When is it too late for validation?

[cashonlynow]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? CA

I have a question about debt validation. I have an outstanding debt of about $1700. My last payment was 9/2002, the original creditor is Capitol One and the account was passed to Eskanos & Adler sometime in 2003 (who only contacted me ONCE by mail). Now a place called Northland Group has been leaving me messages about this debt for at least a month...but they have yet to send me anything in the mail. The only reason I know that the Capitol One debt is the one Northland is calling about is because there seems to be a connection with Eskanos & Adler through Sherman Acquisitions.

I was planning to pull my credit report next month to find out who is listed as the collection agency, and contact them to settle the debt. Well, I recently ended up with two car repairs, $900 and $300, back to back, so the money I was going to use to try to settle is GONE. Luckily I hadn’t already contacted anyone about debt settlement.

At this point I’m wondering if I should send a debt validation letter, but I’ve read on this board that collection agencies sometimes respond to debt validation by filing a lawsuit (which is what I am trying at all costs to avoid!). Does anyone know if this collection agency is likely to sue?

I work full-time but I have no assets. I think my credit report is finally showing that I settled another Capitol One account last summer. I wonder if they think that because I settled another account that I must have money to give them. Northland sure seemed to come out of the woodwork around this same time.

If they end up suing me before the statute of limitations is up, can I respond by asking for validation, or is it too late at that point?

[Ladynred]

It is never too late to ask them for validation - except after a lawsuit is filed, then its generally pointless.

Northland doesn't do the suing, Sherman does. As you have already noted, Sherman has apparently bought the debt and they will continuously farm it out to one collection agency after another. I suppose they believe one of them will get money out of you. Sherman plays a shell game with validation and uses numerous tactics to avoid it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go that route. Some CA's will sue in response to DV, but not all, not by a stretch. As long as you don't send them a cease and desist along with the validation demand, you have less chance of a lawsuit as a response.

[cashonlynow]

Hi Ladynred,

Thank you for your response. I have another question. If am sued, can I respond in court by saying that I dispute this debt and want to have the debt validated before a judgment is entered?

Also, just out of curiosity…do you think there is any connection between the fact that I recently settled another Cap One account (with a different collection agency, ARS) and the fact that this other Cap One account is suddenly coming out of woodwork? In almost two years, I had only been contacted ONCE about this particular debt.

[Ladynred]

do you think there is any connection between the fact that I recently settled another Cap One account (with a different collection agency, ARS) and the fact that this other Cap One account is suddenly coming out of woodwork?

Oh, most definitely !!! They saw the payment/settlement on your reports and figure 'aha.. she has money stashed so its time to get our share' !! All collectors think people are hoarding scads of cash under their mattresses but just don't want to give them any !!

If you get sued, the judge is not gonna want to hear you dispute the debt. The judge will ask if its your debt or not, you can't say 'I dispute it', you can't admit to it in any way or you're sunk. That's why validation BEFORE you get sued at least gives you SOMETHING to fall back on in that you've asked for proof and documentation but have gotten nothing to date.

[cashonlynow]

My state is California

Well I finally got something in writing from Northland. (They have been calling for a couple of months but I hadn’t received anything in writing from them.) The letters were actually sent to my dad’s house where I haven’t lived for three years and he forwarded them to me. When I pulled my credit report earlier this year, it stated that I owe about $1700 for this Capitol One debt. Well, I received a letter from Northland dated 4-28-05 saying I owe $2672.68 and there was a second letter dated 04-29-05 stating I owe $2705.37!!! They want to settle for $1515 with me on this debt that has mysteriously gone up $1000 in the past few months. I’m pretty panicked over trying to decide what to do and my finances are limited due to some car repairs and other unexpected expenses. I gather from reading this forum that my choices are: Ask for validation…however I am reluctant to do this because I don’t want them to respond to the validation with a lawsuit. I have no defense and I don’t want to have to pay court fees on top of this ever-increasing amount (original balance was $700 or $800!). OR, try to negotiate with them somehow and try to workout a repayment plan that I can afford. I have a friend who is an accountant, he got on the phone with me and helped me settle another large debt. OR, wait out the SOL (last payment 09/02) and hope they don’t sue. My boyfriend and a friend tell me not to worry about being sued, that they had outstanding debts like mine a few years back and were never sued. But that doesn’t seem to be the case judging from what I’ve read on this forum. From what I’ve read here it seems more likely than not that I will be sued.

I’m trying to get a little more information before I decide what to do. Questions:
1. Once I try to negotiate a settlement, do I give up the right to ask for validation?
2. What happens if they don’t respond in 30 days with proper validation?
3. The letter says the client is Capitol One. Does that mean nobody has purchased the debt?

Does anyone have any thoughts on what my best option is? I appreciate any input.

[Ladynred]

1. Once I try to negotiate a settlement, do I give up the right to ask for validation?

Pretty much. By offering to negotiate to pay, you're admitting the debt and agreeing with their demands.

2. What happens if they don’t respond in 30 days with proper validation?

They ASSUME the debt is valid and continue with collection activities. If you ask for validation DURING the 30 day period, they MUST cease all collection activity until they do validate. If you wait until after the initial 30 days, they do not have to cease collection efforts.

3. The letter says the client is Capitol One. Does that mean nobody has purchased the debt?

Crap1 is itself a bad debt buyer, so they don't often SELL the debts to anyone, just farm it out to collection agencies to pursue.

[cashonlynow]

Thank you for your response. What I meant by my second question is if I send a request for validation to Northland and they don’t respond, or respond with insufficient validation, what happens? Do they have to take it off my credit report? What is the process? I've tried researching on this forum, but it's still a little unclear...

[Ladynred]

Do they have to take it off my credit report?

Unfortunately, no.

If you want more info on the whole process, head over to [url]www.creditinfocenter.com[/url], its all laid out there.

[cashonlynow]

I finally got settled in after my recent move and dug up the paperwork regarding this debt. I looked at the credit report I recently pulled and sure enough, the balance was about $1000 off. Well, upon further investigation I saw this wasn’t the debt I thought it was. They were trying to collect on the remainder of a Capitol One debt that I ALREADY SETTLED! Luckily, everything was in writing and I have thorough documentation. On Saturday I sent them proof that this was settled and I told them not to contact me again. Thank you for your help!!!