Thanks for the kind words!

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Thanks! :)

I've heard that, too because they can compare your signature with loans.

You are welcome -- thanks for your comment! Basically it is the same everywhere based on federal law (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Telephone Consumer Protection Act). Now each state can have some differences but this will hopefully give you a good start. Best wishes! John Watts

Just wonderful, I've been looking for "how do you get creditors to stop calling your work" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you ever come across - Donadelyn Stupefying Dominance - (search on google ) ? It is a great one of a kind product for discovering how to repair your credit without the headache. Ive heard some awesome things about it and my cousin got excellent results with it.

Paul, That is an option to tell them not to call. Advantage is you don't have to talk to them. Never fun talking with collectors. Disadvantage is you are not talking to them. You might could work it out over the phone. Or they may be abusive and when they violate the law you can sue them. You may also need information from them that you can get easier over the phone than in a letter. Different strategies or tools -- key is to use the right tool at the right time. And what you have suggested can be very helpful in the right circumstance. Thank you for your comment John Watts

Why not just not have a phone ....its not like it's illegal to not have a phone number ?

Totally.

Kenneth you can have two IF the original creditor shows zero balance and that the account was transferred to another company. Where we see problems are where both accounts ("tradeline" is what the industry calls each account) have the balance. That would make it look like you owed twice as much. If you are in Alabama feel free to reach out to me and I'll be glad to go over your reports with you. Thanks John Watts 205-879-2447 www.alabamaconsumer.com/contact-us/

You are welcome. I'll be conscious of not using technical legal terms and when I do I'll do my best to explain. As far as the replies being too long -- I get that. It is a balancing act when I have time to respond do I give a very short response or try to give enough info so the person who asked the question can find the answer. Have a good one and thanks for the feedback. John

Are you talking about the sections of the FCRA or something else?

I'm not sure as I don't do traffic cases. Should be a traffic type lawyer you could talk to in order to see what the best strategy is for paying or beating the ticket. Best wishes

Recommend Only have 1 credit card with zero annual fees and low interest if possible. Pay off in full every month no exceptions. Never spend more than 25% at most. So if you have $1000 available then you can't spend more than $250 in total counting any fees or taxes. Credit cards are for emergencies or to build credit score. I have my Netflix charged as well as my auto insurance charged automatically and I buy groceries or gas with it that's it. The money I would spend on those things I use it to pay credit card right away. Also never give out debit card number or checking info out to anyone or company for payment, use credit card if needed then pay the credit card. Also have a checking account and 2 savings account is a good idea. 1 savings for anything from savings for a vacation, buying a home, a new leather jacket or anything that you might want to save for, even birthday or Christmas. The 2nd savings is a emergency account. You need at least 6 months of living expenses in it. So if your living expenses is $15,000 then you should have that in it and never touch it period as it is for a emergency only, a real emergency like lost job or car engine went to crap but it need to be fixed or replaced to get to work. Like I said real emergencies. Start even with just $25 a week to put in account. Once you get to the goal keep adding, never stop adding. Also never buy a new car unless you have the cash ,that interest will kill up and the car loses value as soon as it pulls of the lot. I say buy a good running used $5000 vehicle and pay in cash. Many people have fancy cars they lease but is poor as dirt. No need to keep up with Jones and Johnson's family.

I'm not a lawyer, a traffic lawyer would help or some type of legal aid. But in my opinion if they don't have proof like a photo or something definitely fight it. If it's a radar speeding ticket argu it, example I would ask what type of training do they have to use radar gun,if they say in house,then so you are not certified then is that correct. That's one example. Or ask them when was it last calibrated. If it's not up to date it could get thrown out. Remember never admit guilt.

Great question. First, figure out who is contacting you about this. Is it the apartment complex or a collector such as Rent Recovery or Hunter Warfield? Second, see if this is on your credit report. Third, get with a lawyer in your state to see if not having the apartment ready in time is a breach under the landlord tenant law. I suspect in most places it will be. I do think the email saying it is not ready will be helpful -- you'll need to see if you responded or if they thought you were going to use the apartment when it was ready. Best wishes John Watts

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers thank you so much for your rapid reply & for the helpful information!! It is on my credit report and now the collection agency is trying to collect on the debt. I met with a lawyer once who told me to send a letter or he could for about $100. I will follow up with this again. Again thank you, You're amazing for taking time to help.

Very welcome!

