Debt disputes need not be in writing, court determines
The United States 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which encompasses New York, has ruled that the Fair Debt Collection Act (FDCA) does not require a notice of a disputed debt to be in writing to be deemed valid.
New York residents Karen Hooks and Geraldine Moore agreed in 2009 to purchase a timeshare from Wyndham, a firm specializing in vacation resorts, not realizing that the document they signed was a mortgage. Neither Hooks nor Moore made any payments toward the mortgaged timeshare.
Wyndham enlisted the services of Forman, Holt, Eliades & Ravin, LLC, a debt collector, to collect on the timeshare debt. Forman Holt sent a notice to Hooks and Moore stating that “unless you notify us in writing within thirty (30) days…that the debt…is disputed we will assume that the debt is valid.”