does a debt settlement agreement must be signed by both parties to be valid?

[ihateCAandJDB]

so I am trying to settle out of court and we agreed on an amount verbally. I told them i wanted everything in writing and to send the debt settlement agreement letter to me.

However, it seems they still have not sent the letter for me to sign, its been over two weeks already, and its due pretty soon at the end of month.

a verbal agreement is not binding right?

they would have to send me the letter for me to sign and date it for it to be legally binding on both parties right?

without the letter, could they still sue me for the full amount if not paid by certain date that we agreed on verbally?

[jackson212]

you want it in writing both parties signed

[Patz]

Is there any reason why you can't draw up an agreement and send it to them?

I'm sure you can get a draft of one somewhere on this forum.

Include everything YOU want in the agreement.

That might get them on the move to finish the deed.

[ihateCAandJDB]

so i got the settlement letter.

however, there are a few problems that i detected right away.

first of all, the account number listed and the balance is not the same

as the one that is on the sworn affidavit from the original creditor and not the same as on my credit report.

second, it just says that this letter is to confirm that our client has agreed to accept (certain amount) as settlement in full.

failure to make the above payment in full and on time will void this settlement agreement and the

entire balance will be due and owing.

signed attorney for creditor

so plain.

i thought that in order for it to be an agreement to be binding, both parties must sign it.

what do you think?

[heretohelp]

so i got the settlement letter.

however, there are a few problems that i detected right away.

first of all, the account number listed and the balance is not the same

as the one that is on the sworn affidavit from the original creditor and not the same as on my credit report.

second, it just says that this letter is to confirm that our client has agreed to accept (certain amount) as settlement in full.

failure to make the above payment in full and on time will void this settlement agreement and the

entire balance will be due and owing.

signed attorney for creditor

so plain.

i thought that in order for it to be an agreement to be binding, both parties must sign it.

what do you think?

The balance and account number is something that needs to be fixed. It's more than likely two fields the representative simply neglected to change to your specific account. These are form letters with certain fields highlighted in blue to change for each debtor, and he/she simply overlooked it.

As for your concern about your not signing the agreement: it's not really a two-party agreement here. They are simply informing you that their client has authorized them to make a certain settlement offer and in order for you to take advantage of it, a certain payment is due by a designated time. Whether or not you sign it doesn't change the offer made by the client. The only potentially "binding" part of the contract is between the client and the firm, really.

Edited September 10, 2011 by heretohelp

[ihateCAandJDB]

well, the balance is a a few hundred dollars more than the original balance.

i remember the person saying the balance is a few hundred more because they tacked on the court filing fee and process server fee to it.

could they do that to the original amount?

the account number listed on the letter is an old Bank of america card number

but not the same number as the one that appears on the fia card services sworn affidavit and credit report.

the credit report shows the fia card services account number as a bank of america credit card number.

Edited September 10, 2011 by ihateCAandJDB

[heretohelp]

Yes, they can add the court costs and process server fees. If they were to get a judgment against you, the court would grant said fees in the judgment. What do you mean it's an old bank of america account number? One of your old ones?

FIA card services is a division of Bank of America. Sometimes they have more than one internal account number that refers to the same account. Is the account number on the letter the same as the one on your credit report?

Edited September 10, 2011 by heretohelp

[ihateCAandJDB]

no, the account number on the letter is not the same as the one on my credit report and my summons and complaint sword affidavit from fia card services.

I will call to let them know.

its an old bank of america account number that was charged off and i guess fia card services assigned a new number to it. the new account number is on the credit report.

[heretohelp]

I would call them to clarify the account number issue.