Couple of thoughts for you. 1. Get with a consumer protection lawyer in your state to give you specific advice. 2. You may want to send a follow up letter to the debt collector asking to validate the debt and send you documentation. Did you send your first letter to the credit reporting agencies or the debt collector or both? The statement "customer disputes, meets FCRA requirements" does NOT meant the debt is legit. It simply means the FCRA requires if you dispute that the debt be noted as that. FDCPA does also. So it means this may not be an obvious violation of the law. But if you haven't received validation -- proof, etc -- from the debt collector I would consider asking for it. Point out (if true) that you previously requested from them and got nothing. Ask them why? Best wishes! John Watts

Stacey huston. In writing ✍️, just like before with the green post office receipt, request a copy of the original bill, the original debtor’s name, address, phone number. Then you contact them and ask them for a letter stating that you have never owed them. It’s sometimes called a letter of satisfaction.

Sorry -- I can't as I don't practice in NY. Find a consumer protection lawyer in NY and ask them about your situation. Quite a few lawyers who do this work in NY -- interview several and find the one that you feel the best connection with. Best wishes! John Watts

I'm curious also what the answer to this question is ???

Marshall and Lori, First, call Penny Hays Cauley -- www.hayscauley.net/ -- 843-773-2782 -- she used to be in Alabama but has been in South Carolina maybe a decade or so. She could help you. In Alabama they don't have to send you responses by certified mail. They should if they are not confirming receipt by email but no rule requires it. Normally you can send interrogatories whenever you want as long as still time for discovery. Here you would not be able to file a motion to dismiss since you are in discovery. But if they didn't answer your questions, you call or meet with them to go over it to try to work out discovery fight, then you file motion to compel if you can't resolve the discovery issues. I know it can be confusing -- give Penny a call and she can point you in the right direction I believe. Best wishes! John

If the statute of limitations is long past, and if the debt is 20 years old, this means they should not be able to sue or credit report. (Sometimes the statute of limitations can be restarted by paying, etc so do keep that in mind.) Really all they should be doing, if anything, is calling and writing. You might consider a refuse to pay letter. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r7GchNmUqrScqoU.html Is it the same collector or do they change collectors every few months? John

@@johngwatts thank you so much 🙏

@@johngwatts it the first time a debt collector try to collect after purchasing the account from original creditors the hospital. It even sat on my credit report for 7 years and fell off a long time ago.

In my view your answer is the ULTIMATE dispute letter unless you admit to owing the debt. The companies are getting better about marking your credit reports as disputed but they don't always do this after an answer is filed. That's a problem for them and an opportunity for you.....

Blaze, Very frustrating. I'm assuming you are being sued by a collector? You may have a state law that says if not submitted in time, then the debt is gone. You can also submit the bill anyway -- even untimely -- and let Blue Cross (or whoever) deny it. Then you can show that you presented your insurance, the doc/hospital refused to submit to insurance, when you found out you did it, and its too late. I think most judges will be VERY unhappy about this because it is a nightmare we all face. I've gotten bills several years after receiving service from some doc I never heard of. Very common experience. I would also dispute this directly with collector and credit reporting agencies. If you have been sued or just being collected on I would definitely get a consumer lawyer in your state to help you. We have hammered collectors for doing this type of stuff in Alabama -- no one likes this type of medical debt. No. One. Best wishes -- keep us posted on what happens. John

Adam, There are two different things here. One is a dispute letter sent directly to a debt collector. That would not be sent to the clerk's office as this is not involving a lawsuit. Two -- if a debt collector has SUED you, then you need to respond in time and file your response in court -- making sure you follow the rules of the court. So for example, in Alabama, you have 14 days to file an answer if you are sued in District or Small Claims Court. 30 days in Circuit Court. Often people get sued, send a dispute letter to the collector, but never send a response to court and then they get a default judgment against them. So be very careful to distinguish between these two items -- a dispute letter and a response (answer) in court. Let me know if you have any questions or if this is confusing in any way. Thanks for your excellent comment/question. John Watts

Andrew, There are some differences if you send a letter within the first 30 days and then after the first 30 days. But no problem sending it regardless of how long the collector has it. Collector still has to mark your credit report as disputed if they update it after your letter. Here's a sample letter you can send -- www.alabamaconsumer.com/2012/04/simple-letter-debt-collectors/ Regardless of the age, it can help with robo dialed calls to your cell phone, etc. If you have some specific disputes, it can be good to put those in the letter or if not you can leave it with a general dispute. Definitely suggest get with a consumer lawyer in your state to get specific advice but hopefully this helps some. Best wishes! John Watts PS -- if you are in Alabama, call us at 205-879-2447 and we'll be glad to walk you through some options.

