Letters to send to CRA's or CA's

[Fixmy59bug]

At Nightstars request, hoefully we can get this made into a sticky. Later I will reply to this thread and add more letters. Each letter will have their own section in this thread.

Ok, At the request of a few people here, I will be posting all the letters I have used to remove alot of information from my credit reports.

This first letter is for the validation (not verification) of the debt. Allow me to explain since not everyone knows the difference.

When you ask for a debt to be verified, All they will do is check and make sure that the debt is yours. They will compare name, address, social security number, and date of birth.

When you ask for a debt to be validated, you are requesting much more information. Such information can be a copy of the original application (with your signature), all payments, debits, etc. Everything to PROVE that the debt legally belongs to and was initiated by you.

Debt validation is a much more lengthy process and most of the time, the CA's won't have all that information so the debt will be dropped (I have proof of that on my credit reports). So with that said, on with the letters.

As I said, this first letter is for validation of debt. It outlines the specific code in the FCRA that requires the CA's to provide you with the information you ask for. I must tell you up front though, a good portion of this is bluffing. The CA's are not required to provide you with this information unless it is within 30 days of them obtaining the debt. However most of the time the debt collectors are known as "Junk Debt Collectors" and they are not fully aware of the law. They are just trying to make money.

Obviously these letters will need to be modified to suit your flavor (and add your information), but this first letter is the one I sent to 10 of my original 13 CA's. And within 2 weeks, 4 items have been removed from my credit reports.

Another note about this letter, MAKE SURE before you send this letter, Get yourreturn receipt forms and certified letter forms that way you can insert the certified letter number into the bottom of this letter. You want to make sure to include this number into the letter so you can prove later on (if need be) that the provided certification number applies to this letter.

While at work, I am unable to upload these to a hosting service. My work filter blocks all uploading services. When I get home, I will upload to a good service and provide a link. For the mean time, here is a copy and pasted version of the letter I sent.
{DATE HERE}
{YOUR NAME HERE}
{YOUR ADDRESS}
{ADDRESS CONTINUED}

{CREDITOR COMPANY}
{CREDITOR ADDRESS}
{ADDRESS CONTINUED}


RE: {ACCOUNT NUMBER}

Dear Collection Department,

Your company is currently reporting a negative listing to the major credit bureaus (Experian, Transunion, and Equifax) regarding the above referenced account. Based on my recollection and my records, I can find no reason for you reporting such a history. If you will review your records I think that you will find inaccurate.

Any accounts that I had were paid off years ago! Plus any other account is beyond the statute of limitation of {X} years in the state of {INSERT YOUR HOME STATE HERE}. Therefore this account would be un-collectable.

The erroneous status of your collection agency is unacceptable and is preventing me from obtaining necessary
financing. Pursuant to Title 15, Section 1666 of the United States Code, I formally request the following documentary evidence pertaining to this account:.

1, A copy of the original credit application showing the terms of the agreement.
2. A summary of all account activities, including all payments made, late charges, interest,
date of payments received, date of payments posted, charges made, and date of charges posted.
3. Copies of all documents and financial insturments used to pay the disputed late payments.
4. Copies of all charge slips, invoices, promissory notes, and all other documentation proving
indepteness.
5. Copies of all documents sent to me proving to me that this is my account.

This information and documentation is critical and time is of the essence. Within less than thirty (30) days I will be
damaged partially because of the discrepancy with your records. The above noted code requires your response
within thirty (30) days. Your prompt attention will be greatly appreciated. I hereby request that your response be mailed
to the address listed above.

If you find that the information and documentation does not support the negative history reported to the credit
bureau, I invite you to submit a completed Universal Data Form to said credit bureaus in order to remove the negative
notations.

Upon removal of the negative notations I agree to hold your company harmless from any and all inconveniences and/or
damages related thereto.

I appreciate your prompt response and cooperation.

Sincerely.

{YOUR NAME HERE}
S.S.# {YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER}
D.O.B. {YOUR DATE OF BIRTH}

Certified letter # {CERTIFIED LETTER NUMBER HERE}

cc: Experian, Equifax, Transunion, file

[Fixmy59bug]

After you send that first letter, If they should happen to send you back a form letter stating the debt does in fact belong to you and it is collectible as allowed by law. Do not let that stop you. According to the FCRA and the FDCPA, a computer print you does NOT satisfy the requested (and required) documents. The letter above is very specific on what you are entitled to and what they should send you.

So in that case, Here is what you should send them.

Again, no uploads from work here, so I will host it when I get home. In the mean time, Copy and Paste.

