How to Dispute a Debt with a Collections Agency
You have the right to dispute a
debt when a collector contacts you. Maybe the debt is not yours,
maybe it is but you dispute the account, or maybe you are unsure.
You have an absolute right to dispute the debt. If a debt
collection agency tells you that you can't or that your time is up
to dispute the debt, that is
untrue. Call us for a
You do have the right to dispute the debt - at any time.
When a debt collector first
contacts you, they typically send you a letter telling you who they
are, what debt they are collecting, and how much you owe. In that
first letter you get from the debt collector, they must tell
- That unless you dispute the debt within 30 days of the receipt
of that letter, they can assume it is valid. That does not
mean you cannot dispute the debt at all if you miss the 30 days.
You can always tell them it is disputed. Also, just because they
assume it is valid, that doesn't mean it is legally valid.
- That if the you notify the debt collector in writing within the
30-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed,
the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy
of a judgment you if there is one, and a copy of such verification
or judgment will be mailed to you by the debt collector. You
can, within the first 30 days, demand that the collector validate
the debt for you. That is, prove that there is a debt that you
owe. If you send in a timely dispute, the debt collection
agency must stop collecting the debt until they have provided that
validation. Failing to do so, the debt collector violates the Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act. If you dispute the debt, then anytime the
collector reports that debt to a credit reporting agency, then they must report
that the debt is a disputed debt.
- A statement that, upon the consumer's written request within
the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer
with the name and address of the original creditor, if different
from the current creditor. Lawyers collecting debts are under
the same obligation to provide you validation. Remember, a debt
collector presented with a timely (within 30 days of receiving your
notice) demand for validation also must stop all collection
activities until they provided the requested validation. Filing a
lawsuit is a collection activity. That means they cannot sue you
until they have validated the debt. You can dispute the debt
over the phone when the collector calls you. The collector, at this
time, does not have to validate the debt or provide you any
documents, but at least they are on notice of the dispute, and must
notify any credit reporting agency they communicate to that the
debt is disputed. Dispute the debt in writing: see our sample
letters for using to communicate with the collectors.