Thanks!

So you might consider pointing out specific areas of dispute. Is there something on the statement -- interest rate, amount of late fee, etc. that you can dispute. A general dispute letter is good to start and then you can get more specific based on what the collector sends you. Think of it as a tennis match -- going back and forth over the net. Hope that helps! John

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers your the man John . sorry I meant to say what if they send the statements as a response to your dispute letter

Yes to some extent. It is the difference in deleting an account and killing an account. Try this video -- hope it helps! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/b52jnJhevrfZlJs.html

I do like Texas but never took the bar there -- its on my "someday/maybe" list of things to do. My family lives in eastern part of Texas so one day I may get around to it. :) Have a good one! John Watts

Liyah, I work with a lawyer in GA who does similar work to me. Shoot me your info at john [at] wattsherring.com or www.alabamaconsumer.com/contact-us/ and I can connect you with him. Thanks! John

Sheree -- it depends. Two ways to get a car. One is to repossess it. Normally when a collection agency or debt buyer has a car debt, the car has already been repossessed. But I suppose if a debt buyer really bought the debt and the payments were behind, they could repo it. Second -- and more common with debt collectors -- is to get a judgment and then have the sheriff seize the car to sell it. Called a "sheriff's sale" with the money (or at least most of it) going to the person/company with the judgment. Having said all of that it is not likely or common either will happen in Alabama. But it is possible. If the agency says they are just going to take your car because you owe another debt etc. I would ask "How do you have the authority to take my car" -- remember the power of asking questions. Who What When Where How Why Those should be the starting words in your sentences with debt collectors. :) Hope that helps! John

Is that a real question? If it is for non payment of the car its not an agency. That is called a repo. If you are sued for something else and a judgement is rendered against you(in most states) The can take 25% of your check,take your car, lien or take take your house. Any asset is fair game in most States.

LOL. Sorry John, I didn't read your response before I posted! Eerily similar!

Hell to the no

Sarah, I can't give you specific advice without knowing the details but in general yes you can dispute again. I would suggest you dispute with the credit reporting agencies and copy the collector who has put this on your reports. Hopefully that does the trick! Who is the new company on your reports? John

After you send the dispute letter, several possibilities. First, and this happens a decent percentage of time especially on smaller debts, older debt, and medical debt. The collector does nothing. No longer collects. This is a valid option for them. Second, the collector "validates" the debt by sending you some info. You can then be satisfied with what is sent or you can request more info by pointing out any problems with what was sent. It can resemble a tennis match going back and forth. My suggestion is to make sure you have a valid reason to go back to the collector which you normally will have. So here is an example -- you send a dispute letter that says "I dispute this debt and send me proof that I owe it." The collector claims to own it and sends you one old monthly statement. You look carefully at the old monthly statement and realize it has your current address on it but you moved there 2 years after the date of the monthly statement. So you dispute -- point out the address is wrong. Ask how that is possible. Ask the supposed debt buyer how it claims to own your debt. Then see how they respond and then you respond if not satisfied. Maybe longer answer than you wanted :) but those are the two major possibilities. You get nothing -- no further collection -- OR you get something in the mail. Then you respond or not depending on what is appropriate. Best wishes John Watts

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers Thank you very much. In my case it is a medical bill that I previously received from my local hospital and have proof that it was paid in full and yet collection agency is presenting some imaginary number at almost double the amount, but I’ll just wait for the moment since dispute letter has been sent. Many thanks again.

Sounds good -- especially since you paid it, kind of hard for them to collect on something not owed. If they don't back down, strongly recommend you get with a consumer protection lawyer in your state to look at suing them. And make sure they have not put this on your credit reports -- again if you owe zero, should not be any collections. Best wishes! John Watts

Sorry going through this. On two collectors on the same debt here are some thoughts for you. First, it is common for one collector to have an account and then it be switched to a separate account. Second, it is possible to be paying one and the original creditor switches to a different collector. Third, I would send both collectors a letter asking them to explain who you should talk to, who has been getting your money, the balance, etc. Remember to send all letters by certified mail so you can prove they were received. Hope that helps. Best wishes on getting this behind you. John Watts

@@johngwatts Hi, there is a medical debt collector that sent me a letter saying they received my dispute but need me to call and verify some information, failure to do so would result in me being responsible for the debt. What actions can I take? I feel they are just phishing for information.

