topic Re: please give feedback on my GW letter in Rebuilding Your Credit

please give feedback on my GW letter

alsawye — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:47:48 GMT

Alan Sxxxxx
FULL ADDRESS
(XXX) 111-0000

Dear Sir or Madam;
This letter is in reference to a paid collection with the account number xxxx.

In 2006 a collection for the amount of 42.40 was sent to your agency due to my naivety of being only 17 and not realizing that failure to return library books would result in adverse action once I reached age 18. After I turned 18 I realized the importance of holding true to my agreements and financial responsibility, I have not had any derogatory items with my credit since. I have since paid this debt to your agency in Feb. ‘09.

I am now trying to buy a home, however I am having difficulties receiving an affordable rate due to having a collection on my account. I am kindly hoping, given the date and amount of this collection, if your collection agency would consider removing this collection from my credit report with all three credit reporting agencies (EQUIFAX, TRANSUNION, and EXPERIAN) as a gesture of goodwill. This kind gesture would sincerely be appreciated and an invaluable gift to my family and I.

Sincerely,

Alan Sxxxxx

please advise on how i might alter if needed

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:48:07 GMT

ok correct me if I am wrong, but I though until you were 18 years of age you could not be held accountable for any binding agreement? So I am not sure how a collection agency could possibly use a collection or demand collection from a debt made by a 17 year old!

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:13:29 GMT

IMO, you make it sound like that turning 18 made you realize "the importance of holding true to my agreements and financial responsibility". While you may have realized this when you were 18, it wasn't something that only clicked because you were 18 as opposed to being 17.

Also, how long ago was this?

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

alsawye — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:45:10 GMT

it was july of 06 when i turned 18, and i actually didnt know that libraries could hurt you until they sent it to collections the day after i turned 18. the charges were from like 6 months b4 i turned 18

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:36:26 GMT

IMO-- and don't take this the wrong way-- if I was a creditor reading this letter I would think this

"So, he had an overdue fine from when he was 17, once he turned 18 he realized how important it was to take care of his responsibilities. That is good to learn. Oh wait, he turned 18 in 2006 and even though he knew how important it was to take care of his responsibilities he waited until Feb 2009 to pay when he is trying to buy a home. Hmm, maybe he paid because he was trying to buy a home, not because he realized his responsibilities?"

If it were me I would totally reword it. I would mention that this was something that occurred when you were 17, and I would mention that this is the only blemish you have on your credit and is not predictive of the person you are today. I would also mention that you are trying to purchase a home for your family.

Something like "When I was 17 I failed to return a library book on time and failed to pay the fine that occurred as a result. After seeing this on my credit report and being reminded of it, I paid it in full immediately. This is the only blemish on my credit report. I do not feel that an event at age 17 indicates who I am today or how I handle my responsibilities. This is why I am asking your company if they'd be willing to remove this blemish from my credit report as I have paid in full...........

Again, this is just my opinion. Others and the creditor may read the letter differently.

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

alsawye — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:48:55 GMT

thank you much for your feedback i greatly appreciate it, i think i will change it it def makes sense how you see it, do you mind takin a look at my other GW letter

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=rebuildingcredit&thread.id=57609

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

alsawye — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:50:43 GMT

***UPDATE***

Well i sent in the letter with the edits that sidewinder suggested and ....

I JUST GOT A LETTER SAYING THEY WILL BE REMOVING IT FROM MY REPORTS!!!!!

I am SOOO excited, thank you everyone for your feedback and especially thank you sidewinder.

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:00:25 GMT

Congrats! Let us know how this affects your score.

This was your only negative/collection, right?

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

alsawye — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:33:27 GMT

no i have one other collection which i also GW

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

alsawye — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:11:29 GMT

well i dont know my new fico score (i am waiting for my report to update with 2nd CA removed) but i checked on credit karma and my TU score went up on there from 649 to 675 (i know it is not fico but it was pretty close; my fico TU score was 655 while CK was 649) i will update when i get the real thing from TU and EQ

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

alsawye — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:07:13 GMT

Well my EQ is finally free of collections i had one on there and it jumped from 653-703 WOOHOO

now i just wait on transunion (slowpokes) to update and i will let y'all know my new score there (currently 655 w/ 2 collections)

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

Anonymous — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:41:30 GMT

what were your collections, if you don't mind me asking?

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

alsawye — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:27:59 GMT

i had one library fine for $50 from when i was 17 ('06), and a power bill for $300 ('07)

Re: please give feedback on my GW letter

alsawye — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:00:29 GMT

TU finally updated (after a personal call from the CA gen. manager) and i am up from 655 to 724 woohoo