All here is a question that was emailed to me from Amy C:
I have two collectors calling my cell. One collector has been calling me for 9 months, the other has been calling about 3 months. I have never talked
to them, they never leave a message. I have never received a dunning letter from either… don’t know who the original creditor is.
Are they required under FDCPA to send a dunning letter within five days of first contact?
First of all, in case you dont know, a dunning letter is a fancy way of saying collection letter.
Yes, the collector must send you a letter after they call. This is clearly laid out in the FDCPA (§ 1692 g). It is also spelled out in the subsequent subsections what must be included in their written correspondence. Since you did not get a letter at all, the collectors violated all of these:
§ 1692 g(a)(1) Must state Amount of Debt
§ 1692 g(a)(2) Must state Name of Creditor to Whom Debt Owed
§ 1692 g(a)(3) Must state Right to Dispute within 30 Days
§ 1692 g(a)(5) Must state Will Provide Name and Address of original Creditor if Different from Current Creditor
Hope that helps clarify the FDCPA. Also consider violations of the TCPA since they called you. I bet you can find something there as well.
Fight your good fight, Boiler Williams
Slow down there. Amy has zero information on the *reason* for the calls. Going three to nine months without a message or letter strongly indicates skip tracing to me. Yes, the two agencies are required to send the “G-letter”, but I suspect Amy is *not* the alleged debtor and therefore is not due any mailed notices.
I can’t go a week online without seeing complaints of nuisance skip trace calls. When I get them, I verify the “not me” status and fire off a cease-communication notice by USPS Certified Mail. Most agencies have the good sense to leave me alone once they see how serious I am. Over a year after its receipt of my “shut up” letter, I settled for a handsome amount with one agency which disobeyed my written orders.
Resident47, You may be right that this is skip trace activities. Amy stated it was a debt collector. That is why I went the direction I went. I will email her for clarification. Thanks, Boiler