Suppose a consumer makes a claim to our 3rd party debt collector that the debt being collected is the result of identity theft. The consumer has not completed an affidavit of identity theft nor a police report. The debt collector is obligated to notify the lender of the assertion. What is the obligation of the bank at this point? What if the customer never comes to the bank to make a complaint? It seems that we (the bank) shouldn't be obligated to block the information without the customer first providing a police report or affidavit of identity theft to the bank or our agent, the third party debt collector. Any thoughts?

We will not accept allegations of identity theft unless the consumer has gone through the proper steps of completing an ID theft affidavit, notifying law enforcement, presenting ID and generally complying with the requirements of §151. Section 155 only states that the 3rd party debt collector must notify us and provide the most basic information to the consumer. I don't read into that section that we must suddenly block all information - it seems to me that we are alerted but that it is up to the consumer to follow up. After all, what a great way to get a debt collector off your back!
BC