PFD Example

[GoodCredBen]

If you have one, please post it!  

[GoodCredBen]

No one has one? x.x

[GoodCredBen]

MODS - please lock close whatever, i got one.

[Chrisla2077]

Here is one that I have used:

    This letter is in response to a Transunion credit report entry listed as being opened in October 2010. As I have never received written correspondence of the above mentioned debt, I do not have the complete account number. I wish to save us both time and money by settling the above mentioned debt.

Please be aware that this is not an acknowledgment or acceptance of the debt, as I have not received any verification of the debt. Nor is this a promise to pay and is not a payment agreement unless you provide a response as detailed below.

I am aware that your company has the ability to report this debt to the credit bureaus as you deem necessary. Furthermore, you have the ability to change the listing since you are the information furnisher.

I am willing to pay this account IN FULL in exchange for removal of the debt from the 3 credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Transunion, and Experian) within ten calendar days of payment. If you agree to the terms, I will send certified payment in the amount of $XX payable to (Collection Agency) in exchange for the removal of all debt-related information from the 3 credit reporting agencies listed above. You also agree not to discuss the offer with any third-party, excluding the original creditor.

If you accept the offer, please prepare a letter on your company letterhead agreeing to the terms. This letter should be signed by an authorized agent of (Collection Agency). The letter will be treated as a contract and subject to the laws of the State of ________.

As granted by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I have the right to dispute this alleged debt. If I do not receive your postmarked response within 15 days, I will withdraw the offer and request full verification of this debt.

Please forward your agreement to the address listed below"

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
 

[RobertEG]

two technical comments.

First, I would modify the language asking for removal of information related to the "debt."  You want deletion of their reporting of the collection.  If the OC has also reported, then information pertaining to the debt will still remain, and the debt collector has no control over that.

Second, they may balk at the "not disclose to anyone else" provision.  They must account for any money they receive.  Who they might become accountable to is hard to determine.  If a public company, for example, they cannot legally hide their assets.  It is asking them to conceal things they may otherwise be obligated to account for.

[Anonymous]

Would this be something that I would use to correspond to the debt collector before I send them a DV? I may sound nieave but I am very new at this credit fixing issue. 

[RobertEG]

You are sure to get different opinions on that.  I will share mine.

It is a bit backward to send a DV and then follow immediately with a PFD offer until they have provided verification.  Your DV letter, if timely, invokes an automatic bar against their conduct of any active collection on the debt until such time as they have provided verification.  So you put them under a cease collection bar, and then ask for negotiations.  That raises the issue of whether they are even permitted to correspond about your offer until they have provided verification.  They could assume that your request for negotiations is a tacit waiver of their bar, but that is a bit risky on their part, as it assumes a waiver not specifically provided.

If you DV, then you should properly wait for verification before asking them to continue their collection activities.  That also kinda ties your hands.  Do you truly dispute the debt, or any part thereof, or question the authority of the debt collector as an  agent of the creditor?

[Anonymous]

Yes. There are 2 things on my credit report that I am disputing that I know for a fact that are NOT mine. I am almost sure it is one of my family members who lives out of state. 

I already got one cleared when my step mom stole my idenity and opend up a cell phone account in Texas. So I am sure I will have NO problem disputing the other two. 

[RobertEG]

If you want to bolster a dispute that asserts "account not mine" due to use of your identity, you can first file a police report and send it to the OC.  That compels the OC, under FCRA 609(e), to provide you any business records in their possession relating to the application on the account and any transactions made thereon.  Facts are preferable to accusations, and will give the creditor specific information to address in any dispute.