Settlement counteroffer/PFD response letter

[George888]

Hi everybody,

I received a settlement offer letter from a CA.  Their offer is more than I am willing to start negotiating at.  And even worse, it does NOT say that they will delete the tradeline from my credit report if I pay.  I would like to respond with a counteroffer letter that will also be a PFD.  

• Is this a good idea?

• Does anybody have a good counteroffer/PFD response letter that I can use, or perhaps know of a good letter template that they can point me to?

• What kinds of things should I say in a counteroffer letter?  Are those letters the same as PFDs, in which I should not admit the the debt is mine?

Thank you,

[RobertEG]

You are negotiating for what is important to you, so only you can say if it is a good idea.

If CR deletion is a must for you, then PFD is a must.  If other issues, such as avoiding the accrual of more interest on the unpaid debt, avoiding legal action, getting it paid to meet requirements for a mortgage, or contesting the debt itself, are of equal or more importance, then the uncertainty of PFD acceptance may not make it a good idea.

The lower your PFD offer, the less attractive it becomes.  So you must consider whether they have other alternatives, such as if the debt is still within SOL, to still attempt collection of the full amount.  Is the debt still within SOL?

Or is your offer, in their minds, the best they are apt to get?

Too many variables to give any concrete "do this" advice.

An offer to pay less than the full debt is still a PFD offer, and if accepted, discharges the entire debt the same as if you did a PIF.  However, a settlement for less without a concurrent PFD acceptance will result in the additional reporting of the dreaded "paid for less" comment in your credit file, telling others reviewing your CR that, in the past, you failed to pay all debt accrued.

[dodgeball]

A method that has worked for me, is to reject any settlement other than the full amount with a tradeline deletion. You owe us $1500 but we will settle for a $1000 and give you a paid in full leter. Counter with I will give you full amount with deletion of tradeline. It works most of the time.

[George888]

Thank you for both replies.  Unless they serve me with a court papers, I will not PIF, only settle.  And I will only pay if they agree to delete.  Otherwise, I'll just wait three more years for it to fall off on its own.

It has been longer than 30 days since they sent their settlement offer.  Because of this, should I still send a PFD as a response to their offer, or should I send it as an unsolicited PFD? 

Thanks,