Debt Validation Letter (FDCPA § 1692g) — New Mexico

DEBT VALIDATION / DISPUTE LETTER — FDCPA § 1692g — NEW MEXICO

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Sender and Recipient Block
2. Subject and Reference Line
3. Section A — Written Dispute and Validation Request
4. Section B — Cease-Communication Demand
5. Section C — Regulation F Itemization Request
6. Section D — Reservation of Rights and Correspondence Direction
7. Signature Block
8. Mailing and Recordkeeping Checklist
9. New Mexico Practice Notes
10. Sources and References

1. SENDER AND RECIPIENT BLOCK

[CONSUMER FULL NAME]

[STREET ADDRESS]

[CITY, STATE ZIP]

[PHONE] | [EMAIL]

Date: [DATE]

Sent via U.S. Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested

Article No.: [________________________________]

To:

[DEBT COLLECTOR / RECIPIENT NAME]

[Attn: Compliance / Legal Department]

[STREET ADDRESS]

[CITY, STATE ZIP]

2. SUBJECT AND REFERENCE LINE

Re: Account / Reference No. [ACCOUNT NO.]

Alleged Original Creditor: [ORIGINAL CREDITOR — if disclosed]

Amount Claimed: $[AMOUNT]

Date of Initial Communication from Your Office: [DATE]

3. SECTION A — WRITTEN DISPUTE AND VALIDATION REQUEST

To Whom It May Concern:

I received your validation notice dated [DATE] regarding the above-referenced alleged debt on [DATE RECEIVED]. I dispute the alleged debt [☐ in full / ☐ in the amount of $________ / ☐ as described here: ________________________________].

[Use only if accurate:] You received this written dispute during the applicable validation period. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(b) and 12 C.F.R. § 1006.38(d)(2), please cease collection of the disputed debt or disputed portion until you mail the verification required by those provisions.

Please mail:

1. Verification of the disputed debt, or a copy of a judgment if applicable; and

2. [Use only if the request is made within the validation period:] The name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

To help me identify and evaluate the account, I also request the following records and information, if available:

1. The agreement, application, judgment, or other instrument on which the claim is based;

2. An itemization identifying the principal, interest, fees, payments, credits, and other adjustments, with relevant dates;

3. Records identifying the current creditor and showing the transfers or assignments through which the current creditor claims ownership or collection authority;

4. Your New Mexico license information, if a license is required; and

5. The dates you contend govern accrual and limitations, including the last-payment and charge-off dates, and whether you contend the debt is time-barred.

These additional requests do not assert that federal law requires production of every listed record before collection may resume. The statutory and regulatory response duties are governed by 15 U.S.C. § 1692g and 12 C.F.R. § 1006.38.

4. SECTION B — CEASE-COMMUNICATION DEMAND

[Optional — do not combine this section with Section A without counsel's review. A simultaneous validation request and cease-communication demand can create ambiguity about what response the consumer wants. Delete this section if you want ordinary written correspondence beyond the validation response.]

Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c), I demand that you cease further communication with me concerning this alleged debt. The statute permits further communication only:

• (a) to advise that further collection efforts are being terminated;
• (b) to notify me that you or the creditor may invoke specified remedies that are ordinarily invoked; or
• (c) where applicable, to notify me that you or the creditor intend to invoke a specified remedy.

This cease-communication request does not prevent collection activity that does not involve communicating with me and does not erase the alleged debt or prevent a creditor or collector from pursuing an otherwise lawful remedy.

5. SECTION C — REGULATION F ITEMIZATION REQUEST

Regulation F requires specified validation information, including itemization information, in a validation notice. To clarify the amount now claimed, I request:

• (a) The itemization date you selected (last statement, charge-off, last-payment, transaction, or judgment date);
• (b) The amount of the debt on the itemization date;
• (c) Each interest charge, fee, payment, and credit applied since the itemization date;
• (d) The current amount of the debt and the date through which that amount was calculated; and
• (e) The name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed, including any merchant brand or affinity name used.

