failed "Goodwill" attempt...next?

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by Andrew, Feb 26, 2002.

  1. Andrew

    Andrew Well-Known Member

    I used the â??goodwill adjustmentâ? letter to ask a creditor to remove the late-pay notations from my paid-in-full motorcycle loan. Hereâ??s the response:

    Any idea what federal law she is talking about? And how can I get the lates removed? Any ideas?
     
  2. PsychDoc

    PsychDoc Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    Andrew, that outcome stinks. Usually the goodwill letter (also known as a courtesy adjustment request) is for currently-open accounts with good payment histories overall which have an isolated late pay or two. Here was an excerpt from an earlier post (sorry for my being too lazy to rewrite, lol):

    With Sears, you have a continuing relationship -- and hopefully a good one -- that benefits both you and Sears. If in fact, you've demonstrated excellent payment history with them for a period of time following the delinquency, then you're a customer Sears wants to keep because they know that you're likely to be a part of their profit margin for years to come. For that reason, they're actually often motivated to do nice things for reliable customers.

    It's not uncommon for fully-paid creditors to deny goodwill adjustment requests. After all, they're through with you. You've already paid the loan. You're not likely to make them any more money. Taking time to research your account, fill out the UDF form, and faxing that form to all three CRAs takes time. Etc. For that reason, you should probably avoid going for goodwill adjustments with fully-paid creditors. On the other hand, a few of us have seen success using the nutcase letter (link) for fully-paid creditors with late pay tradelines. (You'll find the Sears excerpt I quoted above there as a contrast to illustrate the difference in approach between goodwill and nutcase.) The object in the second approach is to demonstrate that even though they may be finished with you, you may not be finished with them and are likely to cause irritating problems later unless they delete the tradeline. This provides an incentive for the fully-paid creditor to do what it takes to get the tradeline removed.

    Please keep in mind that there is never any guarantee that these letters (or any credit repair tactic, for that matter) will work. Regardless, I always liked what momof3 had to say about persistence. Keep at it.

    Good luck to you, Andrew, and keep us posted.

    Doc

    P.S. There is no law which requires anyone to report anything to a CRA. She flat-out lied to you in an attempt to simply make you go away.
     
  3. Andrew

    Andrew Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    Thanks Doc,

    I knew there was no law, I just was hoping that someone would shed some light on the subject just as you have. I have not yet disputed this account with the CRAs for two reasons:

    1. I really was late a couple times and
    2. I was hoping to turn it into a positive tradeline rather than having it deleted.

    I can annoy them and hope for the best, maybe I could start by asking "what federal law are you talking about? I can not find anything regarding what the law says you can and cannot report, excluding the reporting of false or misleading information or reporting negative information longer than seven years..."

    What do you think?
     
  4. PsychDoc

    PsychDoc Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    Hmm, well, you could try! My guess is that the person with whom you dealt will just dig in her heels and insist that she knows the law. This fully-paid creditor simply wants to move along to someone else who hasn't yet paid in full. It's sad, but basically it's all about maximizing efficiency and profit. Unless you give them serious reason (as in, it may cost them more in the long run if they don't update the tradeline), then they'll probably just ignore you. :(

    Doc
     
  5. Andrew

    Andrew Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    Sounds like I haven't a leg to stand on. Oh well, I suppose I can dispute with the CRAs until they get tired of verifying. Thanks Doc.
     
  6. PsychDoc

    PsychDoc Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    Don't give up, Andrew! Straight CRA disputes are good, but consider this. If you were really late with that tradeline, it may be best to dispense with it entirely. Only you can decide that though. If you deem that best, then try nutcase. Then follow that up with CRA disputes. Shake the leaves.

    Doc
     
  7. Pat

    Pat Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    Andrew,
    The "squeaky wheel" has worked for me on a pd chgoff. It was before the nutcase letter or I would have used it on them. I kept disputing the chgoff and after it was verified for the 3rd time, I started bugging the original creditor. I sent a modified validation letter and they started calling me. I called back at 10:00pm one night and left a message to keep it in writing. After that, they sent me a fraud form. I sent them another letter saying I didn't request a "fraud form", I requested validation. They sent back a letter saying the account was mine, blah, blah, blah. I sent back that this wasn't the validation I requested. I disputed again and this time no verification. Woohoo, it was gone.

    The moral of the story is as Doc has said many times. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. I kept bugging them until they decided to give up, to get me off their back.
     
  8. Andrew

    Andrew Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    Good advice. Yesterday I sent a heavily modified nutcase/validation letter via CRRR. It is to my advantage that they report different info to all three CRAs.
     
  9. lbrown59

    lbrown59 Well-Known Member

    There is no such law!
    Want to borrow one of my 5 pick ups to haul away this BS they just handed you?
     
  10. monij2000

    monij2000 Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    Andrew,

    Once you get the green card back, dispute again w/ CRA as "never late"...
     
  11. whyspers

    whyspers Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    I think what the lady is referring to is reporting inaccurate information. In the sense that if you were late on your payments and they are saying you weren't, that is false reporting...lol. It is really not to their benefit to adjust correct entries because that all mighty score they rely so much on wouldn't mean much now would it <wink, wink yeah, right>


    L
     
  12. Andrew

    Andrew Well-Known Member

    Re: failed "Goodwill" attempt...nex

    Exactly, whyspers! And that's where I've got 'em. If they say they CAN NOT report misleading information, then a quick peek at my credit reports will show that they do just thatâ??each one shows different info!!!
     
  13. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    SEND THIS..."Please provide a copy of the "FEDERAL LAW" you are talking about"
     
  14. Andrew

    Andrew Well-Known Member

    George, In my letter I stated:

    "In your letter, you stated that [X] National Bank â??cannot arbitrarily change credit historyâ?¦it is against federal lawâ?. I assume that you are referencing the Fair Credit Reporting Act, (FCRA), however I have not been able to find any such verbiage stating that credit report listings cannot be updated or altered by the person who furnishes information to the credit reporting agencies..."

    I think this kind of gets to the point, however your quote would be more direct.
     

Share This Page