Congress enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to stop abusive debt collection practices. One way to stop this abuse by debt collectors is the requirement of a validation notice and period in collecting debts.
If the debt collection agency does not follow this requirement, you can let your New York lawyer seek an order from the court to get the debt discharged and even get damages against the debt collection agency.
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, all debt collectors are to send a written notice to the debtor setting forth the debtor’s right to dispute the debt, among other things. This notice must be sent within 5 days of the debt collector’s initial communication with the debtor. This is called the ‘validation notice’.
The debtor then has 30 days from the time of receiving the validation notice to send the debt collector a notice disputing the debt. This period is known as the validation period. The debt collector is free to go on with her debt collection activity during the validation period if the debtor fails to dispute the debt.
However, the debt collection agency must not do anything that might overshadow or be inconsistent with the debtor’s right to dispute the debt or request the name or address of the original creditor. For example, in NY, it is wrong for the debt collection agency to serve a debtor with a summons and a complaint within the 30-day validation period without accompanying communication assuring the debtor that her rights under the validation period remain in force and are not affected by the service of the lawsuit. The courts have this requirement because most Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and other NY state residents might get confused and understand the service of the lawsuit as a termination of their rights during the validation period.
To prevent such confusion, the best practice is to provide an explanation in both the validation notice and the summons and complaint clarifying the rights of the debtor and explaining that the starting a lawsuit does not override the debtors rights.
