If you are contacted by a debt collection company, it has the obligation to disclose to you:
- the amount of the debt you allegedly owe,
- the source of the debt, and
- the loan documents that support the debt.
The collection company must give you the right to contest the debt. You have the right to ask for this information within 5 days after the initial contact. The collection company may give you this right in writing. Your right to this information is usually contained in a written demand for payment. Collection companies will try to read you these rights over the phone. Even if the collection company reads you your rights, it still must give you the requested information in writing.
If it does not give you this right or does not provide loan documents when you request, it is in violation of federal law.
To verify what you owe, you must:
- enforce this right,
- demand that you see the information upon which the debt collector basis their demands
- understand the nature of the debt by reviewing the documents.
Often times, the debt collection company inflates the amount owed. The collection company may describe this as un-owed money as the cost of the collection. This is illegal. But without your original loan documents, you don’t know what you owe.
Always enforce your right to inquire about your debt. If you are not given the opportunity to get this information, please call me at (480) 580-5025 to discuss a claim against the collection companies. As a debtor’s attorney, I will provide services necessary to pursue a company just as vigorously as it pursued you.