Generally only if allowed by your original contract or by state law. A collector generally can’t invent extra charges. Interest and fees are generally permitted only when the agreement that created the debt allows them or a statute does. Unexplained add-ons above the original balance are worth disputing.
Collectors sometimes tack on interest and fees, but they are not free to add whatever they like. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a collector generally may collect only an amount authorized by the agreement that created the debt or permitted by law. If your original contract allowed a certain interest rate or late fee, that can carry through; if it did not, the collector generally cannot add its own charges. When a balance has grown well beyond what you remember owing, the extra amount is exactly what a validation request should force them to justify.
Generally only if the original contract or state law allows it. A collector generally can’t add interest the underlying agreement never permitted.
Request validation and a breakdown. If interest and fees exceed what the contract or law allows, dispute the difference in writing.
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