Creditor / Debt Collector Has Replied To Validation Letter Asking For More Information
One does NOT NEED to give the creditor any further information after mailing the Validation Request. This is the trap laid - debt collectors often use "we need more information to
verify your identity" as a stalling tactic or a fishing expedition to
gather data they can later use to skip-trace you or garnish assets. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), if they don't have enough information to verify the debt belongs to you, THEY SHOULDN'T BE REPORTING IT OR TRYING TO COLLECT. It is their burden to prove the debt is yours, not your burden to help them prove it. This is especially true when the creditor has filed a lawsuit against you! No communication should be sent to you outside of the lawsuit at that point (only correspondence / pleadings from the attorney representing the creditor and / or court communication is appropriate). Keep your personal data to yourself. Let them use formal court discovery if they want it (via the Request for Admissions, Interrogatories, Request for Production of Documents, etc.) Remember, they are never going to send you proof of validation as this simply cannot be supplied.
The fact that the original creditor no longer has the original contract with signatures from BOTH parties and therefore cannot validate it as a valid contract!
No matter the reply from
a creditor or debt collector (unless complete removal of the debt from
all records is agreed to) you keep sending all (3) letters and then file
a lawsuit against them. One
has the right to sue for the alleged debt that has been invalidated.
This is because after 31 days, the validation request is legally over -
without proper validation, you can now sue the debt collector. Even if you missed a letter or have months in between each letter, you can continue the process as usual.