About 7 years ago someone stole my identity and opened up a cellular phone account with Spring in Chicago, Illinois.  At the time I was living in San Diego, California. I was a bit shocked. Apparently Sprint did not inform me that someone working for them had been selling information for people to open new cellular accounts.  I was incensed.  Also Sprint never tried to contact me directly.  Instead they sold my account off to a collections agency, who contacted me in California. I was incensed obviously.

After receiving the letter, I immediately called the agency and talked with them. I explained that I did not, never had lived in Chicago. I explained I was living for 6 years in California at that point. I was not certain how and why the bills and cell phone calls were originating.  Of course I had at the time another cell phone plan as well.  But I had to “Dispute” debt. And I did so by writing a letter.

So today I thought it would be good to put up a sample letter you can write to companies disputing your debt.

Your Name
Your Address
City, State, Zip

Collection Agency
Collection Agency Address
City, State, Zip

Date

In regards to Account Number #

To whom it may concern:
This letter is being sent to you in response to a notice sent to me on <date>. Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.

This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the FDCPA. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you.

Please provide me with the following:
· What the money you say I owe is for;
· Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
· Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
· Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
· Identify the original creditor;
· Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
· Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
· Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent

At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the 3 major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following:

If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested in the following Declaration, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist.

Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will consult with my legal counsel for suit. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is.

If your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately.

I would also like to request, in writing, that no telephone contact be made by your offices to my home or to my place of employment. If your offices attempt telephone communication with me, including but not limited to computer generated calls and calls or correspondence sent to or with any third parties, it will be considered harassment and I will have no choice but to file suit. All future communications with me MUST be done in writing and sent to the address noted in this letter by USPS.

It would be advisable that you assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action. This is an attempt to correct your records, any information obtained shall be used for that purpose.

Best Regards
TYPE name here. DO NOT SIGN!!!!!!

Everything when you are disputing debt should be done in writing and certified mail.  Yes I called but I have no idea what it was in regards to in the first place. If they had in the letter given more information than just you owe $500 for a bill. I wouldn’t have called. But I need a few more details. After that I mailed a letter similar to this one.  I also at the time wrote a second letter explaining the current address for me was correct and enclosed a notarized letter of my address.

I hope this helps if you  are disputing debt.