So it should stay marked as "disputed" unless you withdraw the dispute. (Sometimes for a mortgage loan etc you can't have disputed accounts so that's why might withdraw dispute). Disputed doesn't make it stay on your report any longer -- negative info typically stays on 7 years from date of the first major delinquency. Hope that helps! John

@@johngwatts Thank you John for that information!

Al, Great question. In Alabama it does not. I imagine that is true in every state but this is only for Alabama. The general rule is if you make a payment, this can restart the statute of limitations for a debt collector (debt buyer) to sue you. But not disputing it -- that just alerts the collector that the debt is now disputed and they can send you any information they want to answer your dispute. Hope this helps and thanks again for your very good question. John Watts

So you have to compare what they sent with you with other info you have. Your copies of statements. Your credit reports, etc. If you have doubts, you can let the lawyers know and they may or may not answer your questions. If kind of stuck, get with a consumer lawyer in your state -- www.consumeradvocates.org/find-an-attorney -- to give you some advice. Best wishes John

TJ, I'm talking about debt buyers who claim to purchase defaulted debts and also collection agencies (debt collectors) who don't claim to own the debt but instead are simply collecting on it. "3rd Party Contingency" -- tell me what you mean by this term. I have seen folks use that term to describe normal collection agencies but then sometimes it is used to mean a third party finances the litigation for the "Plaintiff" (the one suing) and then shares in the recovery. This video is not talking about anyone financing litigation but I don't know how you mean that term 3rd party contingency. Thanks for your comment! John Watts

Contingency as in they don’t get paid unless you pay your debt

TJ -- gotcha. That would be a normal debt collector. So they make money when they collect the debt. Same would be true of collection lawyers -- they make money when they get you to pay. And in a sense, even debt buyers -- assuming they really own the debt -- they make money when you pay. Anyone who is a debt collector under the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) you can send a dispute letter to in order to dispute the debt and ask for certain information. Best wishes John Watts

Judith, I would go ahead and send the letter to them. That way IF they report, they must show it as disputed. If they don't mark it as disputed AFTER they know you dispute, that normally is a violation of 1692e(8). This video might be helpful -- talks about 1692e including subsection 8 which directly deals with marking your account as "disputed" -- kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f9WiZJSq27LVYoE.html Hope that helps and keep me posted what happens thanks! John

Thank you so much! Will do!

I don't understand your question -- they recorded your father's voice doing what? Saying he agreed to the debt or something else? As far as whether you should pay the debt, I simply don't know. Do you owe the debt? Does the debt collector own the debt? Or has it been hired by the company that owns the debt? How old is it? Is it beyond the time period they can sue you? What state are you in -- each state has different laws. As far as whether you should pay a debt or not you really need a lawyer in your state to look at your individual situation and give you specific advice. Best wishes John Watts

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers They tell me to put my father on phone so they can record my father voice but he agree to pay the minninum payment but not $ 253.00 very month they trick my father to said yes as an agreement and the collector on the phone add for every month,I’m falling into their bait,should I write them letter adjust the minimun payment?

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers My father own Sear mastercard gold card I believe Sears sell it to the collectors,the debt is about 1 year,I take advice from an attorney to settle this debts but my father is overreacted he’s afraid about the debts mess and court things so I have to find another way to reslove this debt. Thank you

I would definitely get with a lawyer if you have a debt collector lying or tricking your father. It may be that he can sue these guys under federal law (FDCPA) or your state unfair and deceptive practices act. Best wishes John Watts

When do certified mail you can get a physical green card mailed back to you with the signature. Now this is usually just done electronically -- I think the video is about ten years old. :) Back in the day we always got the green card back.... Now we just do it electronically. John

@@johngwatts thanks for that. Maybe you can help answer my question. Basically I sold an iPhone on PayPal and they gave me a different address to send it to (yes now that I look back I should’ve realized it was a scam) but I sent the iPhone out then closed my account since I never use PayPal and didn’t see a point in having it. The buyer I guess had filed a dispute saying he never received the item and I only got one email from PayPal alerting me of this and since my account was closed I called PayPal and asked them what my options are and explained my situation since ir wouldn’t let me respond to the dispute through a closed account. The rep told me to not worry and since my account is closed nothing could happen. Well I just got a letter in the mail from a collections agency asking for the $385 back. So not only did I lose an iPhone but they want my money now. I haven’t received any other notices besides this letter and now idk what to do. Do you have any advice for me?

