Expert Please Help??? I have a settlement acceptance letter from AFL that I need interpretation??

[miay2k4]

I think I messed up. I sent this letter to a loan company:

Armed Forces Loans of Nevada

3824 S. Jones Blvd suite G

Las VegasNV89103    

Re: Legal Department Acct# xxxxxxxxxxxx

To Whom It May Concern:

In the spirit of compromise, I am willing to pay the settlement offer of $1425.00 IN FULL if you agree to immediate deletion of this account from any and all credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). The purpose of this settlement is merely to have this item removed from my credit files. It is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of liability for this debt in any form.

If you agree to the terms and accept this agreement, certified funds for the settlement amount of one thousand four hundred and twenty five dollars ($1425.00) will be sent to Armed Forces Loans in exchange for full deletion of ALL references regarding this account from my credit files and full satisfaction of the debt. As certified funds will be used for payment, there shall be no waiting period regarding the deletion of this account from the credit reporting agencies.

Armed Forces Loans agrees to delete ALL information regarding this account from the credit reporting agencies WITHIN TEN CALENDAR (10) DAYS following receipt of payment as specified above and will not discuss the terms of this settlement with anyone. If contacted by any third party, including credit-reporting agencies, Armed Forces Loans will not acknowledge that any settlement offer was made, accepted or executed and will, in fact, deny knowledge of any such account.

If you agree to the above terms, please prepare a letter on your company letterhead explicitly agreeing to the same terms as the above settlement offer and have it signed by an authorized representative of Armed Forces Loans. It will be implied that this letter shall constitute a legally binding contract, enforceable under the laws of my state.

Your response must be postmarked no later than 15 days from your receipt of this settlement offer or this offer will be withdrawn and I will request full validation of this alleged debt, as provided for by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Please address all correspondence regarding this account to:

Well I sent this letter yesterday via email (stupid huh).  My response letter was this:

This letter is to inform you of our acceptance of the proposed settlement amount of $!425.00 for account number xxxxxxxx with armed forces loans.  The amount of $1425.00 will completely close out this account and we will update your credit bureaus within ten calendar days as paid in full and there will be no further obligations to armed forces loans.

Funds must be received no later than Feb 1 2008 in order for this offer to be valid.

Ok this letter was emailed to me as a PDF attachment on their company letterhead with the signature and phone number of a authorized rep.  I got the settlement amount from previous email they sent me a few days ago.  On my cr it is showing as being charged off with no balance amount showing.  MY QUESTION IS DID I MAKE A SETTLEMENT OFFER FOR TO MUCH???? SHOULD I RECEND MY OFFER AND DV??? I AM LOST??

[Anonymous]

I'm not an expert, but I have hired one to do the same thing you are trying to do (settlement & negotiate item removal).

From what I can tell, the debt collector is trying to revise your terms of your original letter.  DO NOT ACCEPT their counter offer of only updating the status as "paid".  This will not remove the negative item from your report.

I learned this the hard way when I tried to negotiate with a collector to remove a negative item myself.  I paid the debt in full with the interest the collector was charging and hoped that would remove the item.  Well, 3 years later it still remains on my report stinking it up.  It shows as a paid in full collection with a zero balance.  I have tried to get it deleted, but the collector always confirms it as mine. 

You need to stop emailing and print out the letter again in very explict terms that you need to see a written letter signed by an officer of the company that acceptance of your offer means a complete deletion of the item with all three bureaus.  Simply updating the status and closing your account on your end is the sufficient.    You need to send this letter via certified mail so you get a signature. 

Also, do not email or speak to anyone over the phone.  Get all commuication in writting and always use certified mail.  The people you are dealing with are not always ethical and will try to trick you into getting as much money as possible for as little as they need to do.