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Hi, A junk debt buyer bought an old account of mine from 2008. They bought it from a pile of old uncollectable credit cards. I sent a letter to the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, Transunion) asking them to validate the debts, as all I got from the JDB was a one page printout with my name, address account number and amount. In my letter to the credit bureaus I mention specifically that validating this was a good debt. I received a form letter from them today saying that "The FCRA does not require that the consumer credit reporting company obtain documentation such as actual signed sales slips, signature cards, contracts, etc., nor does it require that consumer credit reporting agencies act as mediators or negotiators in account disputes." This means that all someone has to have a 'proof' of a debt is a printout sheet from a junk debt buyer? Does anyone know if this is true? Or are they cherry picking one thing from the FCRA and ignoring something else from the FDCRA? The whole idea of companies finding out personal information from me and my bills and selling it to other companies is repugnant to me and I don't see how this even became so acceptable. Does this mean I can collect other personal private information on people and sell it to anyone that wants to see it- on anyone? What I'm asking is if anyone knows if this info is correct, and can perhaps site chapter and verse from what law says they don't have to research this other than asking the company involved, 'Is this a good debt?' and them answering, 'Yes.' 'Well, OK then, we'll report it as such.' It seems my request for validation was them calling and asking the company involved.

In another thread I asked about what to do about a parking viloation I had that went to collections. The two prevailing ideas were to write a goodwill letter to the CA and then write verification letters to the CRAs. The ticket has already been paid, and some people said that sometimes the CA won't take the time to verify a debt that has already been paid. Regardless, everyone thought that a GoodWill letter was the best first step. My question is, is there any way that writing the GoodWill letter will help them verify the debt later if it comes to that? I've moved in the past year and the ticket is associated with an old address, so I'm wondering if somehow that can be used to make the debt hard to verify? I've already submitted letters to get my old addresses removed if that helps. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to proceede? I want to send the GoodWill letter but I'm worried that will somehow make the debt easier to verify. Thanks!