Goodwill and Pay For Delete Letters

[Antjwill80]

Could someone help me find some good Pay For Delete and Goodwill Letters? I am trying to clean up my credit with a couple of OC's but can't find any letters to send them.

[someonesomewhere]

Here's are three sample Goodwill letters that worked for my wife and I.

Got 3 deletes from Chase on 3 closed accounts with this one.

We are writing to see whether Chase Bank would consider making a goodwill adjustment to the credit reporting bureaus on our closed accounts. We are asking whether Chase Bank would remove the adverse late payment and settlement reporting from these accounts in reporting to the credit bureaus. We understand this is a rather unusual request--particularly as our accounts fell behind upwards of 120 days and one account was settled for less than the full amount.

Chase Bank was extremely helpful in working with us at a time of job layoffs and missed payments. The ease with which we were able to resolve these accounts gave us something to pay off and helped us to move forward.

If what we ask is too much, then any goodwill adjustment to the reporting bureaus would be most appreciated.

Regardless of your decision, please know that we thank you for helping us at a time when it was needed, and we hope to do business with Chase again one day.

GMAC corrected the late pay moving TL to good status on CR.

My wife and I recently pulled all three of our credit reports. GMAC appears to have mistakenly reported this account as 30 days late to Experian.

We disputed the account with Experian, but they closed the dispute without checking or there was some problem on their website. In any event, please correctly report this account to Experian--just as it has been reported to the other credit bureaus.

We know mistakes happen, and we would simply like this corrected. Both our vehicles were purchased new from Saturn and financed thru GMAC. We have been very happy with both Saturn and GMAC.

Wife got a delete from JCPenney. They haven't offered or issued her a card, but she really didn't care about reopening the account. I thought it might help so I asked her to include it. Quid pro quo. They might delete negative info thinking you'll use the card. With retail store cards, even if you PIF each month, they are still getting sales so they might be more inclined to extend Goodwill and delete adverse TLs.

I recently pulled my credit reports, and I discovered this JCPenney account was still showing as open. If that is correct, I would like to see about getting a replacement card issued so that I could use it when shopping at JCPenney.

I also noticed the account was reported 30 days late in 2001, although not consistently with all three credit bureaus. I do not recall being late on this account, but it is possible as my husband and I fell behind on several payments at that time.

If the late pay reporting is correct, then I would like to ask whether JCPenney would consider making a goodwill adjustment to its reporting to the credit bureaus and remove the late pay reporting from this account. I know this is probably a somewhat unusual request, and I ask you to consider my overall good shopping and payment history with JCPenney rather than one late payment.

Use your imagination. Be creative. Speak from the heart as Goodwill letters are intending to appeal to a person's humanity. Try to be honest, or at least use a plausible explanation. Put it in your own words.

[mommabear]

Great post Mr. Someone!

Can you tell me a couple things?

1st...Who did you address these letters to? The CEO or just the general addresses?

2nd... What sort of information did you give them so they could find your account (all I have is partial acct. #'s)

3rd...did you type out the letter or was it handwritten?

4th...you state you had several accts with Chase...did you lump them all into one letter, or did you seperate them?

Thanks!

[someonesomewhere]

1) I used the address listed on my CR, and I began the letter Dear Madam or Sir. Not directed at anyone in particular like a CEO.

I'm of the opinion that a Goodwill letter sent to a large organization, like Chase Bank, stands a better chance going to the general bucket. Some lower level worker-bee will get it, read it, perhaps run it by his/her supervisor, and I suspect the decision will be made there and no higher.

Goodwill letters to the CEO of a $1.4 trillion bank don't seem like they're going to ever get anywhere near the CEO before they reach the circular file. Middle to upper management folks at the company where I work (with no where near $1.4 trillion in assets at their command) are so completely removed from the details of my day to day work--software engineer--we may as well speak a different language. I think that's true, regardless of the industry, once a company grows to a few hundred or more employees.

For a smaller bank or credit union, sending to a CEO might make sense, but I still think working people are more likely to identify and sympathize.

2) Just name, address, and account number. TU is very good at providing the full account numbers. TLs that weren't anywhere else were on my TU CR. If you haven't already in the past year, pull your TU CR from annualcreditreport.com Online access works VERY good for TU. No need to request and wait for paper.

3) I used MS Word and a printer, but a handwritten and clearly legible Goodwill letter should work just fine.

4) For Chase, I just put a RE: line at the top of the letter, and listed all three accounts on one letter.

[mommabear]

Thanks a million!

[someonesomewhere]

Follow up. Yesterday JCPenney sent SWMBO her requested card and a letter stating all negative info had been deleted from CRAs.

SWMBO asked me, "But I didn't want the card. Why did I have to ask for it?"

Told her, "But dear, use the card a few times, PIF each month, then get rid of it in a year or so. Buy yourself something pretty, but it would NEVER be as pretty as you."

[itrev82]

Is there any downside to writting good will letters to creditors?

Anyone have luck removing an acct that was included in a BK?

[someonesomewhere]

On your first question, other than wasting a perfectly good stamp, envelope and sheet of paper, I cannot think of one. Most they can do is toss your letter in the trash. It's not like they're going to send over a large man to rip your phone out of the wall and rearrange your face. And if by $ome chance they did, you'd have more than $ufficient grounds for a fat law$uit!

