03 · Legal research
Potential Claims, Different Duties, Different Clocks
The original ledger charge, a later demand for payment, a failure to investigate, and a credit-reporting response are different acts. Each law has its own elements and deadlines.
| Potential duty | Who might owe it | What remains to prove |
|---|---|---|
| Tex. Property Code §91.006 | Landlord; Firmus's role must be established | Abandonment under the lease, reasonable mitigation, actual reletting and lawful net damages. Acceleration alone is not proof of invalidity. |
| Tex. Fin. Code §392.202 | Qualifying third-party collector | Written inaccuracy notice and receipt, status of investigation, 30-day statutory written response options, collection cessation and corrections as applicable. |
| FDCPA, including §§1692e, 1692f | Covered federal debt collector | Actionable misstatement, illegal charge, failure to disclose disputed status or other particular conduct. A good-faith statutory defense may be raised on its elements. |
| FCRA §1681s-2(b) | Actual furnisher after bureau notice | Credit-bureau notice, scope of what was forwarded, reasonable investigation and accuracy or completeness of result. Direct consumer notice alone does not trigger §(b). |
| 12 CFR §1022.43 | Covered furnisher receiving qualifying direct dispute | Correct address, content, relevant data, statutory exceptions and investigation. Direct-dispute duties are not automatically privately enforceable through §1681s-2(b). |
| Tex. Fin. Code §§392.303–.304 | Covered debt collector | Unauthorized interest/fees or deceptive debt representations; determine what portion, if any, is actually disallowed. |
| Tex. Fin. Code §392.306 | Creditor using an independent collector | Actual knowledge of repeated or continuous acts violating Texas Chapter 392, plus continuing use. General allegations and a federal judgment alone may be insufficient. |
Statutory clocks
FDCPA: 15 USC §1692k(d) ordinarily requires suit within one year of the violation, not one year from the first invoice or first dispute. Distinct later actions can carry distinct dates; mere persistence of an old account is not automatically a new violation every day. Official text.
Texas §392.202: the specific 30-day written-response framework is triggered by receipt of a qualifying written notice of inaccuracy. Identify each notice and its receipt date. The available response “insufficient time” has consequences under the statute; it is not unconditional authority to ignore the dispute. Official text.
FCRA: a privately actionable furnisher-reinvestigation claim under §1681s-2(b) depends generally on notice from a reporting agency to the furnisher; the limitations rule is generally the earlier of two years after discovery of the violation or five years after its occurrence under 15 USC §1681p.
Underlying rent: landlord claims and defenses involve different Texas contract/mitigation rules. Do not copy the FDCPA one-year limit onto the October 2025 ledger posting.
Dates presently worth preserving
October 31, 2025 (charge assessed); the May 2026 written disputes and deliveries; May 20, 2026 (NCS letter); October 26, 2026 (latest dispute intake as described on call); November 4, 2026 (recorded discussion); each Experian bureau notice/reinvestigation and each actual NCS communication. None is automatically an adjudicated violation date.
See the creditor-knowledge analysis for why proving notice in a future year does not retroactively prove earlier knowledge.