LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE TO START

Welcome to the forum albrechtar. I am not knowledgeable enough to guide you on the verification process, etc. However, one of our members no doubt will post soon with some great advice. In the meantime, check out all the forums and ask any questions.

Validation of debt is where you request a third party collection agency for proof that the debt is yours and that they are entitled to collect on it and (in the case of debt buyers) they have legal ownership of it. You can find a good template via my signature link.

I believe that the one two punch you are referring to is sending a validation letter, waiting 30 days, then disputing the entry for that collection agency on your credit report if they do not validate.

The reason for this tactic is that per the fdcpa (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) they must cease all collection activity until validation is produced and according to the Federal Trade Commission reporting to a consumer reporting agency (i.e. a credit bureau) is considered collection activity.

If they cannot validate the account with you but verify it with the consumer reporting agency then you would be able to request the method of verification and get the collection agency on continued collection activity after validation has been requested and 1 count of providing inaccurate information to a consumer reporting agency and possibly even have the consumer reporting agency held liable.

Albrechtar...sent you a PM with good info on where to start