Debt validation
nounAlso called debt verification · validation request · verification letter
Debt validation is asking a collector, in writing, to show that the debt is yours and that they are entitled to collect it.
In plain words
It is a request, made in writing, and it asks two things at once: is this mine, and are you the one who may collect it.
Asking is not the same as disputing the amount, and it is not the same as paying.
Where you'll see it
In the notice a collector sends when they first make contact.
In the collection letters that follow it, often as a line you have to look for.
Why it gets confused
People think saying it on the phone counts. The written request is the thing.
There is a window for making it — short, and stated in the collector's own notice. Read the window off that document, not off anybody's summary of it.
If this term is in play, this is what your record needs
- 01The date the first letter arrived, and what it said.
- 02The exact amount and the reference number on it.
- 03Every call — date, time, and who you spoke to.
- 04What you sent and when, and how you sent it.
Not what to argue — what to have written down.