1. Cap1sucks answers a poster
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomm19325
In reviewing what I posted, I think I didn't explain my situation clearly. The original
creditor did not violate the law, I don't think. They simply assigned the case to 5
different collection agencies over the past 3 to 4 years.
Of course the original creditor did not violate the law. They are not subject to FDCPA so cannot
violate under most circumstances.
Quote:
Every collection agency (except one) sent me a letter listing the amount owed and the
fact that I had 30 days to dispute the validity of the debt and to ask for a copy of the
debt.
My response to all of the collection agencies was basically that I was aware of what the
original creditor (and the collection agencies) claimed I owed (around $500) but that I
was disputing the debt since I owed only about $200. I mentioned to the collection
agencies that I was still willing to pay the $200. I never heard back from any of the
collection agencies so none of them accepted my offer of $250.
I therefore never asked for and did not receive any debt validation. So I don’t think any
of the collection agencies that contacted me violated the law.
Your statement that you disputed the debt in a timely manner was also a demand for validation.
Quote:
Now, all of a sudden after almost 3 years and 11 months, the original creditor has sent
me a copy of the original bill for $500. They did not include any letter asking for
payment or anything. Just a copy of the bill.
OH? And I suppose they just did that out of the blue because they just figured you would like to know
even though you may actually owe them exactly nothing? Don't make sense to me. And why would I
say that you may actually owe them exactly nothing? Because they may very well have sold the debt to
one of the collection agencies who now want to move forward with collection before the SOL runs out.
Of course, it might have already run out but they hope you don't know that and that you wouldn't
defend or wouldn't know how to defend even if you did know that the SOL had already ran out on
them. My guess is that they are probably right.
No, the creditor didn't just send you that validation out of the blue. They sent it because one of the
collection agencies asked for it. In the process they automatically created a violation if the debt
collector now attempts to move forward without having provided you with the validation directly
themselves. FDCPA is very clear on that point.

2. Quote:
I do think I may have a case against the last (the 5th) collection agency. This last
collection agency contacted me by phone in December 2008, and left a message
requesting that I call them back. I never called them back since I assumed the call must
have been from a collection agency
Who told you that was a violation? What law says it is a violation if they do that? What court has ever
ruled that what they did was a violation? [quote] Around March 2009, I requested a copy of my credit
report. I was surprised to find that this item was on my credit report and that it had been placed there by
the last (the 5th) collection agency. I sent a letter to all 3 credit reporting agencies in April asking that
this item be removed. I also sent a letter to the 5th collection agency telling them that they had unfairly
placed this item on my credit report without contacting me in writing.[/ quote]What law requires them
to contact you in writing before placing it on your credit report?
Quote:
I mentioned that if the collection agency had contacted me in writing, I would have
disputed the $500 bill and offered to pay $200 like I had with the other collection
agencies.
And then you could have sat back and enjoyed the nice thank you note they placed on your credit
reports saying that you paid them which would have lowered your score even more.
Quote:
Around May 2009, I was able to get the item removed from my credit report by all 3
credit reporting agencies.
OK. Then if you had paid one of them it would most likely get put right back on again as a paid
collection.
Quote:
The Statute of Limitation on this matter should run out in about a month.
So what is the statute of limitations you are referring to?
Quote:
But the original creditor after almost 4 years of not contacting me at all - only the
collection agencies were contacting me - sent me a copy of the original bill (without
any letter requesting payment). Should I write to the original creditor?
I don't think so.
Quote:
Or should I just ignore their bill?

3. Bill? What bill? They didn't ask for money. They only sent you information.
Quote:
My fear is that they may sue at the last minute.
So what? What difference does it make? Why do you fear that?
Quote:
Do I have a case against the 5th collection agency that did not contact me in writing and
placed the item on my credit report?
You would have to ask one of the credit repair experts about that.
Quote:
What type of cause of action do I have and what sort of damages could I claim? If I do
have a case, it appears from what you told me it would be a federal matter. I’m in
California but some of the collection agencies are located in other states.
California has much stronger laws than FDCPA. You need to be familiar wth both.[quote]Can you
refer me to any books, articles, etc. I could read regarding this issue?[quote]Seems to me that you have
not been paying any attention to my signature line below or following the RSS feeds. If you had been
you would already know that the feeds change very rapidly, almost constantly as a matter of fact and
that they contain articles from prominent lawyers from all over the nation, court cases from courts at all
levels and many states including United States Supreme Court decisions, articles, research and links to
web sites and other sources of such information. It comes in so fast that you need a good feed reader
such as Thunderbird to even start to keep up with it all. Start with my signature lines and when you find
a feed you would like to follow then simply copy the URL and paste it into Thunderbird and then you
get it the same way I do.
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