Midland Credit

Well seeing as you talked to them on the phone they have 5 days to send you a dunning letter. At that point it will state what it is for, the account number and how much is owed. Then you have 30 days to send a debt validation letter.

What information did you give them when you called so they could look up the account? DO NOT give them your SS#.

I would at this point send them a debt validation letter certified mail return receipt requested. Seeing as you do not have an account number, they will have to use your address to look it up, nothing more. Do not sign the letter only type your name. After they get the letter and you get the green card back, wait at least 30 days and dispute it with your credit report again. If they verify it again then you will have to type up another debt validation letter with different wording stating an intent to file suit against them if it is not removed from your credit reports. You will also include another copy of the original letter and a copy of the green card you got back the first time. Most likely it will get removed at that point.

Here is a sample DV letter, format it to your needs.

Your Name
Your Address
CITY/Town, STATE ZIPCODE

Date: March 9, 2005



Collection Agency Name
Address
CITY/Town, STATE ZIPCODE

Re: Acct Ref. # XXXXX and XXXXX

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is being sent to you in response to a alleged debt. Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.

This is NOT a request for verification or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you
.
What I need you to provide as the debt validation is as follows:
1. What the money you say I owe is for;
2. Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
3. Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
4. Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
5. Identify the original creditor;
6. Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
7. Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
8. Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent
9. Proof that the collection company owns the debt/or has been assigned the debt. (You are legally entitled to collect this particular debt from me.) This is basic contract law.
10. Complete payment history, starting with the original creditor. (I need to have proof of my payment history with original Creditor, what the amount of the debt was when the creditor assigned the debt to your company, and what fees/interest has been tacked on to this debt and how you/they determined these fees.) This requirement was established by the case Fields v. Wilber Law Firm, Donald L. Wilber and Kenneth Wilber, USCA-02-C-0072, 7th Circuit Court, Sept 2004..
11. Copy of the original signed loan agreement or credit card application. (My contract with the original creditor establishing the debt between us.) This is also basic contract law.

At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau's (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent

I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:
1. Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
2. Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
3. Defamation of Character

If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following declaration, I will require at least 30 days investigating this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.

Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.
If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately.

It would be advisable that you assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action.



Best Regards,

Midland is a pain in the butt to deal with because they are:


1---clueless
2---dishonest
3---deaf as well, apparently

I am dealing with them right now on an account my wife supposedly opened a couple years back. They first contacted us in September, and I immediately informed them that the debt was disputed. We went through the usual motions, like sending a DV demand. They in turn sent us a reply stating something like this:

We have received your dispute and are in the process of investigating this matter. In order to resolve this matter in a timely fashion and with the least amount of inconvenience, we ask that you send us copies of any documentation that might support your dispute.

In other words, they are asking for cancelled checks to prove payments made, etc etc etc. Funny thing--dont fall for this. It is up to THEM and THEM ALONE to obtain proper validation, and the law requires them to go to the original creditor to get it--not to you. So, I merely laughed at this letter, and kept it filed away for the battle I knew was coming.

That battle came to a head last night. I absolutely went off on this guy that called my house--a foreign(read, middle eastern) accent, but he claimed his name was "Mick Jonas". After telling this winner that I sent them a timely DV/dispute statement, and explaining that each time they continued to call me, they were breaking federal law, the guy on the phone tried to claim that I never disputed anything.

This is not the first time I was told that--I have spoken to numerous collectors and before last night I had also spoken to three "supervisors". The first time, I was told I never disputed. The second time, I was told, "we see here that you did dispute, but you waited until after the 30 day window to do it, so we dont have to give you anything." The third time, it was back to "I am looking at your whole file right here and there was never anything entered about any dispute". Which brings us to last night.

A "manager" by the name of Frank was given the call when I told the debt collector off. Frank proceeded to ask me "are you going to tell me what you THINK the law says, or can I tell you what I KNOW the law says??" Well, I practically foam at the mouth when some idiot gets that arrogant, because I am more up on the laws than any debt collector I have ever spoken to. He then tells me the same BS--"you didnt dispute anything, so I dont have to give you squat, now stop stalling and pay your bills already, you damn deadbeat....." Well, I then tell him that this is the LAST time I am going to say it before I simply sue them...and I insist that I DID dispute it, I then read him word for word the "we got your dispute" letter and ask him "How would I have this letter from you if I never disputed???" So, he looks at my file again...and all of a sudden, he says "wow, it appears you are correct, it says right here that you disputed the debt formally, and you did so within the 30 day window after all."

The best part of it is that I have all the phone calls on tape.....

And when I told him that, he doubted that I recorded the call. So, I reqind the tape and play him something he had said a couple minutes ago....and all of a sudden his whole attitude changed. I was promised that the calls would stop immediately....and that they would validate the debt.

Interestingly enough......this morning, at 9:33, they called again.....time to sue, I guess!

Bottom line, cover your butt whenever you deal with these crooks. I have all the documentation of their letters and I have the calls recorded, so I have everything I need to put them in their place. You should do the same, as much as your state laws allow you to.

Yeah I am still waiting for anything from them. I actually have another "account" with LVNV that I am fighting about right now. At least LVNV was half-way civil towards me until the end of the conversation. I just told them I saw them on my CR and was gathering info and I was going to do nothing at the moment. Gotta love the ex-wife...

Also, I am almost positive that both the debts are beyond the SOL. And both are due to drop from my report later this year or in 2010. I am in TX. Basically, I am just trying to find a way to drop them a little quicker but will wait them out if needed. I just worry about them trying to re-age the accounts since the info they have posted about them on my CR is wrong to start with. They report the I am "120 days or 4 payments behind", kinda funny as they have never contacted me to start with. Or maybe I was in Iraq or Afghanistan when they did. The first contact was me calling them to find out what they were.