Demand For Verification/Validation of the Debt: Overview

[David A. Szwak]

Section 1692g of the FDCPA gives a debtor the right to request that a third party collector provide verification of any debt sought to be collected.

Within five (5)days of the initial communication with the debtor, the debt collector must notify the debtor of the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor to which it owed and of their rights to request verification of the debt.

This notification must be in writing and must beconspicuously placed and typed.

The debtor may request verification of the debt at any time within thirty (30) days of the initial communication from the debt collector.

To be effective under this Section, the debtor’s request must be in writing.

Upon receipt of such a request, the creditor must immediately cease collection activity until the verification is provided.

If the debt has been reduced to a judgment in a court of competent jurisdiction, then only a copy of the judgment need be produced.

If the requested information is unavailable or the creditor does not wish to produce verification of the debt, the debt collector does have the option of ignoring the request and ceasing collection activities. Smith v. Transworld Systems, Inc., 953 F.2d 1025 (6th Cir. 1992).

The failure of a debtor to dispute a debt in this manner is not construed as an admission of liability for the debt by the debtor.

The provisions of §1692g explicitly give the debtor thirty (30) days to dispute the validity of a debt.

There has been dispute among courts and commentators about whether, and to what extent, a debt collector can proceed with collection activities within that thirty (30) days and, if the creditor intends to proceed with collection, what notice must be given to the debtor.

In Bartlett v. Heible, 128 F.3d 497 (7th Cir. 1997), the Seventh Circuit held that a collection letter which informed the debtor that he would be sued absent payment in one week, but also contained the thirty day right to contest the debt, violated the FDCPA.