It's important to handle all of your correspondence with creditors and credit reporting agencies via registered or certified mail!
I can't tell you how many times people have written to me and told me that they can't understand why a deal negotiated over the phone with a creditor or a credit reporting agency didn't happen, was lost or forgotten by the person or company making the deal.
Hello! There is no way you can prove any promise made over the phone. Whether you are writing a dispute letter to a collection agency, any of the credit bureaus, negotiating a settlement, validating a debt or disputing a credit listing, you are not protected unless you have some record of the correspondence. You must have some written proof or documentation of your dispute!
There are many ways to get proof of a promise or even the fact that your letter was received:
- Send your dispute letter certified mail or registered mail. Depending on the size of the letter and the distance it travels, you will spend no more than 2-3 dollars per letter. When you do this, you will be sent a receipt (a green postcard) which is your proof that your letter reached the intended destination. A great deal of the time, you will be including documents with the letter, which will require a trip to the post office.
Here's a nifty trick, though: If you are not sending any documentation along with your letter, the US Postal service just started a new service, where you can upload a letter, they will print it out and send it for you certified mail (for an additional fee, of course.) It's a great time saver. The URL:
http://www.usps.gov
It's relatively easy for a recipient to blow off receiving a certified letter, if problems arise delivering it, it goes into the trash. However, you will at least have a receipt showing when you sent it.
- You can send the letter UPS, Federal Express, Priority or Express Mail, which will provide a tracking number and has a better chance of being delivered.
Remember, just because you send a package by any of the above methods doesn't mean it will get to the person you want. You will just increase the chances, and have a record that you sent it.
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