[CantCU]

I had a very similar situation with Chrysler Financial. Had co-signed (never again, by the way) for my daughter's vehicle. Daughter fell behind, didn't find out until it was nearly in repo. I stepped in, PIF, and they were still reporting as late (even though it was PIF 4 years ago). I called first, and you never get to talk to the person who reports this info to the CRA's, so I followed it up with a letter. Now all 3 CRA's show this vehicle was paid on time, never late, and PIF. It sometimes does help to be nice! =)

[Drew]

It's not like they're going to send over a large man to rip your phone out of the wall and rearrange your face. And if by $ome chance they did, you'd have more than $ufficient grounds for a fat law$uit!

Did anyone else find this utterly hilarious? Good times and good information.

[pinkeysas]

Who do I send a goodwill letter to in this situation.........

I paid a CA (before finding this site) on an accout where the OC was AT&T.

I got a written confirmation from the CA that my payment was received and that the account was "settled". I sent a copy of that letter to the CRA's to let them know to make the change on my reports.

Now that I've been to this site I want to start sending out Goodwill letters to see if I can get it removed.

Who do I send the Goodwill letter to? The CA who is listing a settled collection on my reports or the OC who is not listed on my reports??

[MadinKS]

Who do I send the Goodwill letter to?

pinkeyas- You would send it to the CA because it's their TL. Good luck with that. I hope it works for you. By chance, is the CA AFNI? If so, they're A$$CLOWNS! Been tryin' to kill them for about 6 months now. But it doesn't hurt to try, especially if it's paid and they won't try to come after you.

Antjwill80-I just wrote this goodwill letter to send to Honda. I don't know if it's what you're looking for and I haven't sent it yet, but I think it sounds dang good. Here it is. Hope it helps.

American Honda Finance

8505 Freeport Pkwy 200

Irving , TX 75016

RE: Account #: xxxxxxxx

Dear Sir or Madam,

I recently pulled all three of my credit reports and it appears American Honda Finance may have mistakenly

reported a couple of 30 day lates to the 3 major credit reporting agencies. If you take a look at the rest of the

account history, and the consistency at which the payments were made on time, I’m quite sure you can see why I’m

concerned. Not only do I not recall making any late payments, but the dates on the 3 different reports are not

consistent, making it impossible to recall the lates in question. As I did from the onset of the loan, I used your

website to post payments to my account and always posted them well before the due date. Could it be possible that

this is due to a computer generated problem? In an effort to get this matter resolved I disputed the account with the

credit bureaus and I don’t know why my disputes went unresolved. Maybe they closed the dispute without conducting

a thorough investigation or didn’t even bother to investigate at all. I would hate to think that the reason, but I’m just not

sure. In any event, I am asking you to please correctly report this account to the three major credit reporting agencies

and put this behind us. Believe me, I’m well aware that mistakes are more likely to happen when there are computers

involved so please take the necessary steps to get this matter resolved and my credit reports corrected. Thank you.

On a lighter note, I would like to tell you that my wife and I have thoroughly enjoyed our 2001 Honda Civic and have

been very pleased with your company and top rate automobiles. In the almost 6 years we’ve owned it, we haven’t had

to do any repairs, other than scheduled maintenance. It has over 125k miles and still runs like a champ. So, when

it comes time to look at buying another car, you can bet Honda will be at the top of the list. With products like that, it must

be easy being Honda. Thank you so much for your time and consideration in this matter.

Best Regards,

[someonesomewhere]

I got a written confirmation from the CA that my payment was received and that the account was "settled". I sent a copy of that letter to the CRA's to let them know to make the change on my reports.

That simply confirms you now have a paid collection.

You can give goodwill a shot. Got nothing to lose but 39 cents by trying, but I don't foresee goodwill getting you anywhere. I'm not saying don't do it, just don't expect a lot.

Who do I send the Goodwill letter to?

You goodwill the OC, but the success I've had with it is getting old late pays removed. Hasn't always worked, but it has worked. That's also about the only success with goodwill I've read about in here.

Goodwill actually worked for me with another account that had been settled for less than the full amount. That one shocked me.

[NeonspeedRT]

Good thread. I'm going to be sending off some Goodwill letters in the next few weeks myself. One of the ones I will be sending is for a 60 day late payment to Wellsfargo. How should I go about finding who to send the letter to? Is it better to send email or via certified mail?

[Amerikaner83]

it's a goodwill letter...Email or REGULAR mail, no CMRRR crap.

[someonesomewhere]

I'm going to be sending off some Goodwill letters in the next few weeks myself ... How should I go about finding who to send the letter to? Is it better to send email or via certified mail?

There are varying degrees of opinion and success associated with GW. Some have had zero success. Some have batted close to a 1000. I'm batting .600 with GW if you count OCs, .714 if you count TLs.

I used the addresses on my CRs and mailed letters. Didn't address the letter to anyone specific. Just Dear Madam or Sir.

Others have targeted their letters to CEOs, executives, or certain people in the organization in what amounts to their Department of Goodwill.

Still others have used Email and had good success.

Then there's PFB, Planet Feed Back.

With Target, one of my failed GW attempts, I've tried 2 letters and 2 Emails. Finally got a written response saying no. Did more searching, and I found key people names. Tried a letter. I think Drew is trying an Email with one or both of the names at Target in his GW effort.

And, like Amerikaner83 said, send it 41 cent mail. Not CMRRR. If you send it CMRRR, you might raise eyebrows that you are somehow building a chain of evidence for a lawsuit down the road.