6. SECTION D — RESERVATION OF RIGHTS AND CORRESPONDENCE DIRECTION

This letter is sent without waiver of any rights, claims, defenses, or objections under applicable law. It does not acknowledge liability, ownership, the amount claimed, or that any limitations period remains open.

[If Section B is deleted:] Please direct future correspondence to me in writing at the mailing address above.

7. SIGNATURE BLOCK

Sincerely,

[________________________________]

[CONSUMER FULL NAME]

[________________________________]

Date

Enclosures:

• Copy of initial communication dated [DATE]
• [OTHER EXHIBITS — credit-report excerpt, prior dispute, etc.]

cc (if represented): [ATTORNEY NAME, FIRM]

8. MAILING AND RECORDKEEPING CHECKLIST

☐ Letter mailed Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested

☐ USPS Article No. recorded above

☐ Photocopy of signed letter retained

☐ Copy of certified-mail receipt (green stamp) retained

☐ Date of mailing is within the validation period stated in the collector's notice

☐ Follow-up review date calendared (this is not a statutory collector-response deadline)

☐ Credit reports pulled from all three CRAs to monitor account status and continued reporting

☐ Phone log started: date, time, caller, number, statements made

☐ Voicemails saved (do not delete)

☐ Prior letters and envelopes preserved

9. NEW MEXICO PRACTICE NOTES

• Validation period and timing. Section 1692g requires the validation notice to describe a thirty-day period for a written dispute or written original-creditor request. A written request received during the applicable validation period triggers the response-and-pause duties specified in § 1692g(b) and 12 C.F.R. § 1006.38. A collector has no general statutory duty to answer within thirty days; collection of the disputed debt or portion remains paused until the required response is mailed. A late dispute does not trigger the same automatic § 1692g(b) pause, although other law may still apply.
• Verification versus requested documents. Section 1692g is not a general discovery or document-production procedure. The agreement, full assignment chain, license proof, and account records may be useful requests, but the statute does not identify all of them as mandatory components of verification.
• Cease-communication right. A written cease demand under § 1692c(c) allows the three categories of further communication listed in Section B. Section 1692k permits actual damages and, in an individual action, additional damages allowed by the court up to $1,000, plus specified costs and attorney fees for a successful action. The $1,000 ceiling is per action, not per communication or violation.
• Statute of limitations on the underlying debt. NMSA 1978, § 37-1-3(A) provides six years for actions founded on written contracts; § 37-1-4 provides four years for actions founded on accounts and unwritten contracts and for its other listed actions. Sections 12.2.12.8 and 12.2.12.9 NMAC require a debt collector to determine in good faith whether debt is time-barred and to give specified disclosures when collecting debt known or reasonably known to be time-barred. The rule warns that payment, a signed admission or acknowledgment, a signed new promise, or a signed waiver can renew the debt. Confirm characterization, accrual, tolling, revival, and any separate federal claim with counsel before responding.
• Regulation F. Section 1006.34 specifies the validation information generally required in a validation notice, including the itemization date, amount on that date, itemization of interest, fees, payments, and credits since that date, and current amount. Section 1006.38 governs disputes and original-creditor requests received during the validation period; it does not create a general right to every document requested in Section A.

10. SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• Office of the Law Revision Counsel — 15 U.S.C. § 1692c
• Office of the Law Revision Counsel — 15 U.S.C. § 1692g
• Office of the Law Revision Counsel — 15 U.S.C. § 1692k
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations — 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations — 12 C.F.R. § 1006.38
• NMOneSource — current NMSA Chapter 37
• New Mexico Administrative Code — 12.2.12 NMAC

Current official sources and every citation in this file were checked on August 14, 2026. Citation-index screening found no enacted 2025 or 2026 amendment to NMSA 1978 §§ 37-1-3 or 37-1-4; the 2026 wildfire-liability bills referencing § 37-1-4 were postponed indefinitely.

Disclaimer: This is an informational drafting aid, not legal advice. An attorney licensed in New Mexico should review and customize it before use. Laws and regulations change; verify all authorities and deadlines against current official sources.