{INSERT DATE HERE}

{YOUR NAME HERE}
{YOUR ADDRESS}
{ADDRESS CONTINUED}

{CREDITOR NAME}
{CREDITOR ADDRESS}
{ADDRESS CONTINUED}

RE: {ACCOUNT NUMBER}

Dear SIR,

Thank you for sending me the computer print-out on the above account. Unfortunately this does not prove that this is my account. A computer print-out listing the bill is not sufficient to validate a debt. (Federal Trade Commision opinion letter Levre-Wollman)

To repeat my letter to you as of {DATE OF ORIGINAL LETTER}.

Pursuant to Title 15, Section 1666 of the United States Code, I formally request the following documentary evidence pertaining to my account.

1. A copy of the original credit application showing the terms of agreement.
2. A summary of all account activites, including all payments made, late charges, interest, date of payments
received. dates of payment posted, charges made, and dates of charges posted.
3. Copies of all documents and financial insturments used to pay the disputed late payments.
4. Copies of all charge slips, invoices, promissary notes, and all other documentation proving indebtedness.
5. Copies of all documents sent to me regarding this account.

In the event that you can not verify the item/debt pursuant to the FRCA and the FDCPA, and you continue to list the disputed item/debt on my credit report I will find it neccessary to sue you for actual defamation damages and declaratory relief under the FCRA. According to this regulation, I may sue you in any qualified state or federal court,
including small claims court in my area.

In light of the recent court case opinion No.00-15946 CV-99-00290-DC by the US Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, Nelson Vs. Chase Manhatten, the court ruled that the creditor has the responsiblity to investigate and make sure that correct information is being reported to the bureaus, and that the creditor has the right to sue under the FCRA should his or her rights be violated.

Pursuant to the California Code of Civil Procedures-Part 6-337: This account is no longer valid for collection due to the State of California and the State of Arizona Statute of Limitations.

Any attempt to collect the debt will be in violation of:
FDCPA-Section 811-5, (Threat to take action that cannot be legally taken.) . Failure to comply with this law will result in my filing suit and a complaint to the Federal Trade Commision and the
State of California State Attorneys office.

The information and documentation is critical and time is of the essence. The above noted code(s) requires your response within 15 days.

If you find that the information and documentation does not support the negative history reported to the credit bureaus, I invite you to submit a completed Universal Data Form to said credit bureaus in order to remove the negative notations.

I appreciate your prompt response and co-operation.

Sincerely,

{YOUR NAME}
{YOUR ADDRESS}
{ADDRESS CONTINUED}

SS# {SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER}
DOB {YOUR DATE OF BIRTH}
Cert Mail {CERTIFIED MAIL RECEIPT NUMBER}

[Fixmy59bug]

This letter is pretty self explanitory. Here all you are doing is asking the CA to remove the listing from your credit report after they have sold it to another CA. Say for example, you had an account with Providian, but since it went into default, they sold the account to Emerge (I am using myself as an example). Once providian sold the account to emerge, they no longer have any legal ties to the account. They no longer own it and are no longer legally allowed to report on it. If they are no longer allowed to report on it, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to keep it on your report. Of course this request is more of a good will thing. They are not required to remove it, just stop reporting on it.

As was said above on both letters, can not upload from work. Here is a copy and paste version.

{INSERT DATE HERE}

{YOUR NAME HERE}
{YOUR ADDRESS}
{ADDRESS CONTINUED}

{CREDITOR NAME}
{CREDITOR ADDRESS}
{ADDRESS cONTINUED}

RE: {ACCOUNT NUMBER}


Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to dispute the validity of the above referenced item(s) pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Part 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2 "Responsibilities of furnishers of information" # 623.

Part 623 states: Responsibilities of furnishers of information to consumer reporting agencies and the Credit Agency must be truthful when reporting. Therefore when furnishers of information or a Credit Agency sells (an account) to another, (subsidiary or not) the one that no longer owns it cannot continue to report it! They must remove it if the debt has been re-assigned!.

According to my records, you no longer own this debt and therefore cannot report it to any Credit Agency. If you continue to do so I reserve the right to sue you for purposely ruining my credit, an action which can garner myself $1,000 per action.

Also according to {YOUR STATE HERE} Statutes of Limitations, {YOUR STATE} Code of Civil Procedures {ARTICLE NUMBER}, this account is no longer valid for collection.

I shall assume that 30 days constitutes a"reasonable time" to correct this matter, unless you immediately notify me otherwise.

While I perfer not to litigate, I will use the courts as needed to enforce my rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Act and the statutes listed above.

