Wonderin? Happy Days? Somebody...quick feedback please

[Anonymous]

Please tell me what you think of this letter.  This is a company with whom I have an unmentionable number of collections.  They're all legit and I want to pay them off.  Last week I faxed a DV and the lady called me back, using the fax number.  No big deal, in this case, as it's a small town CA and they've always dealt fairly with me.  I asked her during our conversation whether it would be possible to settle for a lesser amount as what I owe is, to me, quite a bit.  She said 'sure, we can work something out, since there are so many'

Collection Agency 
Address
City, State

ATTN: XXXX

Re: Multiple Collection Accounts for XXXXXX Account numbers listed below

Dear XXXX:

Per our telephone conversation, I am writing today about 4 accounts held by Collection Agency. If you agree to immediate deletion of these accounts from any and all credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) and not add any additional accounts currently held by Collection Agency to our reports, I will remit payment no later than 9-1-08.

The accounts for which I am offering settlement are as follows:

XXXX              50.00

XXXX              50.00

XXXX              50.00

XXXX              50.00

These accounts total $200 ~ I propose a settlement in the amount of $100 for these four accounts only. 

If you agree to the terms and accept this agreement, certified funds for the settlement amount of one hundred dollars ($100.00) 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 electronic means 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 these four accounts 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 7 days from your receipt of this settlement offer in order to allow me time to include this in my budget for the month!  I am submitting via fax in order to expedite this process.

Thank you,

Message Edited by WhatzUrPlan on 07-31-2008 01:58 AM

[Anonymous]

I don't think its legal to remove accurate information from a Credit Report. So they might not do it.

Edit: Since you are negotiating, You might want to be a little less demanding.

Message Edited by Justn on 07-30-2008 10:54 PM

[Anonymous]

I am no expert at ALL -- in fact I am a total new noob on these boards, but I would question the following statement in your letter:

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WhatzUrPlan wrote:

... Per our telephone conversation, I am writing today about 4 accounts held by Collection Agency. If you agree to immediate deletion of these accounts from any and all credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) and not add any additional accounts currently held by Collection Agency to our reports, I will remit payment no later than 9-1-08...

How could you expect them not add other accounts to your CR if they are not among the ones being paid?  Maybe I am reading it wrong, but if I worked in that office, that one part of your letter would cause me to reject any thoughts of agreement.

Again, I am only a noob!  So maybe I am missing that point of that part of your letter.

good luck!

Mars

[Anonymous]

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Justn wrote:
I don't think its legal to remove accurate information from a Credit Report. So they might not do it.

Edit: Since you are negotiating, You might want to be a little less demanding.

Message Edited by Justn on 07-30-2008 10:54 PM

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Actually, it is legal, if the creditor chooses... she has already verbally agreed to negotiate AND PFD and I have to cover my @$$ in case they reneg on the agreement to delete.

I will, however, re-read it and re-word parts of it, I'm sure, as the 'demanding' part of it is what's keeping me from sending it. Thanks for the critique! 

[Anonymous]

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Marsaeus wrote:

I am no expert at ALL -- in fact I am a total new noob on these boards, but I would question the following statement in your letter:

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WhatzUrPlan wrote:

... Per our telephone conversation, I am writing today about 4 accounts held by Collection Agency. If you agree to immediate deletion of these accounts from any and all credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) and not add any additional accounts currently held by Collection Agency to our reports, I will remit payment no later than 9-1-08...

How could you expect them not add other accounts to your CR if they are not among the ones being paid?  Maybe I am reading it wrong, but if I worked in that office, that one part of your letter would cause me to reject any thoughts of agreement.

Again, I am only a noob!  So maybe I am missing that point of that part of your letter.

good luck!

Mars

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That part of it is a total shot in the dark, Maraeus, and you may be absolutely right, she may refuse it based on that alone.  In my mind, this is why we call it negotiation...if she rejects it based on that, then we'll go back to the negotiating table, so to speak.  My concern is that I'll get these PFD'd and then they'll add 4 MORE to the CRs, as there are a number of accounts they aren't currently reporting at all.

Perhaps I'll simply remove that part of the letter & if they add more to the CRs, then just negotiate a settled PFD for those.

One thing I didn't mention in OP was that I live in a closed-border state, where they are not legally allowed to pursue me for collection without hiring yet another third-party collector.  That said, they want their money and don't want to split it with another CA and I could, if I didn't care about my credit, let those sit there for the remainder of SoL & CRTP without their collecting a dime. 

Thank you, also, for the critique, I'll surely keep all suggestions in mind as I refine the letter before faxing it this morning!

[Anonymous]

OK ~ I'm not using that letter AT ALL!!!  Wahmom helped me devise a totally new plan for this CA, so I'm gonna re-do the entire letter with the new plan!

[Anonymous]

OK ~ here's the new and VASTLY IMPROVED plan!

What do you think of this one?

CA 
Address

City, state

ATTN: XXXX

Re: Multiple Collection Accounts for OC

Dear XXXX:

Per our telephone conversation, I am writing today to propose settlement on all accounts held by CA. under the names of DH & Me.  The sum of our accounts is XXXX.

My proposal is this:  would you be willing to accept six hundred eighty ($680) to settle all accounts and delete from all of our reports with the credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax & TransUnion)?  My request is that you delete as follows:  CA holds a total of XX accounts in our names, therefore, would you be willing to delete 2 accounts from our credit reports for every $125 or more in payments received, with the last of the accounts being deleted from the CRAs after a total of $680 has been paid no later than March 31, 2009?

The reason for the extended payment arrangement is the unpredictability of DH hours.  I don’t want to enter into an arrangement for a set amount each month and then have to break it in order to pay living expenses if hours are short one month.  I am confident that we will be able to pay CA, in full, no later than March 31, 2009 and am hoping hours will allow for much earlier payoff.  While you may not receive a payment one month, you could receive $400 another month.

If you agree to the terms and accept this agreement, either certified or electronic funds, in incremental payments totaling the settlement amount of six hundred eighty ($680) will be sent to CA. in exchange for full deletion of ALL references regarding this account from my credit files and full satisfaction of the debt. As electronic means will be used for payment, there shall be no waiting period regarding the deletion of this account from the credit reporting agencies.

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 CA. It will be implied that this letter shall constitute a legally binding contract, enforceable under the laws of my state.  Please feel free to fax your response to this offer, after calling me so I can turn on the fax machine.

Your response must be postmarked no later than 7 days from your receipt of this settlement offer in order to allow me time to include this in my budget for the month!  I am submitting via fax in order to expedite this process.

Thank you,

Me

Note:  edits were to remove identifiers accidentally missed

Message Edited by WhatzUrPlan on 07-31-2008 01:57 AM

Message Edited by WhatzUrPlan on 07-31-2008 02:00 AM

Message Edited by WhatzUrPlan on 07-31-2008 02:05 AM

[Anonymous]

and many MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY thanks to wahmom!!!

[Anonymous]

Excellent job. I think I might steal some parts for myself. If you don't mind.

[Anonymous]

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Justn wrote:
Excellent job. I think I might steal some parts for myself. If you don't mind.

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Please, by all means, feel free!  If it can help somebody, I'm all for it!  Let us know if it bears fruit for you