Debt collectors are required to validate debts before continuing their collection activities according to section 809 of the FDCPA (15 USC 1692).

Collection notices by telephone, mail, or a third party can be troubling.  Collection attempts may cause some to panic because they do not fully understand their rights under the FDCPA. This page details how debt collectors must notify you, and exactly which types of notifications are legal -- and which are illegal!

• § 809(a) - Collectors must validate debt within five (5) days

• § 809(a)1 - Who must provide validation notice

• § 809(a)2 - Only a single notice is required

• § 809(a)3 - Notice forms or letters

• § 809(a)4 - Use of alternate debt terminology in notice

• § 809(a)5 - Oral notices vs. written notices

• § 809(a)6 - Legal action notice vs. validation notices

• § 809(a)7 - When attorneys must provide validation notice

• § 809(a) - Validation / Proof is required if debt is disputed

• § 809(b) - Collectors must cease collection while debts are disputed

• § 809(c) - Failure to dispute a debt is NOT an admission of liability

1. Section 809(a) requires a collector, within 5 days of the first communication, to provide the consumer a written notice (if not provided in that communication) containing:

1. the amount of the debt and

2. the name of the creditor, along with a statement that he will

3. assume the debt's validity unless the consumer disputes it within 30 days,

4. send verification of the judgment if the consumer disputes the debt in a timely manner

5. identify the original creditor upon written request.

2. Who must provide notice.

If the employer's debt collection agent gives the required notice, employee debt collectors need not provide duplicate notice. An agent of the debt collector may give the required notice, as long as they make it clear that the information is being provided on behalf of the debt collector.

3. Single notice required.

The debt collector is not required to provide more than one notice for each debt.  A notice need not offer to identify the original creditor, unless the name and address of the original creditor is different from the current creditor.

4. Notice Forms

The FDCPA imposes no requirements as to the form, sequence, location, or type size of the notice. An illegible notice will not comply with this provision, however.

5. Alternate terminology.

As long as a debt collector provides all required information, the debt collector may condense and combine the required disclosures.

6. Oral notice.

If a debt collector's first communication with the consumer is oral, he may make the disclosures orally at that time in which case the collector need not send a written notice.

7. Legal action.

A debt collector's institution of formal legal action against a consumer (including the filing of a complaint or service of legal papers by an attorney in conjunction with a lawsuit to collect the debt) or transmission of a notice to a consumer that is required by law as a prerequisite to enforcing a contractual obligation is not a "communication in connection with collection of any debt," and thus does not confer section 809 notice-and-validation rights on the consumer.

8. Collection activities by attorneys.

An attorney who regularly attempts to collect debts by means other than litigation, such as writing the consumer demand letters (dunning notices) or calling the consumer on the phone about the obligation (except in response to a consumer's call to him after suit has been commenced), must provide the required notice, even if a previous debt collector (or creditor) has given such a notice.

9. Effect of including proof with first notice.

A debt collector must verify a disputed debt even if he has included proof of the debt with the first communication, since this section is intended to assist the consumer when a debt collector inadvertently contacts the wrong consumer at the beginning of their collection efforts.

10. Section 809(b)

This section requires that the collector cease all collection efforts until they verify the debt and they issue a mailed response, whenever the consumer disputes the debt or provides a written request to identify the original creditor.

11. Section 809(c)

This section states that a consumer's failure to dispute the validity of a debt may not be interpreted by a court as an admission of liability.

• Pre-notice collection: a debt collector need not cease normal collection activities within the consumer's 30-day period to give notice of a dispute until he receives a formal notice from the consumer.

• A debt collection attorney may take legal action within 30 days of sending the notice, regardless of whether the consumer disputes the debt.

• The debt collection attorney may still take legal action, but must cease collection efforts until verification is obtained and mailed to the consumer, even though the consumer disputes the debt

• A debt collector may report a debt to a credit bureau within the 30-day notice period, before he receives a dispute notice or a request from the consumer for validation of the debt.