1st Ever Settlement Letter - Please let me know your thoughts

[n00b]

Hello, I'm writing my first-ever settlement letter and was hoping to get some thoughts on it. I'm a little worried that it might be a little too wordy, and have a few questions strewn throughout, but I'm trying to work the GW angle. This is for a CO on my CR that I'd like to negotiate for a PFD.

Let me know what you think -

It has come to my attention through the credit bureaus that your company has filed a charge-off for bad debt on my credit report. I immediately called the number provided on my credit report and was told that not all of the appropriate steps were apparently taken to close my account when I relocated to (a brand new life) in (can't think of a snazzy quip for the date). The purpose of my correspondence is to offer settlement terms and to finalize the closing out of this account.

During the time period that the account was established, I consistently paid my bills on time, as demonstrated by the 15-month payment history that I have enclosed here for your convenience, and the date of last activity exactly matches the time period when I relocated to my new residence. (Should I enclose a utility bill from the new residence to "prove" that I really did relocate?) Although I notified your office of the change via the customer service number on my regular statement and had filed a change of address with the post office, I never received any invoices or billing statements after moving, so I did not realize that the service had not been properly terminated. (I'm also kind of thinking about just taking this paragraph out. Would a collector really care about all of this?)

I would very much like to clear this debt with you and to remove these negative marks from my credit report; thus, in the spirit of compromise, I am willing to pay this account, minus fees that accrued due to non-receipt of billing and invoices, assuming that you would be willing to contact the credit bureaus and update this record on my credit report to a "PAID AS AGREED" status and remove any derogatory comments or references related to this account. This would be through any and all credit reporting agencies, including but not limited to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Please note that 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 umpteen dollars and 31 cents ($xx.xx) will be sent to MaBell Conglomerate in exchange for full deletion of ALL references regarding this account as past due or in charge-off status from my credit files and will be taken as 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.

MaBell Conglomerate agrees to permanently delete ALL derogatory information regarding this account from the credit reporting agencies WITHIN TEN BUSINESS (10) DAYS following receipt of payment as specified above and will not discuss the terms of this settlement with anyone. (Do I really need to do the NDA bit? This isn't a CA or a credit card.) If contacted by any third party, including credit-reporting agencies, MaBell Conglomerate will not acknowledge that any settlement offer was made, accepted or executed.

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 sign it or have it signed by an authorized representative of your agency. It will be implied that this letter shall constitute a legally binding contract, enforceable under the FCRA, FACTA, and FTC Act.

Your prompt response on this important matter is greatly appreciated.

[andbowd]

thanks for info. AB

[Amerikaner83]

Hello, I'm writing my first-ever settlement letter and was hoping to get some thoughts on it. I'm a little worried that it might be a little too wordy, and have a few questions strewn throughout, but I'm trying to work the GW angle. This is for a CO on my CR that I'd like to negotiate for a PFD.

Let me know what you think -

It has come to my attention through the credit bureaus that your company has filed a charge-off for bad debt on my credit report. I immediately called the number provided on my credit report and was told that not all of the appropriate steps were apparently taken to close my account when I relocated to (a brand new life) in (can't think of a snazzy quip for the date). The purpose of my correspondence is to offer settlement terms and to finalize the closing out of this account.

During the time period that the account was established, I consistently paid my bills on time, as demonstrated by the 15-month payment history that I have enclosed here for your convenience, and the date of last activity exactly matches the time period when I relocated to my new residence. (Should I enclose a utility bill from the new residence to "prove" that I really did relocate?) No, you don't need to do that. Simply tellling them should suffice.Although I notified your office of the change via the customer service number on my regular statement and had filed a change of address with the post office, I never received any invoices or billing statements after moving, so I did not realize that the service had not been properly terminated. (I'm also kind of thinking about just taking this paragraph out. Would a collector really care about all of this?) No they wouldn't really. CAs are the devil But if it's being sent to an OC (they're the ones who do the charge-off, after all), then I'd leave it in. Adds a lot to the GW feel of the letter.

I would very much like to clear this debt with you and to remove these negative marks from my credit report; thus, in the spirit of compromise, I am willing to pay this account, minus fees that accrued due to non-receipt of billing and invoices, assuming that you would be willing to contact the credit bureaus and update this record on my credit report to a "PAID AS AGREED" status and remove any derogatory comments or references related to this account. This would be through any and all credit reporting agencies, including but not limited to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Don't forget Innovis! Please note that 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. I'm not sure about this part... it doesn't really "fit" with the theme I think you're trying to get across, y'know?

If you agree to the terms and accept this agreement, certified funds for the settlement amount of umpteen dollars and 31 cents ($xx.xx) will be sent to MaBell Conglomerate in exchange for full deletion of ALL references regarding this account as past due or in charge-off status from my credit files and will be taken as 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. Might think about rewording to sound less standoffish...perhaps something like "Upon receipt of the above amount of certified funds, XYZ Corp. will update my credit reports to reflect "paid as agreed" status, as we agree to in this letter"

MaBell Conglomerate agrees to permanently delete ALL derogatory information regarding this account from the credit reporting agencies WITHIN TEN BUSINESS (10) DAYS following receipt of payment as specified above and will not discuss the terms of this settlement with anyone. (Do I really need to do the NDA bit? This isn't a CA or a credit card.)NDA is a CYA...keeping it is up to you...change "anyone" to "3rd party, including but not limited to credit reporting agencies" If contacted by any third party, including credit-reporting agencies, MaBell Conglomerate will not acknowledge that any settlement offer was made, accepted or executed.

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 sign it or have it signed by an authorized representative of your agency. It will be implied that this letter shall constitute a legally binding contract, enforceable under the FCRA, FACTA, and FTC Act.

Your prompt response on this important matter is greatly appreciated.

Nice overall - a bit wordy, but I think you work the GW angle pretty well...removing some of the wordiness will consequently remove the GW feel to it...

I like it!