No Signature

[Raimondi65]

I sent a debt validation letter to North American Credit Services. Today I received a reply that said Thank You for your letter, however since you failed to sign it, we have nothing to send since we must have your signature for validation.

I replied by asking for case law or statute that makes that a requirement and there is no such provision in the FDCPA and due to recent increase in ID theft crimes and stolen personal data I am not comfortable providing my signature along with my personal information.

Has anyone had any experience with CA requiring a signature?

[thomassl]

I'm not sure what others think on this but if you have enough data to come after me on a debt, and they are authorized to collect the debt, you should have all the information you need to proceed! This appears to me to be a "stall" tactic which I would never fall for! I would definitely dispute with the credit bureaus...see if they will ask you for a signature????:'>

[willingtocope]

There are lots of discussion here about this...the consensus seems to be that you do need to sign your letters in case they'd ever be needed in court...but, there are things you can do to prevent the signature being photoshopped and used to put your "signature" onto other things.

Different colored pens that don't xerox, tamper proof signature boxes, or my personal favorite (because its cheap), type a "Sincerely" and your name at the bottom, then sign your name in big letters over top of the printing. You can even use a form of your name that doesn't appear on any other type of document.

[nascar]

There are lots of discussion here about this...the consensus seems to be that you do need to sign your letters in case they'd ever be needed in court

My thought on that is, your testimony that you are the one who wrote the letter is enough. There is no signature needed. "See your honor, this is my letter, it has my signature on it!" Doesn't quite make sense to me.

[AISLE4]

... or my personal favorite (because its cheap), type a "Sincerely" and your name at the bottom, then sign your name in big letters over top of the printing. You can even use a form of your name that doesn't appear on any other type of document.

[divemedic]

The FDCPA requires disputes to be in writing, it does not require anything beyond that.

[myscoresawful]

..but, there are things you can do to prevent the signature being photoshopped and used to put your "signature" onto other things.

or my personal favorite (because its cheap), type a "Sincerely" and your name at the bottom, then sign your name in big letters over top of the printing. You can even use a form of your name that doesn't appear on any other type of document.

This is EXACTLY what I do..not only on DV letters, but all correspondence!

I know they can't use it for validation because I always use black ink to blend in with the printer ink, so it's bullcrap (their reason...just stalling).

[someonesomewhere]

You can even use a form of your name that doesn't appear on any other type of document.

Like Ron "Tater Salad" White?

[willingtocope]

Exactly. Instead of "Illene Mary Incognitio", just use your initials...

[MissSilence]

My cousin suggested signing the letters with a sharpie marker as they write thicker lines than a pen which is what is normally used when signing contracts etc. Do yall think that would make it more difficult for them to lift the signiture and place it on other document??

[momof5]

I actually sign the document with a odd color pen in a signature that I NEVER use (serious left handed slant), focusing only on the first initial, squiggle, last initial, squiggle....all over the print of my name.

If they somehow were creative enough to get that siggy and put it on a contract, I would show the judge my DL and how the siggies were different.

Let THEM explain why it doesn't match! (I would love to tell the judge what I did, with specific intent to let them hang themselves through a fake siggie on a fraudulent contract or whatever..... )

[Credithis]

Actually, using your signature can be dangerous as some unscrupulous JDB's are known to lift it onto damaging documents.

Simply place below your correspondance with them:

Signature on record

You in court can easily verify this by producing a drivers license or any other such document if needed.

Remember, the burden of proof is on them and they are the ones that need to provide you with proof of the debt and if they have something with your siggy on it.

[naia]

So basically, in my DV letters, and any correspondence, I shouldn't be signing my name on anything I send them? Or at least use the other methods that others have suggested to protect your signature?

[qtptute]

I guess you could get real sneaky and use /s/ which in legalese means it is electronically signed. Then they can't use "your" signature to lift to a document.

[SecretAgentWoman]

I just use colored pen, a funkier sig, and I sign over my printed name.

If you keep a photo copy of the letter, you can prove in court it's been lifted by comparing them as well. (Nobody ever signs exactly the same whey twice.)

[MissSilence]

(Nobody ever signs exactly the same whey twice.)

aint that the truth I'm suprised my bank hasnt ever returned a check based on the sig on it cause I know most of the time it doesn't even resemble what they have on my account:neutral: