Letter from Asset Acceptance Attorney

[yanni72]

What is the name of your state? California

I received a letter from an attorney representing Asset Acceptance trying to collect on an old credit card valued at $8,500. The last responsible payment made to this account was well over 4 years ago, however my ex was harrassed & cohersed into doing a check-by-phone on July 6, 2001, which barely falls short of 4 years required for SOL. What should I do here? I submitted a verification letter (see below). -- Is there a way to bog them down in paperwork for 60 or so days so that the SOL will truly expire? Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Here is the letter I sent to the attorney -- should I send him another letter demanding more info to stall the process?:

Dear Mr. Grant:

This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on April 12, 2005 from your firm. I have enclosed a copy for your convenience. Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.

This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you.

Please provide me with the following:

1. What the money you say I owe is for;
2. Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
3. Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
4. Identify the original creditor;
5. Provide me with the collection agreement between the original creditor and debt collector;
6. Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account;
7. Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state;
8. Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent.

At this time I will also inform you that if your offices or the clients you represent have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:

1. Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
2. Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
3. Violation of the California Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
4. Defamation of Character

If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following Declaration, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.

Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.

If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately.

I would also like to request, in writing, that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communication with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls and calls or correspondence sent to or with any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the return address on this letter by the United States Postal Service:

It would be advisable that you assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action. This is an attempt to correct your records; any information obtained shall be used for that purpose.

 

[olgethorpe]

Well I think you've started the bogging down process with the DV letter. They may still sue prior to validating, but maybe not...

Also, you want to check the CA SOL laws...in most states, the SOL is measured from the date the account first went delinquent...and subsequent collection payments don't reset that....

 

[yanni72]

Does anyone know the parameters for the CA SOL? What is the true start date? Is it the date of last payment, date of the last day credit was extended, or date it went to collection?

thanks in advance for everyone's help!!!

 

[Debt Guy]

My handbook says the SOL is restarted only if you make a payment AFTER the SOL has expired.

The SOL begins to run from the Date of First Default. The DOFD is generally 30 days after your last regular payment.

It is critical to your defense that you know the DOFD and have some documentation to demonstrate the DOFD.

AAC is going to make the argument that the one payment in 2001 was the DOFD. I think you should be able to effectively fight that argument if you have any kind of supporting documentation for your position as you have described it.

CA law prohibits bringing suit on debts that are SOL. If you have the documentation to support that it is out of SOL, then a notice to AAC that the debt is time-barred might slow them down or stop the suit entirely.

If they do sue you, it is critical that you respond to the summons. Otherwise, they will be awarded a default judgment and it will be a challenge to have the judgment vacated.

I agree with Oglethorpe -- the VOD demand might slow things down -- or it might not. It sure won't hurt your situation any.

 

[yanni72]

Thanks for the info!!! So do you think I should send another letter to Asset Acceptance Attorney asking them to send me a list of all payments made in 2000 - 2001 just to make sure? Or should I wait until he answers my validation letter?

 

[DurangoDAWG]

Question for Debt Guy-
I am in a similiar situation, Citibank CC DOFD was 6/2000 and Asset bought the debt and I made 2 payments in 7/2002 and 8/2002. I am currently being sued but if I use the defense of SOL has expired to the OC, I am curious what exactly would be my defense if I had all the documentation of DOFD to Citibank? The Citibank TL does not show up on my credit report anywhere (only the Asset collection). I can possibly get last check sent to Citibank, but what exactly would I say to the judge when I state that it is passed the SOL to the OC? I am thinking that Asset would say that the payment would restart the SOL to them and just want to know what to say to refute them. Thanks

 

[Debt Guy]

Durango

Please don't hijack the thread of another. It is impolite and confusing.

The answer to your question depends on what state you are in and the SOL for that state. Rules are different from state to state. What works in CA will not work in NJ.

Please repost -- or send me a PM -- and we can get you some input.



Yanni

I doubt they would give you info on payments in 2000 and 2001 because they don't have that info. Even if they had it, they would not give it to you.

You should try to reconstruct this on your own. If they sue you and you are standing in front of the judge it really helps to have some papers in your hands. Have you checked your credit report? Who is the original creditor? Give the OC a call and you "might" get some info. You are really going to have to rely on yourself for this because no one else is going to do it for you.

Now, someone is going to pipe up and say it will be AAC's responsibility to prove everything. If you are sued and if you conduct discovery, that is correct. But, it is oh so much easier if it is something other than your words vs. their words. Documentation rules!

 

[yanni72]

Great advice!!! I called the OC and told them that I was trying to clear up some identity theft issues and they were more than willing to research my past statements and send them to me. They were $6 per month -- I'll pay that any day over $8,000 + !!!

My next step is to prove that the SOL has expired and that the actual DOFD was well over 4 years ago....

Now -- I've already sent a letter of validation to the attorney representing Asset Acceptance. At what point do I dispute the mark on my credit report?

 

[Debt Guy]

Personally, I would fight the big battle first. Wait until you get the documentation from the OC to deal with the SOL issue. I think too many disputes going on at once is confusing -- and right now you need clarity on the big issue.

 

[yanni72]

I received the documentation from the Original Creditor and the SOL expired on March 29, 2005. This date reflects the date of first default and the date which my account was suspended.

I have not received a reply on my DV letter from Asset Acceptance's attorney. It is been 30 days. What should I do next? I still have the negative mark on my credit report. Should I dispute it now or wait a while?