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Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

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ffactoryxx
Member

Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

I  went to refinance my house and found a Derogatory Remark on my Reports. This dropped my score considerably to around 660. Because of this my refinance rates are .25 - .5% higher (adds up to a good amount of money over 15-30 years).

The CA was Trident and it looks like its for $139.00 and OC was Columbia House. I cancelled and account with them years ago with nothing owed. I really don't have time to screw around with going back and forth with these jokesters so I am wondering what way I should go to get this removed from all my reports.

I have seen a few postings saying to send a DV letter Certified Mail and then a PFD.

Would anyone recommend just sending a PFD waiting for a response and paying the damn $139 or is it better to send the DV first?

Few things.

 

1. I never recieved a letter from Trident for debt but I also moved twice so maybe it went to my old addresses.

2. I am in Pennsylvania  this has been on my report for more than a few months (regardless of recieving debt notice)

 

Should I sent DV letter still or just go straight to a PFD?

 

If straight to a PFD and I want to pay in full the $139 what would be an example letter to use? Dont want to get sued.

Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

Send a DV first. Among the legalities in the FDCPA, a DV result helps establish debt ownership, demonstrates the correct balance by which to send a PFD, and forms in your mind an idea of whether or not the balance is correct.

 

If you agree with what they say, then send a PFD.

 

If inside SOL, they can sue anytime, regardless of DV or PFD. Sending any letter or disputing will wake them up. The constant is the same between a DV or PFD, so I'd eliminate that worry from your mind. If they do decide to sue, just pay them and there'll be no judgment. And I don't think they'd sue for $139 anyway. Midland has bigger fish to fry.

 

 

Message 2 of 11
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

Well, first of all, there is no time period for a debt collector to respond to either a PFD or a DV, so in either case, you might play a waiting game.

And if more than 30-days has expired since they sent dunning notice, a DV at this point would not invoke a cease collection bar.

 

 

 

If your primary purpose is to attempt deletion of the collection rather than challenge the validity of the debt, then a DV might hamper those efforts.

If your DV is timely, it invokes an automatice cease collection bar on the debt collector, thus forclosing any negotiations, such as on a PFD.

Your statement that you never received dunning notice is apt to become a controversy, as date of receipt of dunning notice determines timeliness of any DV.

 

From all you have said, it would appear going straight to a PFD offer might be the right path.  But no assurance that they will even respond, or resond favorably.

Lingering in the background is also the issue of expiration of SOL.  Has SOL expired?  If not, they have the alternative of moving to legal action to collect, without any consideration of a PFD offer.

Message 3 of 11
ffactoryxx
Member

Re: Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

Why would they sue if I send a PFD that I agree to pay the whole thing of $130.

 

Also what exactly do I write in my PFD and do I include a check for the full amount or wait for a reply?

 

Could they sue for more?

Message 4 of 11
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

If inside SOL right now, they can sue you right now. Don't worry about being sued! Don't worry about it because they can sue you if you send a PFD. They can sue if you send a DV. And they can sue if you do nothing at all. No matter what you do, the risk will always be there. The alternative is to do nothing. There are many stories on here of debtors offering 100% in their PFDs only to be rejected and sued. There are posters in here who mailed in DVs only to be sued. There are posters who wanted to wait until if fell off and they got sued.

 

Point I'm trying to make here is no matter what you do, the risk will always be there if inside SOL. Because the risk is there, don't live in fear but go out and do something. I vote for a DV and if they verify, send a PFD. Your odds of a PFD being accepted likely won't diminish if you mail a DV letter to the CA. And mail a DV for reasons already stated. As mentioned, your odds of being sued are almost nil.

 

If ever sued for any debt, they can ask for the principal, interest, and fees. Those extra costs vary by state.

 

Example letters - PFDs, GWs, DVs, etc.

Message 5 of 11
ffactoryxx
Member

Re: Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

Ok so I spoke to Trident and they sent me a letter with envelope requesting payment. I did not send a DV letter within 30 days as I did not dispute the debt. Now all I want to do is send a PFD so I know it will be done. I looked at the letter example below. I probably need to modify it as I am not disuputing the debt and just want it to be deleted. Is this too strong of a letter and if not how would you modify?

 

Collection Agency
1212 Maple St
City, State Zip

 

Re: Collection Account for Original Creditor Account #: 00000xxxx

 

Amount: $129.00

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

This letter is to inform you that the validity of this debt is disputed. I am not sure of the account number, as I have never heard from you regarding this account. The account number I have is the one listed on my Experian credit report – which omits the last few digits.

 

In the spirit of compromise, I am willing to pay this account IN FULL (or settlement percentage) 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 twenty-five dollars ($129.00) will be sent to Collection Agency 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.

 

Collection Agency 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, excluding your client on this account. If contacted by any third party, including credit-reporting agencies, Collection Agency 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 Collection Agency. 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:

Message 6 of 11
ffactoryxx
Member

Re: Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

1. I should note the CSR when I spoke to them said to just payonline and they would delete my credit hits. Should I trust them and just pay without sending PFD?

 

2. I have seen some people emailing these pfd's. Does that work and it is still legally binding? If so do you have Tridents email?

Message 7 of 11
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

1) I wouldn't trust anything not in writing, especially after many months. I'd send the PFD.

 

2) You could e-mail. It can be challengable in some courts, but it depends on the case. IMO, stick to letters but as that doesn't work or if they keep saying no then expand to e-mail.

Message 8 of 11
ffactoryxx
Member

Re: Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

How would you modify the above letter to my needs now that I am not really disputing the debt. Can you edit to exactly what I should send?

 

Also I assume still send Certified Mail?

Message 9 of 11
electra
Established Contributor

Re: Send DV or PFD 1st in my case?

I used that same form letter to try to PFD a $100 out-of-SOL medical collection and ended up with them reporting to the CRA's that I was disputing.  Also, got no response back.  Shogun pointed out to me that they did the right thing because of that first line where it says the validity of the debt is disputed.   I admit, I'm kinda confused now because that's probably the same letter lots of others have used.   So, should that line be dropped for a PFD?

 

A couple of other notes, you said you got a letter from them but then the letter states you never heard from them so you might change that.  Did they include the account number with their letter?  It should be on there somewhere and I would use that. Also, if you are PIF you should remove the "(or settlement percentage)" text obviously.  Smiley Happy

 

Good luck!

Message 10 of 11
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