For the purposes of # 15 USC 1692 et seq./ this Notice has the same effect as a dispute to a validity of the alleged debt and a dispute to the validity of your claims. This notice is an attempt to correct your records, and any information received from you will be collected as evidence should any further action be necessary

I affirm under penalty of perjury under the Laws of the Land for the United States of America the the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Sincerely,

{YOUR NAME}
{YOUR ADDRESS}
{ADDRESS CONTUNIED}
SS: {SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER}
DOB: {DATE OF BIRTH}

Certified Mail # {CERTIFIED MAIL NUMBER}

[NightStar]

Thanks very much for providing copies of the letters you used.

I have made it into a sticky for others to make use of them.

[Fixmy59bug]

Beautiful, Thank you Nightstar. I will be posting more letters as I have atleast 5 more letters that could be helpful to other members of this board.

[chane]

Good stuff NightStar! I haven't had much luck with debt validation letters, but I have had a few accounts come off my reports and my clients reports by using them. It's always worth a shot.

The thing is, most of the collection agencies are getting "used" to receiving them and realize that most consumers will NOT sue them and they take their chances. It's unfortunate that it takes multiple letters to get anywhere with them.

[NightStar]

These are not my letters, just contributed by others. People just got to know if they have a collection account that they need to send debt validation in a timely manner. Otherwise the collection agency may ignore the letters.

[junvincent]

I think that is good information at all.. go on it

[NightStar]

This is a cease and desist letter for debt that has expired the statute of limitations.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Company Name Date
Address

Your Name
Address

RE: Account #

To whom it concerns:

Please take notice that this is my formal request for your office to cease communication with my by phone or by mail.

This debt has expired the statute of limitations and therefore is time barred.

Sincerely,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[NightStar]

This is a pay for delete letter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Name of Company Date
Address

Your Name
Address

RE: Account Number #

To whom it concerns:

This letter is an offer to settle the above account. It is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of my liability for this debt in any form.

I will pay your company the amount of $ as full settlement of this account.

If you accept this agreement, I will send you a money order or certified cashiers check for the settlement amount of $ in exchange for a full deletion of all references regarding this account from my credit reports at all three credit bureaus, or the bureaus your company regularly reports to in the course of doing business.

If you agree to the above, please acknowledge with your signature and return a copy to me. Upon receipt of this signed acknowledgment, I will promptly send you a money order or cashiers check in the amount stated above.

Thank You. I look forward to resolving this matter in the best interest for both of our parties.

Sincerely,


Creditor’s Authorized Signature: _____________________
Date:____________
Name: ______________________
Title : _____________________________
__________________

[NightStar]

Letter to send to the collection agency after receiving collection letter from them. Once you receive letter you want to write back in 30 days.


===============================================================

Your Name Date
Address

Collection Agency Name
Address

Original Creditor:
Re: Acct #

To Whom It May Concern:

Be advised that this is not a refusal to pay, but a notice sent pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 (b) that your claim is disputed and validation is requested.

Please provide me with copy of payment history, signed contract and proof that your company owns this debt or is assigned this debt from the original creditor.

Thanks for your time,

Sincerely,

Name Printed

[Robert29]

Great posts and sample letters.

One of the posts concerning computer print-outs from CA's, the response sample letter should have a statement advising the CA's that a copy of the letter is being sent to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) for their information. FTC should be added as "cc:" This may (or will) get the attention from CA's.

What is the quickest way to have the negative items removed from the credit reports: sending letters to CA's or sending dispute letters to credit reporting agencies? Also, what happens if you send letters to CA's requesting removal of negaitve items and send dispute letters to the credit reporting agencies AT THE SAME TIME?

Also, once the neqative items are removed how does the score change?

How do you request removal of inquiries (the ones that has an impact on the score) that may not have been authorized? If this can be done.

Thanks.

[NightStar]

What is the quickest way to have the negative items removed from the credit reports: sending letters to CA's or sending dispute letters to credit reporting agencies?

I think people send out the debt validation letters first to the collection agency return receipt requested, certified mail. Then when you receive the green card back that is when you mail out the dispute to the credit reporting agency.

Also, once the neqative items are removed how does the score change?

How long since the default occurred? If it was in the last year then that hurts the score the most and if taken off quickly it may benefit the score 20 - 50 points or more.

But if it is old and been on the report 3 to 5 years then you might just see a little gain in the score.

How do you request removal of inquiries (the ones that has an impact on the score) that may not have been authorized? If this can be done.

You can dispute any of the inquiries you want, but they may not get removed, people have mixed luck with disputing.

Even if you didn't authorized does not matter to collection agencies, they have permissible purpose to pull anyway.

