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Demonstration site. Uptick Credit is a fictional business built to show a design system; the registration numbers, staff and sample files are placeholders. Nothing here is legal or financial advice.

Uptick CreditTampa, Florida
(813) 555-0164Start a review

Service · Validation

Debt validation

When a third-party collector is reporting, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act gives you a right they must answer: prove the debt, prove the amount, and prove you are the one entitled to collect it.

What is actually included

  • A written validation request under FDCPA §809(b), sent within the window where it carries the most weight
  • Collection activity must pause until the collector validates — we track whether it actually does
  • A check on whether the collector is licensed to collect in Florida
  • A check on the original date of delinquency, which is what starts the seven-year reporting clock — not the date the debt was sold
  • A plain-language read of whatever comes back

What it cannot do

  • Validation does not make a valid debt go away. If the collector validates it and it is accurate, it stays.
  • We do not settle debts, negotiate balances or take payments on your behalf. Debt settlement is a different service and it damages credit.

The clock a collector cannot restart

Every seven-year reporting period runs from the date of first delinquency on the original account — not from the date a collector bought the debt, and not from the date you last paid. Moving that date forward is re-ageing, and it is unlawful.

How long adverse information may be reported

Statutory maximum reporting periods under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §1681c. Not our policy — the statute.
Every value, as a table
How long adverse information may be reported. 6 rows on a scale of 0 to 10. Hard inquiry: 2 yr; Late payment: 7 yr; Charge-off: 7 yr; Collection account: 7 yr; Chapter 13 bankruptcy: 7 yr; Chapter 7 bankruptcy: 10 yr.
RowValueNote
Hard inquiry2 yrTwo years on the report; generally scored for one.
Late payment7 yrSeven years from the date of the delinquency.
Charge-off7 yrSeven years plus 180 days from the original delinquency.
Collection account7 yrRuns from the original delinquency, not from when the collector bought it.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy7 yrSeven years from the filing date.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy10 yrTen years from the filing date.

Common questions

Is debt validation charged up front?
No. Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act no money may be charged or received before the promised services have been fully performed. There is no setup fee, retainer or deposit.
Can this remove accurate negative information?
No. Accurate, current and verifiable negative information cannot lawfully be removed from a credit report by anyone. What this service can do is establish whether an entry is accurate in the first place.
Can I do this myself instead?
Yes, and at no cost. Every right exercised here is one you already hold. Free reports come from annualcreditreport.com and our do-it-yourself guide sets out the same process we run.

Next step

Read your file before you hire anyone.

Two paths. One of them costs nothing and always will. We would rather you took that one and did not need us.

Free · no account, no email

Do it yourself

The whole process written out: how to pull all three reports at no cost, what a dispute letter needs to contain, the statutory windows, and what to do when a bureau says “verified”.

Open the guide

Paid · billed after the work

Have us do it

A line-by-line read of all three files and a written plan, at no charge and with no obligation. If there is nothing worth disputing we will tell you that, and the review still costs nothing.

Start a file review