Crosshawk, It depends on the situation. If you are sued in Alabama, most judges would not accept just the credit card statements and the cardholder agreement as proof that a debt collector now owns the debt. They would want to see some proof of ownership -- the bill of sale, the purchase agreement (contract selling the debt to the collector/buyer), etc. But if we are outside the context of a lawsuit, and you simply get a collection letter and send a dispute letter -- what has to be sent to you? Often, just the credit card statement and agreement. Now if your dispute gets more detailed -- "Hey, I don't think you own this debt -- send me proof of ownership" the collector (if it is claiming it owns the debt) must send you more proof. To get back to your question about "proof documents" it depends on what we are asking them to prove and the context (in or out of court). Hope that helps John Watts

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers Hi John, Thank you very much for your response. I live in Upstate New York. I sent a sample dispute letter (from your website) to debt collector. “I dispute owing any debt to your company. If you think I owe any debt to your company, please send me whatever you can in writing showing me that I owe any debt to your company...” 26 days after my certified mail I received a letter, enclosed previous credit card statements and credit card agreement (creditor) from debt collector. Their letter states that “ We are writing in response to a debt validation request we received concerning Amex account referenced above. As requested we are sending copies of statements and any other relevant documentation to serve as validation of debt...” First of all I requested debt validation between me and ABC debt collector. I believe that cc statements and agreement do not validate debt ownership to ABC collector. Would you suggest me to write them follow up letter regarding more proof? They couldnt validate debt ownership but they thought they did. I appreciate your response sir. Regards,

Crosshawk, Do get with a consumer lawyer in upstate NY -- each state is different. So here's the concept of validation letter. A creditor reaches out to you -- no validation rights as it is your creditor. The assumption is you know this company. But when a debt collector pops up out of the blue, it makes sense that you can write to them to validate the debt. So what they do is show you proof that the debt is valid and owed. The normal way is to send you credit card statements etc. Now if you specifically request more, you may get more in response. Think of the validation letter and the response as mirror images. If your dispute letter/validation letter is pretty general, you will get a general response back. But if you know that you paid off the debt on May 5, 2016 with check number #1234, you put that in the letter. Now this is a very specific dispute letter. Their validation must match the specificity of your letter -- they better address whether the debt was paid off on May 5 with check number #1234 etc. The starting point if you don't know anything else is the general letter you sent. But now you can respond with more details -- you can ask them if they own the debt? Or who they are collecting it on behalf of. If they claim to own it, you might ask for the proof of ownership (be careful -- you may be helping them get ready to prove their case if they sue you). Definitely get with a lawyer in your state as you may have unique rules or customs about this process. The FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) is federal and applies to every state but frankly judges interpret it differently so you need to know for your area what is happening -- what is acceptable or not acceptable. Best wishes! John PS -- a good starting place to find a lawyer is www.consumeradvocates.org/find-an-attorney

@@johngwatts Sometimes the people in debt cannot afford a lawyer otherwise we would be paying off our debts.

Davina, No idea on the India thing. Cavalry is claiming they now own a debt of yours so that's why they are on your credit report. If you dispute the debt, they will need to tell the credit reporting agencies to mark the Cavalry debt as disputed. At least in Alabama Cavalry files a lot of lawsuits so be mindful of that. Best wishes John Watts

@@johngwatts Yes sir I understand what it means now but still don't know how to handle it and I don't expect you to tell me because that is what a consult is for right? But I live no where you are. So...

I would call a consumer lawyer in your state -- there should be no charge to chat about your situation and options. Try this for a starting point -- www.consumeradvocates.org/find-an-attorney Best wishes! John Watts

martysturgis. Notary is unnecessary. That’s why you have that green receipt from the post office

Thank You.

