About to settle with DA. What language in agreement?

[Charles_Buk]

Im about to settle with two different DA's and am looking for advice on the specific language I should be looking out for in the agreement to make sure that the debt is settled and no further action will be taken against me (on is already suing me but open to settlement).

Any advice/links to settlement agreements that are rock solid appreciated!

[RobertEG]

The amount of $x is accepted as full discharge of any and all debt obligation, including the principal amount of the debt and any additional amounts, including any fees and interest.

[Charles_Buk]

Any thoughts on which one of these seems the most bullet proof?

https://www.ovlg.com/letters/debt-settlement-agreement.html

https://www.pandadoc.com/debt-settlement-agreement-template/

https://www.rocketlawyer.com/document/debt-settlement-agreement.rl#/

[RobertEG]

I would advise against including any admission of the legitimacy of the debt in your agreement.

You dont have to admit to the legitimacy of the debt in order to offer to pay the asserted amount.

You can make a settlement offer solely for the purpose of resolving the matter without any such admission.

You never know when an asserted part of the debt might become an issue, such as when/if they send a 1099c, and you may become eligible for consideration of whether the cancelled amount due the settlement exceeds $600, and thus becomes taxable.

The critical issue is that the settlement discharges any and all debt obligation, not the legitmacy or amount of the asserted total indebetness at the time of settlement.

[Charles_Buk]

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@RobertEG wrote:

I would advise against including any admission of the legitimacy of the debt in your agreement.

You dont have to admit to the legitimacy of the debt in order to offer to pay the asserted amount.

You can make a settlement offer solely for the purpose of resolving the matter without any such admission.

You never know when an asserted part of the debt might become an issue, such as when/if they send a 1099c, and you may become eligible for consideration of whether the cancelled amount due the settlement exceeds $600, and thus becomes taxable.

The critical issue is that the settlement discharges any and all debt obligation, not the legitmacy or amount of the asserted total indebetness at the time of settlement.

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Great, thanks!

[Charles_Buk]

I recieved one settlement letter with this language (CA and amount owed withheld for privacy):

"This letter confirms that XXX is duly authorized to accept $XXX in full settlement of the above-referenced account."

Does that cover me or should I ask for a more detailed discharge statement?

[RobertEG]

It is likely OK, and I would not hassle over the details.

"Full settlement" clearly implies that it fully discharges the debt.

While fully discharge is, in my opinion, preferable language, common usage of "full" would likely lead any judge to conclude that it meant full discharge.

You dont want to irritate them when they are offering to accept less than the full amount of the debt, so requiring your own language over theirs could potentially kill a deal.

A suggested alternative would be, when sending the payment, to make clear in your accompanying letter that you view the settlement agreement as full discharge of all debt obligation,  That at least clarifies your intepretation without forcing them to change their terms/offer.