If collection agencies are hounding you, you have a very important right which is outlined in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This is the right to have a collection account 'validated.'

This process, as it is outlined by the FDCPA, is very different from what is known as the verification process. If a credit bureau asks that a creditor verify information, the investigation procedure is usually quite perfunctory. The creditor simply reviews their records and the information that was supplied by the customer, and then decides whether they (the creditor) were right or wrong.

However when a collection agency is asked to validate a debt, the process can become complicated. The collection agency must prove that the debt is legally yours and that they have the right to collect it from you. In addition, the collection agency must stop all collection activity until they can provide you with this evidence. If the agency cannot validate the debt, they must end their efforts to collect on it, and they must stop reporting the collection amount to all of the credit bureaus.

This specific right to validation only applies to collection agencies, not to the original creditor. This is because collection agency records are often less reliable than the original creditor's records. Collection agencies often go after the wrong people or even misstate the original amount than what was owed. The validation process is meant as a protection from those practices.

In order to validate a debt, the collection agency must present documentation obtained from the original creditor proving that you are legally responsible for the debt. Validation then becomes a powerful tool in helping you clean up your credit report. Collection agencies often don't have the necessary documentation, especially if the debt has been passed around among collection agencies, which often happens. They often have little more than one line on a computer screen, and the Federal Trade commission has made it clear that what they call a 'mere itemization' is not adequate in the validation of a debt.

Of course, the validation process can help you eliminate collection accounts that don't belong to you, but they might also help you get rid of some that actually do. This might surprise you, particularly if you've always believed the credit bureau's assertion that it's impossible to remove true, negative information on your credit report. Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes, you can get accurate information removed from your credit bureau file, especially if it is for an old collection account. The credit bureaus and the Fair Isaac Corporation will tell you that this isn't fair-play. They will say that the system depends on credit reports reflecting the most accurate picture, including all negative and positive information about you.