I don't think it is foolish -- I suggest you make them mail you a letter. The scam type places love email and hate using the postal system. So always ask for a letter is what I advise my clients. Then I think it makes sense to send a dispute letter to see what they have. Do they only have credit card statements? That doesn't prove anything in my opinion other than they have credit card statements. You should also check with a lawyer in your state as there may be some unusual rules or good laws that can help you. Best wishes! John Watts

John, Thanks! Thats what I have done. I have requested several times (maybe 20) that they send me a letter and I refuse the email. Of course, they insist they have sent me several letters but one has yet to arrive in my mail box. their answer to that is, they don't control the mail, and they can't help it if I don't check my mail, or I toss it in the garbage…they also explain that when it goes to court they have all the notes that they did send the letters. after all this I did a little looking into these guys and have discovered that they are a small shell company owned by a law firm. I have also discovered a blog from a former employee who explained that the owner of the law firm after makes collections calls. Guess what? the guy i talk to more often than not is the owner. What I find interesting is, when he calls me, he uses his real name ( by law he has to) but the name of his firm is that of another name. I moved forward and sent certified mail a verification letter with several demands/requests one of which is the proof they are licensed and or bonded in my state to practice law. I did this because they continuosly threaten me with a lawsuit. something they can't do unless they have the intention to actually sue. If they are not licensed or bonded in my state that proves they are just making threats which I believe is illegal…. as far as what they actually have, all I know of at this point is the CC statements and personal info like SS# something which they have no problem tossing around as though that isn't sensitive info… during my last conversation, they guy was very polite, he even said that it is very possible that another latter has not been sent that he would know for sure because he has no control over that department. he is the owner of the company, shouldn't he have control over all departments? he also said, that I was sent an original letter either from the collection agency or from the CC- he couldn't confirm… I think ( could be wrong) the collection agency MUST contact me by mail. No? Its not enough that the CC contacted me… All in all this is very new to me and I am trying my best. oh yeah, one last thing, there is nothing on my credit reports about this or the collection company. odd isn't it? thanks for the help and input!!! I appreciate all the help can get.

What a crazy situation! Lots of these little places out there that act goofy. Once they speak with you they have to mail you a letter. Now its true you don't have to receive the letter -- they just have to mail it. But no legit collector has ever refused to send another letter if your request is reasonable. Its these either scam (or semi scam) places that hate sending letters. Get with a lawyer in your state and you might also report them to the CFPB in Washington DC -- I think they would be interested in a lawyer pulling these types of shenanigans.... Keep us posted! John Watts

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers John, I sent a letter certified mail and since have not heard a pepp from them. This could mean one of two things, its the quiet before the storm (lawsuit) or they realized they crossed a line and I won't go easy. time will tell.

You are right on time will tell. But for most folks it is best to send the letter and see what they will do. I've never heard of a place that was not going to sue suddenly deciding to sue because you send a certified mail letter. Keep us posted and hopefully you'll never hear from these guys again.

Mail them

I believe, that aspect was addressed/covered; search through his previous posts.

No you are not liable it is no longer in your name if a company buys it you are set free and now can Wright the creditor and ask that they prove you owe it and you don't

Lilana, Great question. If related to credit reporting, and an original creditor (not a debt collector) then you need to send your dispute letter to the credit reporting agencies. You may also want to send a copy to the original creditor. If you ONLY send it to the original creditor, then not really anything you can do when they don't fix it. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires that you send the dispute to the credit reporting agencies who then contact the original creditor (the one who "furnished" the information to Equifax, ect). We normally send a copy of the letter to the original creditor also just so they will see it and can't say the reporting agencies didn't give them enough info. So our letters look like this: Nationstar Equifax Experian TransUnion Innovis Dear Sir or Madam, xxxx Its one letter that goes to each of these guys. Now it can be different with debt collectors -- see this video kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gLh6fLJ-18XXaZs.html. Let me know if this answers your question and remember to always get with a consumer protection lawyer in your state to get actual legal advice. Thanks for your comment! John Watts

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers Yes it does! Thank You so much!

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers I wanna know do I send the dispute letters to All three or who Evers reporting it?

I send a letter to whoever is reporting it -- so check all of them to see who all is reporting is my suggestion. John

Certified mail receipt that shows the person you sent the letter to actually signed it. You get a physical card back in the mail to you.

