Fix Bad Credit, Without Paying A Cent
Jul 12, 2009 Business Loan
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When it comes to fixing bad credit and collections, you have a very important right as outlined in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: The right to have a collection account “validated.”
This process, as outlined in the FDCPA, is quite different from the “verification” process referred to above. When a credit bureau asks a creditor to “verify” information, the investigation that follows can be pretty cursory. The creditor reviews its records and any information supplied by the consumer and then decides whether it (the creditor) was right or wrong.
The process of validation is one that is much more involved. In the case of validation, the collector needs to prove whether or not the debt is truly the individuals responsibility and that they retain the legal right to collect it. Additionally, the creditor will be barred from engaging in any collections activity until they can prove the debt is truly the individuals responsibility. If the collection agency can not properly validate the debt, they must cease all collections activity and they will be barred from reporting anything to the credit bureaus.
It is important to point out that these rights apply only to your issues with collection agencies. These rules do not apply to the original creditor. The reason for this is that the records of collection agencies have a tendency to be less than reliable. In some instances, they have been known to chase after the wrong people to collect debts. Other times, the owed amount reflected is way off from the accurate figure. It is the validation process that is intended to protect consumers from such scenarios.
In order to validate a debt, the collector must acquire documentation from the original creditor that shows the individual in question truly does owe the stated amount of money. From this, validation becomes an extremely helpful tool in terms of its ability to eradicate problem spots on your collection report. Often, collectors lack the necessary documentation. This is because such documentation becomes lost or misfiled over the years which are generally the case when several collection agencies are employed. And let it be known a mere computer printout will not be enough to validate claims made by the creditor. This is because itemization alone is not sufficient proof for the purposes of validating a debt.
There is another very unique aspect to the validation process that many may be completely unaware of. Specifically, it can help you eliminate the collection of accounts that do belong to you. Some may wonder how this is possible. After all, if the debt is truly yours, how could you legally have is removed. The way this can be achieved is through initiating the validation process.
In rare instances, it is possible to use the validation process as a means of removing accurate information from your credit report. This is mostly the case with old collections information. Some may say this is not a fair method but it is a legitimate one. Basically, you request validation on an old debt and if the debtor cannot provide the needed information, then it may be removed due to lack of validation. Again, this is only successfully achieved in rare instances but it can be done.
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Tags: Business Loan, credit repair, Finance, fix credit, how to fix credit report, money management, personal credit, personal finance, wealth
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