Yesterday’s post on tips to improve your credit score prompted some questions from readers. Sample debt settlement letters or sample letters to the credit bureau are frequently searched for on google and yahoo. One of my readers asked
Ok, we have paid off our debt almost 3 years ago. I just found out that I can write a letter to the creditor to request it to be removed off of my credit score. What should this letter look like?
Since this comes up so frequently, I thought I would answer it here. While it is far easier to copy a letter that you find on the internet, it is not the best idea. Thousands of other people are using the same letter and you lose some credibility when you send the same letter.
Letters to Credit Reporting Agencies or Credit Bureaus
If you are want to clean up your credit report, you will want to write a letter to the credit bureaus or credit reporting agencies first. If it is an old charged off or collections debt, tell them that it is not your debt. If it is an older account that shows slow payments, tell them you were never late.
The format of the letter doesn’t really matter. It can be handwritten or printed but there is certain information that you will want to include so that the credit bureau knows who you are and what debt you are disputing.
What to Include
The easiest thing to do is to send them a copy of your credit report with the debt in question circled and then reference the name of the company and any account information that might be listed there. You will want to include your name, address and phone numbers. The credit report should have all of the information on it that will identify you to them.
What to Say
Tell them either that the debt is not yours or that the account was never late depending on what is listed on the credit report. If the account is showing late payments but was paid off, you will want to question whether you were ever late on it. If the account is a chargeoff, collection or settled account, you will want to claim that it is not your account.
The letter does not have to be complicated or detailed. You don’t have to quote any laws or statutes. The people who process them just want the information that they need to identify the debt in question and research it. They get thousands of these a month and it really is better if they are different than the ten that went before it and if they don’t have to search through paragraphs of stuff to find the information that they need.
Why You Don’t Want To Do It Online
Frankly, it’s because it makes it too easy. I am pretty convinced that if you do an online dispute the lady (or gentleman) at the credit bureau just presses a couple of keys and it is sent to the creditor for verification. The creditor pushes a couple of buttons and you have a verification of some sort.
When you write a letter, they have to actually look up the information, create a file, notify the creditor and then follow up. This leaves an a lot of room for the verification to slip through the cracks which is frankly what you are hoping happens. If it gets lost, or not responded to then the debt will come off your report. If it doesn’t, you have the receipt from the letter you sent and can contact them to demand that it be removed.
Legality and Ethics
Is this legal? Simply put yes. Some people have questioned the ethics of disputing information that you know to be correct. I think that is something each person will have to decide for themselves but I will post a story on finding out that I had a judgment against me when I applied for my mortgage. Things like this make me realize that not all bad marks on your report are deserved.
Related posts:
- 28 Tips to Repair Your Credit Score If your credit score is low, it is most likely...
- Good Credit is Sexy In my research on how to settle my debts, I...
- Sample Debt Settlement Offer Letter by natashalcd Your Name Your Address Your Phone number...
- Are You Being Hassled By Collection Agencies? by rick If you are being harrassed by collection agencies,...
- Negotiating Debt Settlement with Original Creditors by davescunningplan The original creditor is the company where you...