Great question -- this video is really about a letter to the debt collector directly. Not a letter to the credit reporting agencies (bureaus). This is a dispute letter under the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act). If there is false information on your credit report and you want to dispute with the bureaus, then that's a different letter. You might like this video where we discuss this some -- kzfaq.info/get/bejne/od93mcuSzrXXqnU.html To answer your question specifically, let's say Equifax has false information about my Bank of America account. But TransUnion and Experian do not. Then I would normally only send a dispute letter to the one that has the false information. (There are exceptions if you think the others are about to report false info, etc). Hope this helps and you can get the false information cleaned up. I am planning on doing a longer webinar style video where we go over credit reports and how to fix errors so feel free to subscribe so you'll get a notification of that video. It's on my to do list which is a little long right now but I'm getting closer. :) Thanks for your comment! John Watts

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers when disputing is it better to send to the collector or the Credit Bureau

Here's the way we typically handle it. Any communication from a debt collector, we look at sending a dispute letter directly to the debt collector. That puts some obligation on the collector to let us know what information/evidence they have. If we already know we don't owe the debt (already paid it -- beat the collector at trial, etc) then we normally will do a dispute to the credit reporting agencies. So you can think of the direct letter to the collector as somewhat defensive -- "show me what you have" and the letter to the credit bureaus as more on the offense because we already have the proof to show this should not be on our reports. Hope that makes sense and I'll also do a video on this as I think you have brought up a great question. Thanks! John Watts

Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers thank you so much ! When you have an old debt which has past it's limitation... is that consisted unverifiable incomplete or inaccurate. How do I word it .

You are very welcome! Here's a video about your first question -- hope it helps a bit. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m7ekntepzbeWf5s.html Two types of limitations -- time period to sue (statute of limitations) and time period to report on your credit reports. If it is past statute of limitations -- this does not automatically mean it can't be reported or it is unverifiable. It just means can't sue on it and if they collect they have to be very careful not to break the rules. If too late to credit report (basically 7 years from major default), then it shouldn't be on your reports at all. If it is, this is called "re-aging" where they change the default date so it can stay on longer. Best wishes! John Watts

If it is a more "generic" dispute letter, that may be all they have to do as far as mailing you stuff. Still have to update your credit report (if they are reporting) to show debt is "disputed". Now if you have a specific type dispute, you can let them know. Here are some examples: 1. I paid this off -- here is the proof. 2. You have the wrong account balance -- here is the proof -- investigate this. 3. I've received two collection letters from two different collectors at same time -- I dispute you have the right to collect this debt. Please explain. Look at what they sent you -- do those records look accurate? If have any questions, send them in to the collector. Definitely get with a collection lawyer in your state to get specific advice. Hope the general thoughts above are helpful. Best wishes to you. John Watts

jacinto60. If you have a letter validating that there is no debt, depending on the amount they say you owe, take them to the small claims court in THERE city. Hopefully they have an office in your state so you don’t have to fly all over the place. The clerk of court has a fill in blank form that self explanatory. Court cost with them being served is usually under $200 in all. Make sure you request very clearly that you want the debt removed and all you court fees reimbursed. Ask for other monies but make sure you do not exceed small claims amount. I sued the original debtor and collection agency. I won, however I was only awarded court costs. My flight, hotel, car rental, missing work... nothing. It seems like the Court themselves hate a literate person beating an attorney, two attorneys. I got it off my credit but it cost me about 3K AND I couldn’t rent for about a year. Turned my world upside down and court just says “she right, I believe her, but any other costs but court fees is ridiculous. She didn’t have to sue”. The ironic thing is, if I had lost, I would have had to pay both attorneys fees as punishment. Damned if you win, damned if you lose, choose your battle wisely.

You are right there is a statute of limitations that limits how long a company has to sue. As far as your argument that you are released from your obligation to a creditor when it is sold, that is correct. You no longer owe the creditor. But you do owe the collector IF they have truly bought the debt. At least this is true in AL where I live -- literally hundreds of these cases are filed every day in court. Maybe different where you live but here, debt collectors who buy a debt can sue. Now it is very possible to beat these guys and that's what we do. And I agree with you that consumers have rights and should learn those rights and take action. Have a nice day John

So here's the deal. Experian does have the right to make sure it is you. BUT. They tend to make it hard to try to avoid having to actually investigate. For example, we have sent all the info to them and they send the same form letter saying they need exactly what we sent them. Our practice is to send it and if they investigate, great. If they don't, we sometimes send it again and then sue when they won't investigate. Or we just sue. Its absurd in my opinion how Experian handles this -- much more difficult than Trans Union or Equifax as far getting someone to even remotely look at the dispute. But when we sue them, that gets their attention. :) My advice is get with a lawyer in your state but most likely you just need to follow their rules and then when they violate the law, you sue them. Hope this helps! John Watts