[looney]

Has anyone gotten a credit card company to agree to a settlement and agree to not report it to credit bureau, but instead have the account record deleted.
Sounds like the best scenerio. Pay only a portion of the outstanding balance to settle account and have record of account removed from the credit bureau report.
Please enlighten me!

This is a pay for delete letter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Name of Company Date
Address

Your Name
Address

RE: Account Number #

To whom it concerns:

This letter is an offer to settle the above account. It is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of my liability for this debt in any form.

I will pay your company the amount of $ as full settlement of this account.

If you accept this agreement, I will send you a money order or certified cashiers check for the settlement amount of $ in exchange for a full deletion of all references regarding this account from my credit reports at all three credit bureaus, or the bureaus your company regularly reports to in the course of doing business.

If you agree to the above, please acknowledge with your signature and return a copy to me. Upon receipt of this signed acknowledgment, I will promptly send you a money order or cashiers check in the amount stated above.

Thank You. I look forward to resolving this matter in the best interest for both of our parties.

Sincerely,


Creditor’s Authorized Signature: _____________________
Date:____________
Name: ______________________
Title : _____________________________
__________________

[NightStar]

I can't give any specific examples but over the years I have heard from numbers of people that they successfully got deletions. It is hit and miss with the different creditors and collection agencies - you just don't know until you try.

I have personally gotten deletion, but in my case I did not use a letter, I just had a talk over the phone and they verbally agreed to ignore the ongoing disputes I had with the credit reporting agency. In my case I took a chance without getting it in writing and it paid off.

[tamekariley]

I've been disputing a debt for a while with all three agencies only to keep getting the response that the debt is a valid debt, but no proof. This really helped me to understand the difference between validation and verification and these letters will help a great deal. I'm going to put them to use as soon as possible.

Thank you so much!

Tameka Riley

[tamekariley]

I have a strange question...

I disputed a debt that's on my credit report as "transferred". I wasn't sure who it was transferred to, but I sent a dispute letter I found that said if they no longer have the debt they can no longer report on it, and their response was that the debt was not transferred. Is this something I just shouldn't worry about? It's an old debt and I'm trying to clean up my report.

I also had five student loans that were showing late payments in the past which were not good on my credit score since they are installment accounts from what I understand. When they were consolidated, instead of listing them like the others as transferred and removing the negative reporting, the simply marked them as paid and left the negative history. I sent a letter as I'm assuming they should not list them as paid with negative info, but as transferred like the others and stop the negative reporting. Am I right?

Tameka

[NightStar]

That is strange that that one company is showing Transferred when in fact the account has not been Transferred. It is not hurting the credit score at all, but if you want you can dispute it with the credit reporting agency asking them to correct it or remove it.

On the student loans, unfortunately they can report it Transferred / Late at the same time. If you don't think you were late, you can dispute it with the credit reporting agencies. Or if you know you had been late, you might try to write a good will letter to the student loan company.

Good Will Letters

1. Let them know you are sorry for the unfortunate late.
2. Explain why the late happened
3. What steps you immediately took to fix the late status.
4. Let them know that you will be applying for a new loan, and that this late status may hurt your chances at being approved, or affect the interest rate obtained on the loan.
5. Ask if they will please reconsider reporting the late, if they can update the credit reporting agency to show, Transferred / Never Late.

Good Luck with this matter.

[tamekariley]

Wow! I've never heard of such a practice! I didn't even consider that as an option- thank you so much! I'll do it!

Tameka

[NightStar]

There is a site I use to recommend for sending Good Will letters, I have not been there for a while, when I was on busier boards I use to use the site for looking up creditor contact info. I would cheat the system, sign up and go through the whole process of following the instructions for sending a letter, and right before you would send it, the site would show you the address. I use to collect the address then cancel sending the letter in the end.

But the site was known for sending correspondence to high ups at the business, like CEOs or Presidents of the company.

It is also a good idea to check the Better Business Bureau. http://www.bbb.com

You can look to see if other consumers have complaints and how often the creditor resolved complaints.

Also about the good will letters, if it does not work the first time, then wait 6 months and write another good will letter to them. Sometimes they give in due to continued efforts. Keep writing letters until you think you have exhausted all efforts.

[tamekariley]

I'll give it a shot. Thank you so much for the advice.

Tameka

[tamekariley]

Hallelujah! I sent dispute letter to five creditors. I received yesteray a letter from a creditor that was reporting negatively on my report on an account they no longer had. They said when I called that it was their policy to continue to report the account, but when I sent the dispute letter and referenced the name of the person I spoke with who told me they no longer had the account, they sent me, in writing, a letter stating the account will be deleted from all three credit bureaus! I haven't heard from two of them and it's been over thirty days, so I'm getting ready to send the second letter for deletion to them and the credit bureaus along with copies of the certified proof they received the letters, copies of the letters I sent and demand deletion from all three credit reports.

