PFDs and GWs

[Shogun]

     I see a lot of posts asking for GWs and PFDs to send to certain creditors.  I must say I disagree with this.  A GW and a PFD is a request from YOU and not from a form you found on the internet.  You can broswe and look at what some others have posted, but make it yourself.  Below I will bring up a few points that have worked for me.

Goodwills

1.  Keep them short and simple.  Don't write a novel, if you write a 4 page letter you can pretty much be asured it will get tossed.  They won't take the time to read a novel.  Get your point across and make it a quick read.

2.  Be polite and professional.  Do the research when asking for your GW.  

3.  Bring a part of you into the GW.  Make it a personal request.  You know the difference between a robo letter and a letter that someone has written to you, well they know it too.

4.  Thank you.  And this is important.  Thank them for their time and their consideration.  You are asking for something that they don't have to give, so show a lttle gratitude when playing on their compassion.

PFDs

1.  Pretty much everything you see for the GWS, will apply torward the PFD.

2.  A PFD is a sort of GW so treat it that way.  Don't make a bunch of demands, remember it is a type of GW, so ask politely.

If you receive a letter from the CAs demanding action now, or being rude, you will sometimes say, "They aren't going to get a penny from me".  They will feel the same way with you when they receive a threatening letter.  BE NICE!      

To sum it all up, make it come from you.  Your situation is not my situation.  Write from the heart.  Best of luck to all of you. 

[Anonymous]

Good info, should help quite a few people.

[RobertEG]

Excellent points, Shogun.

Just to emphasize the importance of the points made, including discussion of contested issues in a PFD will often lead to their treatment of the PFD as a dispute, resulting in a return letter asking for more information to support your "dispute," and worse yet, causing them to report a pending dispute to the CRAs, thus removing certain items from your credit scoring.

While this is a tactic typically used by some debt collectors to blow off DVs by considering them as disputes, it also filters over into the PFD process.

Try to word your letter so as not to provide an interpretation that it is a dispute.

[Shogun]

Glad you brought that up Robert.  I too have seen that many times the creditors have labled DVs, GWs and PFDs as disputes rather than what they are intended for.  I'm not sure what the practicality is for this, but there must be something to it.  So yes, I agree that you should be careful with your wording, even then it still might be flagged for dispute, but maybe a percentage of them could be prevented.