FMS Inc - Update

Hi Keith

This is great, FSM is showing that they follow fdcpa. After you place a particular item on dispute, the CA sends it for verification to the OC and wait for the response. Until the information is verified, no collection activities will be made on you. Now, this letter is an important document as it mentions the date of receiving your dispute. If they fail to give you the details within 30 days, your next move will be to dispute on the item along with this copy to the credit bureau. Since the company has failed to give the necessary information, the bureau will involve themselves in getting the facts. Or else, the item must be removed from the file.

If the debt is invalid, it should not stay in the file. Or, if it is shown inaccurately, it needs to come out with correct figures.

I am impressed that you got such a letter back...I think you are the first that I have read has recieved anything back after sending a validation letter, at least anything legit. I have never recieved anything back after sending validation letters.

Wow, if I didn't know better, I'd say that was a legitimate response to a debt validation letter. Never thought I'd see one of those! LOL! I guess it's just a waiting game for the next 30 days....please keep us updated, I would really like to see what happens next!

~Mary :)

Please correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't FMS the one to be providing me the necessary details, and NOT the original creditor??

Probably confused about it, but then.........

FMS should be providing you with the info, but they validate it first with the original creditor to get all the info. That is where it goes bad for them sometimes. If the original creditor does not provide them with enough info, they will not be able to validate the debt for you. A lot of times when CA's get accounts, they get very little info...mainly they get your contact info and amount owed, so they do not have your original contract, or itemized statements of charges, etc. So, when you ask for validation, they turn to the original creditor to get that info. Kinda stupid that they don't just get the info to begin with.

Question for Keith and TMD--

Quote:

In my case, validation requests were sent only after several phone calls. And once I found a company name and business type. They've never bothered to leave useful messages on answering machine. Most times, they won't leave a message!!

I request the necessary information, and also indicate they are to stop calling and contact me in writing only.
Which seems to have worked, only until new company starts calling about same account!

One of mine I sent after recieving phone calls, the others I sent after recieving a bill from the CA, mostly because I wanted to know where the extra money owed came from..most of them were charging way over what I thought I owed.

So what do you do when a company doesn't validate the debt? I had one of my payday loans turned over to collection so I sent them a debt validation letter. It's been thirty days and I've heard nothing back from them or the original creditor. I have sent nothing to the original creditor yet and my debt consolidation company has not gotten a reply from them yet either. They've tried three times by mail and countless times by phone. It seems the original creditor maybe under some legal trouble but that hasn't been confirmed either way yet.

Mishele, some times you can send a 'second' validation request if you'd like. Its pretty much like the first one you sent. But in my case, they didn't respond to the second one any faster than they responded to the first. But its more for your 'paper trail'. Heres what I found in our letter section.

Follow up debt collection agency

Your Name
Your Address
Date:
Re: Account No.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I had sent you a request to validate my debt, account no.__________ on____________.
According to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (fdcpa), I have the right to claim a validation of the debt and you are obliged to provide me the relevant documentation. I have received no reply from you except the confirmation of receipt of letter on____, whereas the other credit bureaus have sent their ???verified??? document.
You are now in violation of the FDCPA and subject to a fine of $1,000(refer to the act for updated value), which I may collect by filing a claim. I intend to continue with the suit if I don't hear back from you within the coming [10-15] days.
This might result in a bad mark on your reputation. This might even result in serious legal trouble with the FTC and other state and federal agencies.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THIS.
Sincerely,
Your Signature
Your Name

That is a good idea Shirley, I may try that. But, really I think what is going on with mine is that they probably already passed them on to another CA. They just don't want to even mess with it. This could go on forever...

While you are never getting the information about your debt account, it is better to explain the situation to the credit bureau. They will be informed on what is happening around and can conduct an investigation on their own if requested. If the investigation fails, the account will be removed from the file on being disputed. Or else, they will get the accurate details for you.