The the fourth creditor I wrote since, as per the dispute sample letter, they cannot report negatively on an account they no longer had and my report showed "Transferred" but I wasn't notified of where or to whom. They wrote back and said they never transferred the account, but my credit report shows differently. I'm guessing the next step should be a PFD (Payment for Deletion) letter...?

The fifth was Sallie Mae for student loans. The loans are no longer with them, they were consolidated with another lender, but Sallie Mae was still reporting negative information. The accounts were opened in 2001 and the late payments were in 2003. They did not agree to remove the accounts or the negative reporting even though they no longer have the accounts. They list it "Paid in Full" but the late payments are still there so far. I'll continue to get this one removed as well.

Any advice anyone?

Tameka

[NightStar]

This is a pay for delete letter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Name of Company
Date
Address

Your Name
Address

RE: Account Number #

To whom it concerns:

This letter is an offer to settle the above account. It is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of my liability for this debt in any form.

I will pay your company the amount of $ as full settlement of this account.

If you accept this agreement, I will send you a money order or certified cashiers check for the settlement amount of $ in exchange for a full deletion of all references regarding this account from my credit reports at all three credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion), or the bureaus your company regularly reports to in the course of doing business.

If you agree to the above, please acknowledge with your signature and return a copy to me. Upon receipt of this signed acknowledgment, I will promptly send you a money order or cashiers check in the amount stated above.

Thank You. I look forward to resolving this matter in the best interest for both of our parties.

Sincerely,


Creditor’s Authorized Signature: _____________________

Date:_______________

Name: ______________________

Title: _____________________________

Phone Number: __________________

[NightStar]

I also wanted to say to you that student loan might not be removed, but you said the late was in 2003. The reporting is due to expire on the account in 2011.

If the account was positive except for the late, then you should write a good will letter to the creditor that is information further up in this post outlining how to write a good will letter. It is better to save the account instead of deleting it. Plus the late is so old that it is no longer affecting the credit score.

Way to go on the deletions, that is a very important point you made, that if an account is no longer held by a collection agency they are suppose to remove the reporting. If the collection agency refuses to remove, then you can dispute with the credit reporting agency.

[tamekariley]

I'll do it; thanks again!

Tameka

[tamekariley]

I have a question...

I have disputed Aargon which appears on my credit report several times to no avail. I don't know who they are and the company they're collecting for doesn't have a branch in my area. Equifax said it was valit repeatedly and said they woulnd no longer verify. I sent a validation letter directly to them and they never responded. I sent a copy of the first letter, a second letter citing the laws and asked for deletion since they have refused to respond or verify the debt. I also sent color copies of the Certified Mail receipt and a print out from usps .com showing the letter was delivered to them certified over thirty days ago. I still have not received a response and it's been several weeks; only Equifax sent they same "We've already invistigad" letter.

Any advice?
Tameka

[NightStar]

Tough break when the credit reporting agency shuts down disputes. There is nothing you can do re-disputing with the credit reporting agency. You just have to wait a period of time and try again at a later date. Like if you wait 6 months or so before trying to dispute again.

Also another thing if a collection agency refuses to investigate there is nothing you can do to get them to validate. I have heard of a good number of people having dispute ignored by collection agencies. You can report them to the Better Business Bureau http://www.bbb.com or the Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov maybe even contact your states attorney general's office.

You said the account is reporting more then once, you should of been able to at least dispute duplicates to be removed, I would keep working on that part. Maybe call in the dispute this time, and talk with a rep at the credit reporting agency to talk with someone.

[tamekariley]

It actually looks like they're reporting once through a this third party Aaragon. If it's the law they have to validate or it has to be removed, are the credit bureaus really able to keep shutting me down without even looking at the evidence I'vs submitted?

Tameka

[NightStar]

The credit reporting agency can only go so far, if they refuse to investigate repeat disputes, then it is up to your to successfully dispute and resolve the matter direct with the collection agency or creditor.

If they won't process your dispute, then the only recourse is to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau http://www.bbb.com the Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov the attorney general office for your state, or even the regulating company over the collection agency or the regulating company over the creditor like the FDIC or the NCUA.

[tamekariley]

That's a good advice; I'll give it a shot and see if I can take that route. I'm still waititing for them to update the other account I sent evidence in on and remove the other one. I at least have a lette from them stating they will remove it. It's been about a month and a half since I received it. Thanks so much for the help.

Tameka