June 5, 2003 South Trust Deposit Recovery P.O. Box 1234 Atlanta, GA 30371 Subject: Charge-Off Account Re: Checking Acct #XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Dear Sir or Madam, I am hoping you will help me in this matter regarding referenced account. The current status of the account is a charge-off balance of approx. $xxxxxx($140). This charge-off did not come to my attention until recently when I was able to receive my credit reports due to unemployment. The status of charge-off on ones account is a serious mark on their credit. This derogatory mark could result in the inability to receive employment, a home mortgage, and various other types of credit that most people require. I had dealt with this issue last year and spent many hours in order to get results. Allow me to explain. The reason the account became overdrawn is of no fault of my own. Budget Rental Company double charged the account. This double charge resulted in the overdrawn status and subsequently led to bank charges associated with that. This is all clearly laid out on the attached spreadsheet. I have included the South Trust bank statements for your reference. Upon examining the attached spreadsheet it is clear to see the double charges which occurred on xxxxxx and xxxxxx. By further examining you will see the results of my many contacts and efforts with your company and Budget Rental. Budget Rental credited back to the account on xxxxxx and xxxxxx. Unfortunately by the time they credited the money back insufficient funds fees and minimum balance fees had already been imposed. Shortly thereafter the account was charged off. On xxxxxx I contacted Budget Rental by both telephone and fax to hold them responsible for all bank fees. I now see they did not credit that amount back to the account as promised. In addition, on that same day I both faxed and called them regarding the amount they actually credited back. They credited back the wrong amount, they of course chose to credit the lower amount. I attached their original quote for the rental in an effort to clearly show them this false charge. I have included the faxes for your reference. Again they took no action. As a result of this disappointing situation, I am facing a serious problem with my credit. I felt that by working with your company and Budget Rental this situation would have been worked out. Every effort was made to clear up this issue. However now at the end of this long process it is myself, who have done nothing to cause this, who is left with derogatory statements on all of my credit reports. Although I do not believe this is any way my fault or I am responsible for the remaining balance, I am willing to work out a compromise. My intent is to absolve myself of this matter forever. Therefore in exchange for deletions of the charge-off on my credit reports I will pay the remaining balance on the account. Please advise how to proceed. Respectfully, SHOULD I EVEN COMPROMISE? PLEASE CRITIQUE THIS LETTER. TIA BUGMAN!
Is this a credit card or checking account? You wrote Strust disputing these charges when it first happened? Maybe you have an FCBA claim? I do like the letter. Do you have a local branch you deal with? Maybe you will have better luck trying to work it out with the bank officer?
thanks jlynn for responding, i respect your opinions... this was a checking account/debit card.... FCBA...which violations specifically? jlynn ...I received letters from SouthNOTtrust regarding this....i then disputed/discussed it with them and explained the whole deal, like my letter. they reported me anyway...auto computer deal i guess... i dont feel good about this.... in some way they violated my rights and maybe i should take the leap and go for court.... is this case winnable? ABSOLUTELY WINNABLE BY A NEWBIE? THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR RESPONSES, THIS SITE IS AWESOME...
I do not have a local branch....i live 1 thousand miles away! hence the Budget truck rental.... bugman....
Hmm, I was hoping it was a cc. But!!!!!!! I found Regulation E - Electronic Funds Transfer Act. Now, this is the first time I've looked thru it as well, so no experience here . I would read thru it, especially the part about procedures for resolving errors. Look at the timelines, and look at your paper trail. Good luck! I know we have a couple of bankers here, maybe they will pass thru with some advice. http://www.cardreport.com/laws/eft.html#205.11
UPDATE. Firstly, thanks jlynn for the link, it was right on and i may have to use it. after waiting for them to respond i called again today. they said the item showed in their computer as "consumer will pay with delete". I THOUGHT AWESOME! (even though i dont owe it ill pay it)....i digress... So naturally i said "good enuf" just send me a letter or fax stating you'll delete the entry and you will receive payment immediately.... "oh no sir, we need the payment first" huh...huh.. supervisor... oh yes i remember you, ill send an email to the people handling this, were not authorized to send you a letter agreeing to this..... now im waiting... its just ironic that its not my debt and im willing to pay it and their computers tell them "pay for delete" and still no letter.. im hoping ill get with the right person and this thing will be over.. i also asked for the email address of the person handling it and she said she cant tell me that and if i dont hear from them within 5 days call her back... something is fishy here. thanks again buggin
Final Update for dispute with OC Im writing this because the most useful threads Ive read are the ones that start from the beginning and show the final result. This ended with deletion of all 3 Credit Bureaus and Chex. Its not the ultimate ending, I had to pay the 140, but it is positive. I only hope this helps others. I never would have pursued this except for knowledge and courage ive learned here... thanks bugman ps. I think the FCBA should be discussed more often, thanks jlynn
