Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Summary: If Stepehen Einstein is coming after you for a debt, send a Debt Validation Letter to get them off your back.

Have you received word from Stephen Einstein that you owe a debt and need to pay? Are you wondering what you owe precisely and why they contacted you without giving you detailed information? Debt collecting firms like Stephen Einstein often fail to send proper documentation of the outstanding debt to cause panic and compel you to pay without considering your consumer rights.

According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), you have the right to ask a creditor to validate a debt. Requesting for debt validation forces the collecting company to give detailed information on the debt. This information includes confirming the debt account is yours and the amount is accurate.

Knowing your legal rights during this process helps you fight Stephen Einstein. Asking for debt validation is an excellent starting point because it helps stop debt collectors from harassing you. We will help you better understand debt validation and how it can benefit you when a debt collection company fails to meet its obligations.

Debt collection practices of Stephen Einstein

Stephen Einstein is a debt collecting law firm that helps organizations and businesses to collect debts from consumers. They aim to push you to pay the debt by whichever means possible and may sometimes violate consumer rights. Most of Stephen Einstein's employees are non-attorney debt collecting agents who are paid a commission for any money they collect from you.

Consumers have sued Stephen Einstein on numerous occasions for violating the FDCPA—which is a federal law that regulates consumer debt collection and protects you from:

Receiving misleading information
Responding to falsified debt information
Being a victim of deceptive tactics used by debt collecting agents.
Harassment by debt collecting firms

When Stephen Einstein first contacts you, they should give you detailed information about the alleged debt. If they don't, you need to send a professional Debt Validation Letter to mandate them to provide details of the debt.

Why you should insist a company validate a debt

Four primary reasons you should request debt collection companies like Stephen Einstein to validate your debt are to:

Confirm the debt is yours: You may have received someone else's debt because of name variation, a mistake in record-keeping, or you could be a victim of identity theft. The debt validation will prove whether the debt is yours or not.
Check the accuracy of the debt: You can request debt validation if you have made payments in the past and want to see how they have applied them to the current debt. It also helps to confirm they haven't exaggerated some figures.
Determine who you actually owe: In some situations, a third party may have purchased the debt you owed a creditor. You need the new debt collectors to prove they are the true bearers of that debt.
Confirm the assigned debt collecting firm: It is crucial to ensure your creditors have legally authorized Stephen Einstein to collect money from you.

You can't overlook the importance of sending a Debt Validation Letter because it could be the reason you pay someone else's debt, get your debt cut by half, or have it dismissed by the courts.

SoloSuit can help you draft a Debt Validation Letter in minutes.

What is a Debt Validation Letter?

A Debt Validation Letter is a document you send demanding the debt collector to prove that you owe the specified debt. FDCPA outlines the consumer's right to send a Debt Validation Letter, and you can request one without fear of any wrongdoing. Once you send the validation letter to Stephen Einstein, they must stop all collection efforts until they present you with accurate debt validation documents.

On some occasions, Stephen Einstein will stop the debt collection activities and legally return that responsibility to the creditor rather than validate it. This reversal occurs when the collector doesn't have enough proof to validate the debt is yours. The debt verification you receive from the collector should include:

The exact amount you owe
The name and address of the creditor
A statement of notice showing the debt will be considered valid unless you dispute it within 30 days
A statement of notice that if you dispute the debt validity within 30 days, Stephen Einstein will acquire further debt verification and mail it to you

The Debt Validation Letter you send should be well-thought and use legal terms to show Stephen Einstein you know your consumer rights and are ready to challenge any misinformation.

SoloSuit makes it easy to do this.

When not to ask for a Debt Validation Letter

Did you know there are situations where requesting a debt validation isn't a good move? Here are three reasons why asking for one is not advisable:

If you want to resolve the debt: If you are sure you owe a debt collector money and have the means to clear the debt, you should not burden your creditors with paperwork that will cause them to be unwilling to negotiate a payment plan. You may also trigger the collecting law firm to file litigation against you.
If your debt expires soon as per the statute of limitations: It is advisable not to respond to your creditors if you know your debt expires within the statute of limitation period. Sending a debt validation letter may alert the debt collector of the deadline, and they will use aggressive means to collect. In addition, acknowledging the debt in your validation letter will automatically extend or revive the statute of limitation in some states.
When your debt is with an organized creditor: Sending a Debt Validation Letter hoping your original creditor has lost your documents won't always work in your favor. Credit card companies, for example, keep accurate documents and can easily trace your debt. They will come for their money with even more determination after receiving extra paperwork.

Summary of the debt validation process

Here is a five-step process you should follow after being contacted by Stephen Einstein about a debt you owe.

Send SoloSuit's professional Debt Validation Letter within 30 days of being aware of the debt and wait for their response.
If you don't hear from them, resend the Debt Validation Letter, the receipt you received, and another letter stating that you will not pay the alleged debt as per the FDCPA law.
If Stephen Einstein had sent a notice to the consumer reporting agency and they have not validated your debt, compel them to remove the notice.
If your creditors send an accurate debt validation, then Stephen Einstein has the right to continue their attempts to collect.
Seek advice from an attorney if you have any concerns or need help negotiating a payment plan to clear your debt and remove the item from your credit report.

The debt verification process protects debtors from unfair or unscrupulous debt-collection practices. It is also a potent risk mitigation tool to help avoid mistakes in the debt-collection process.

How to Make a Debt Validation Letter - The Ultimate Guide

What if I am sued by Stephen Einstein?

If you're sued by Stephen Einstein, you need to respond by filing an Answer. Filing an Answer will protect your rights and save you from garnishment. In most states, you only have 14-30 days to file an Answer.

SoloSuit can help you file an Answer in all 50 states.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit helps people fight debt collectors. We have everything you need to win. How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web app that makes it easy to generate an Answer to a debt debt collection summons.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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