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[Applause] [Music] what's up guys welcome back to another episode on keeping it real with credit now on the last episode i know i gave you guys a little bit more of an insight as to what the debt verification and the debt validation process is i hope that that video was informative and it helped you gain a better understanding as to what these two terms actually mean so today we're going to go more in detail as to what the debt validation process is to tackle collection accounts and to understand the laws that collection agencies must abide by when it comes to collections a lot of people ask whether they should pay the debt in hopes that it will actually improve their credit score and as i've mentioned before in the past paying a collection does not remove the account from your credit report it'll only list it as a paid collection and that's why you should first request validation instead of paying it at all so why would you even want to request a validation in the first place well first of all you want to make sure that the debt actually belongs to you debt collectors have been known to send bills or even make calls for fake debts and you don't want to assume that just because you've been contacted by a debt collector that that account automatically does belong to you you also want to confirm that you didn't already pay that debt if you recall paying for that debt at some point at all so you want to be certain that you have the right so ask for proof of that debt it's also important to confirm that the debt is real collectors tend to resurrect old debts to try to make some money and collectors may not even have the original documentation in the first place to prove that that account actually belongs to you and especially if a lot of time has passed let me put it like this if somebody came to you that saying that you owe them money but they couldn't prove it would you pay them i sure wouldn't and here's one of the most important things you want to make sure is the debt collector even authorized to collect the debt and do you know the creditor actually hired that particular collection agency to collect the debt on their behalf and by sending a debt validation letter it would help you to be sure that you're paying the right company for the right debt so now that we've discussed the importance of requesting a validation first let's talk a little bit more about what collectors must do when they first contact you within five days of their initial communication the debt collector is required to send you a written debt validation notice under the fair debt collection practices act the debt validation notice can be included in the first strand of communication to you as long as the notice is made in writing but if the first communication with you by is by phone you should receive a debt validation letter from them within five days the collector's debt validation notice should include the amount of the debt the name of the creditor the assumption that the debt will be valid unless you dispute it within 30 days notification you can also request a verification of the debt within the 30 days and a notification that you can request the name and address of the original creditor within 30 days and during that 30-day period the collector cannot continue to attempt to collect the debt from you until you receive the validation that you actually requested all right so let's dive into how to submit a validation request to be legally valid the request for proof must be made in writing a verbal phone request for validation is simply not enough to protect you under the fair debt collection practices act and in your validation letter you can dispute the entire debt part of the debt or request the name of the original creditor now once the debt collector receives your validation request they cannot contact you again until they've provided you with the proof that you've asked for and as a pro tip you want to make sure that you send the letter via certified mail to actually have proof on the day that the letter was mailed and the date that they've received it so once the collector responds what happens next well after they receive your dispute the collection agency must send you proof that it owns or has been assigned the debt by the original creditor keep in mind that verification that you owe the debt and the amount of the debt needs to be included in the documentation from the original creditor it's not enough for the collection agency to simply send you a printout of the amount owed if the debt collector does not verify the debt then they're not allowed to continue to collect on the debt nor can they sue you or list the debt on your credit report if the collector continues to list the debt on your credit report even if it's not responded to your debt validation notice you can dispute the debt with the credit bureaus you can send the credit bureaus a copy of your debt validation letter with the certified mail receipts to help you get the account removed off your credit report but what if the collector verifies the debt if you receive sufficient validation of the debt here's what you can do next make sure that the debt is within the statute of limitations which is the amount of time that the creditor or collector can actually sue you for that debt a debt that's outside the statute of limitation poses a less threat to you since the collector can't even win a judgment against you in the court of law as long as you can prove that the statute of limitations has actually passed you also want to check to see if the debt is within this reporting time limit to figure this out check the payment history to find the date of first delinquency which is the first 30 days you missed the payment date that led to your account being charged off and by the way even if you made a payment on the account since the last 30 days that led to the account closing if you did not bring the account all the way current then the date of first delinquency does not change at all remember most negative information remains on your credit report for up to seven years of the date of first delinquency now the collection account has been verified and is within the statute of limitations or the reporting time limit consider settling the account with the collector for a percentage of the amount owed or negotiate a payment for delete agreement where in exchange for your payment the account will be removed from the credit report so with that being said guys i hope you like the information on this video make sure to like comment subscribe share with family and friends and let me know how this video actually helped you in the comments below remember guys that we're offering a free credit evaluation so if there's anything on your credit report holding you back make sure to speak to us so that we can let you know and give you a plan of attack on how you can take your credit score to the next level all right guys see you on the 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