just send them the money.
If you're not willing to do what's necessary to protect your rights, just give up now and save yourself the effort. If you use this letter effectively, even if you owe some part of the debt, the debt collector may end up owing you more than you owe the creditor.
Post edited for cleaner view-Vikas
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