Posts Tagged ‘Debt Collectors’

The Pros And Cons Of Using A Credit Repair Letter Template

If you are getting bothered by debt collectors or if you have discovered that there is an error on your credit report, then you already feel shaky enough as it is. Perhaps you feel off balance and wonder how these mistakes were made. Under this kind of mind set, you don’t really want to try and learn a new skill, such as trying to write a credit repair letter. Templates of these kinds of letters are available online. But should you use them?

Things To Avoid

If you enter “credit repair letter template” into any search engine, you’ll come up with literally thousands of free templates for you to choose from. Or, should you ditch a template entirely and go with copying the FTC’s recommended credit repair sample letter up on their website?

There are many clues as to what kind of credit repair letter templates or samples to avoid. These are the ones that threaten legal action in words such as, “I’ll sue”. You also don’t want to follow any credit repair letter templates or samples that could in any way be construed as threatening. “You better pay attention to this letter, or else,” is an example of just such a threat, even if you haven’t expressly spelled out what the “or else” means.

You also want to avoid a credit repair letter template that has sentences containing ENTIRTELY CAPITAL LETTERS LIKE THIS. This is not only considered rude, it’s also considered the mark of either an amateur or a scam artist. Letters containing a lot of capitalized words or exclamation points are not taken seriously because they look like they are written by a child.

When Worse Comes To Worse

If this is all very confusing, then you should forget filling in the blanks in a credit repair letter template. Just keep in mind that you need to keep your letter as brief as possible. If you want, it’s all right to say, “Dear So and So: This is a credit repair letter. I want to (whatever you want accomplished).” If you have an accountant, then by all means ask for their advice or for their recommendation of what credit repair letter template to use.

When you are writing your credit repair letter, pretend you are a lawyer. You want to write like a lawyer and not like someone who is angry, upset or frightened. Keep calm, just state the facts and don’t get personal.

Finding A Sample Credit Repair Letter On The Web

You got your credit report and notice there’s a big error. You need to write a credit repair dispute letter to that agency to get any hope of the situation being resolved. Or, perhaps you’re being hounded by debt collectors or even just one person who insists you owe them money. You need to write letters in order to get them off of your back and to back up your case, should it ever go to court. How do you write these important letters? You could go online and check out a sample credit repair letter.

Federal Trade Commission

The FTC offers a lot of free services on their various websites, including free sample credit repair letters. When you look at the sample credit repair letter to a credit bureau, you might wonder if such a short letter is all there is to writing a credit repair letter, but it is. You do need to send it snail mail and not email. You also need to include a copy of the place in the credit report that you are disputing.

It’s best to go with the FTC’s sample credit repair letters because some other sample letters on the web are not written very well and are not good examples to imitate. You never want to threaten legal action to a credit bureau or a bank. That makes you look really guilty in their eyes. As the old saying goes, you can catch a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Other Tips

Other kinds of sample credit repair letters you can find are letters that you write directly to who you owe money to or to the debt collection agency working on their behalf. Did you know that under American law, a debt collector has to stop contacting you once you send a cease and desist letter? An excellent sample cease and desist letter is at About.com.

No matter what kind of sample credit repair letter you are looking for, ignore the example if it threatens legal action. The most you can threaten anyone with is “If you do not stop, I shall be forced to file a complaint with the FTC and my state’s Attorney General’s Office.” Don’t write in all capital letters, too. This is considered rude.

Don’t plead your case that you are innocent of fraud or identity theft, either, even if you are entirely innocent. This makes you look as if you have something to hide. Make a copy of your letter and a copy of any threatening letters from the creditor or collection agency. Keep them all together, just in case your case goes to court.

Is There Such A Thing As A Free Credit Repair Letter?

Your bet your bootie that there is such a thing as a free credit repair letter. In fact, there are many kinds of letters you can send that eventually help to repair bits and pieces of your credit. One free credit repair letter won’t immediately wipe out an entire history of bad credit, however. Well, not legally, anyway. If someone does offer to write you a free credit repair letter that will get you a brand new credit history or eliminate all of your bad credit history, kindly refuse the offer.

What Are They?

Although so much about business is done on line, there are still some things that have to be done by old-fashioned snail mail. Free credit repair letters can be typewritten or hand written, but they need to be actually signed by you in ink. If you’ve every written a business letter or a cover letter for a job application, then you already have the skills to write a free credit repair letter. If you are not sure what a good credit repair letter looks like, you can go online to see a sample credit repair letter.

Some types of free credit repair letters are communications with whoever claims you owe them money – whether it’s just one person, a company or debt collectors. For example, one day I received a letter from an ex-roommate demanding I immediately pay $500 from an old debt. I couldn’t remember owing the ex-roommate any money. We’d parted on good terms. So, I wrote politely asking him to prove that I owed him money (technically called a debt validation letter). I never heard from him again.

The Most Common Type

One of the most common kinds of free credit repair letters is called a dispute letter. As the name implies, you are disputing part of the information on your credit record. These types of free credit repair letters are only sent to the credit report agencies Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. These are the three companies that give free credit reports to everyone in America.

You should get these free reports every year and look at them closely to be sure that all of the information is accurate. For example, if they’ve spelled your name wrong, this can wind up being a serious problem years down the line and needs to be corrected immediately. You just write a polite letter stating your point of view and asking that the information be changed.