I have a collection acct that i'm trying to get deleted from my reports. i will pay them the full $100, but not if they're going to leave a "paid collection acct" on my files. i found the following letter, what do you guys think of it? <i>In Re: Your name & Account # Dear Collection Manager: It has come to my attention through the credit bureaus that you claim I owe a debt to your agency. While I have yet to have the debt verified to me as legitimate through my right of the mini Miranda, I can however save us both some effort & time by "Settling the debt out". Below is my offer. It is not a renewed promise to pay nor does it constitute any agreement unless you sign and return it. Note, I have not agreed yet that this debt is mine and have the option to seek further proof from your agency of this debt. It has also come to my attention that your agency regularly purchases debts in the course of doing business. Suffice to say, you hold all the rights to report the debt to the credit bureaus as you see fit and you can change that listing at any time as the source reporting the debt. I am sure you are aware of my right to dispute this debt and request full proof of the obligation. Paying this unverified debt to you means little to me if we cannot mutually agree that you will report the debt as mentioned below. While I realize that your purpose is to collect debts as a collection agent, I am also aware of what a paid collection would represent for me, which is not favorable. That being said, I have concurred through the bureaus that you have the absolute right to report this debt as you see fit or not report it at all. Please do not quote to me that you are unable to change the listing or I will be forced to cease and desist our communication and request full lengthy verification of the debt. My goal is to arrange a term acceptable to both us since this debt is questionable. I will pay your company the amount of $xx as payment in full for the full satisfaction of this account. Upon receipt of the above payment, your company has agreed to change the entry on my credit reports to Paid, no lates; or "Paid AS AGREED." You further agree to remove all previous notation of delinquency. If you concur with these terms please acknowledge with your signature and return it to me. You agree the terms herein are confidential and you have the authority to make such decisions. No payment will be made without written confirmation. Upon receipt of this signed acknowledgment, I will immediately mail you funds priority mail. This is not a renewed promise to pay but rather a restricted offer only. If no terms can be met, no new arrangements will be made and the offer will be void. Name of Creditor: Signature of company officer Date Sincerely, Name Address Social security number Do not sign your name!</i> I don't like that it says, "Upon receipt of the above payment, your company has agreed to change the entry on my credit reports to Paid, no lates; or "Paid AS AGREED." You further agree to remove all previous notation of delinquency." I really want DELETION. Even if it says that above, won't it look funny that the actuall credit item is a collection agency? Or is that okay?
I don't know much about payment-for-deletion approaches like the one you're proposing here, so I hope someone with more experience and knowledge will chime in with their best read. However, I will offer one comment -- consider deleting this: Suffice to say, you hold all the rights to report the debt to the credit bureaus as you see fit and you can change that listing at any time as the source reporting the debt. I'm not sure they hold "ALL THE RIGHTS" to report the debt "AS [THEY] SEE FIT"; rather certain critical aspects are regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Many Creditnet members have experienced great success learning about and implementing various provisions of these federal statutes. Speaking of the FDCPA, you might consider a completely different approach with the alleged creditor. Since the alleged debt is only $100, it is VERY unlikely that this CA will litigate over the matter. However if you become enough of a nuisance, they might prefer a tradeline deletion to continuing to tangle with you over the matter for months and months. CAs are in business to make money by buying bunches of bad debts for pennies on the dollar, collecting the ones that are relatively easy to collect, forgetting the rest, and then buying a new bunch of bad debts at bargain basement prices. Every minute spent with you arguing about a $100 debt actually costs them time that would be better spent attempting to collect other outstanding debts. For that reason, I would stick with the validation track (Validation Letter #1, Validation Letter optional follow-ups, Estoppel, Intent-to-Sue) as opposed to the payment-for-deletion tactic. As an aside, CAs are notorious about not keeping promises anyway. They may agree to delete the tradeline and then actually not follow through once paid. You then claim you have a contract, but then they claim that simply deleting the tradeline would be against the law (silly, since there's no legal duty to report at all), and so on. Likelihood you'll take them to court over the matter? Probably unlikely, and that's what they're betting on. Of course some CAs do follow through, and we have seen that reported on this site too. Just remember, though, that CAs have demonstrated a very spotty record vis-a-vis promise-keeping. I hope this helps somewhat, and perhaps others will offer something better for you! Doc
I, personally, would first request a debt validation just to catch them in few violations, which I will later add to the trade for the deletion.
I will pay your company the amount of $xx as payment in full for the full satisfaction of this account. Upon receipt of the above payment, your company has agreed to change the entry on my credit reports to Paid, no lates; or "Paid AS AGREED." You further agree to remove all previous notation of delinquency. You further agree to remove all previous notation of delinquency. won't it look funny that the actuall credit item is a collection agency? Or is that okay? Steven =============Yeah it would look real strange since there is no such thing as a paid as agreed collection. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
