Respose Letter From CA

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This is not a proper validation of debt. The CA needs to show the payment history of the account.

No, they don't. The FDCPA doesn't say anything about this. Please don't post this nonsense.

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posted by waffles You need to request debt validation in a written manner to their mailing address, CMRRR. Look in my sig for detail.

This makes no sense. The OP clearly stated that he already sent them a validation letter. Why would you advise him to send what he already told you he already sent? Sending another one will not get you anywhere--if a DV letter by mail was the answer, then they would have responded to him with something more relevant than this.

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posted by stevebarris Well, I have no clue what the original debt is from but if this is a credit card case, the DV you send should also ask for a copy of the original card holder's agreement. That is the best possible proof you can possibly ask for.

You can ask for that all you like, but there is no provision in the law that requires them to provide it to you at this stage in the game. In fact, asking for it is pointless right now because most of the time they will not have it, and if they do, they still will likely not provide it. You need to read up on what the FDCPA says about validation, and what it doesnt say. The only time a CA could be compelled to produce such a document is in court.
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This is not a proper validation of debt. The CA needs to show the payment history of the account.

This is false. The CA does not need to provide this. In fact, the FDCPA does not specifically note which documents a CA must provide as validation. There is a standard, not a required list of documents. Validation is supposed to show three basic elements:

1--that the debt is legitimately owed by you
2--that the CA is legally entitled to collect it
3--that the amount they claim to be owed is legitimate.

Normally, in my experience, #1 is the big one that you should be looking for at this point. If they can show that you legitimately owe the debt, then you can work on the other two. But I start there. If a debt collector cannot show to you that you legitimately incurred this debt, then it does not matter what else they can show. Often, there is more of a question as to how they can prove these elements--but for some reason the law does not require specific documents to be part of validation.

To the OP--at this point, you have sent them a DV. They have responded in writing with a lame attempt to sidestep the validation process. If I were in your shoes, I would send them a certified letter that said something like this:

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Asset Acceptance Address RE: Asset Acceptance Account #_______(however they identified this account in their letter) date To Whom it May Concern: I am in receipt of your letter dated _____ regarding the above identified account. This letter is to inform you that you have failed to properly validate this account in accordance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act(FDCPA). I am certain that you are fully aware of your obligations under the FDCPA. I am equally certain that you are aware of the penalties for failing to properly validate a disputed debt. I have no doubt that you understand the actions required of you as stated in section 809 of the FDCPA; merely consulting your own computer records is not sufficient for proper validation. Federal law requires you to contact the original creditor, obtain proof of the debt, and provide a copy of that proof to me. This shall be my final effort to obtain proper, legal validation from you regarding this account. Should you choose not to follow the law in this matter, I will not hesitate to pursue all legal means necessary, including litigation, to protect my rights from any further abuses. Respectfully, your name your address

Keep a copy for yourself, and send them a copy by certified mail return receipt requested. The FDCPA leaves a lot of ambiguity in the fact that it does not specifically identify what documents constitute "proper validation", but it DOES state that they are to contact the original creditor, obtain proof, and provide it to you. They have relied upon the records previously obtained from the "previous creditor", which is not good enough. Even if they have records from the original creditor previously, the law says this:

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(b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector.

The FTC staff attorneys also used to write letters to clarify points in the FDCPA. The Wollman letter is one of these. A debt collector inquired about what constitutes proper validation, and the Wollman letter was the FTC's response. here is a portion of that letter:

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This is in response to your letter of February 9, 1993 to David Medine regarding the type of verification required by Section 809(b) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You ask whether a collection agency for a medical provider will fulfill the requirements of that Section if it produces "an itemized statement of services rendered to a patient on its own computer from information provided by the medical institution . . .??? in response to a request for verification of the debt. You also ask who is responsible for mailing the verification to the consumer.
The statute requires that the debt collector obtain verification of the debt and mail it to the consumer (emphasis mine). Because one of the principal purposes of this Section is to help consumers who have been misidentified by the debt collector or who dispute the amount of the debt, it is important that the verification of the identity of the consumer and the amount of the debt be obtained directly from the creditor. Mere itemization of what the debt collector already has does not accomplish this purpose. As stated above, the statute requires the debt collector, not the creditor, to mail the verification to the consumer.
[/QUOTE]

You can find this letter by doing a google search for "Wollman letter".

Also, you mentioned that the amount they claim as owed is different. Could you please let me know about this some more? When did they send the first letter to you? When did they send this second one? And how much different are the two amounts? They are legally entitled to add interest as long as the original contract or credit agreement allowed for this, but that is another matter, because if they do not have the original contract or agreement available, they cannot legally add interest. But we will get to that a bit later. Please get back to us, thanks!

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As I understand it the entire thing has been through email and not written.

No, waffles, there is not one single mention of email anywhere in the OP's post. Take a look again at what was said:

[QUOTE]I sent a DV letter to Asset Acceptance upon receiving their initial letter concerning a debt. In response they sent the following letter.[/QUOTE]

OP talks of sending letters and receiving letters, not emails.

In addition, email does serve as a written notification. It is provable. You can determine where it was sent from and where and when it was received. Even if this were done in emails it would still provide a solid written trail of evidence. We always advise people to send CMRRR so that they can prove the letter was sent and received--email does this already, albeit with a bit more work needed to prove the location of the senders and receivers, but it still does the job.