I got a collection letter, should I ignore it?

An Uncomfortable Moment

No one likes getting a collection letter. But you should not ignore it. On the contrary, you should open it right away. You might be surprised to hear that a significant number of collection letters are not valid. Either the subject debt does not belong to the recipient of the letter, or it has been previously resolved.

Exercise Your Rights

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires collectors to validate a debt if you ask them within 30 days. On request, they must provide proof that they have the legal right to collect the debt, as well as an accounting of the amount they say is due. So if you don’t recognize a debt, or even question the dollar amount, you should validate it. If the collector cannot validate it they must stop collection efforts and not report to the credit bureaus.

Don't Miss Your Opportunity

If you ignore the letter, you have missed a great credit repair opportunity. Once the 30 day limit has passed the collector has no further obligation to validate the debt, so act quickly.