Home |
Financial Page
Sample Letters
for dealing with debt collectors
and credit companies
These
are samples of letters that I personally use and/or provide to my
clients when dealing with debt collectors and
credit companies.
I am a budget counselor, not an attorney. These
letters are
provided for informational purposes only and should in no way be
considered legal advice of any kind. There are no guarantees
either expressed or implied regarding the legal issues, implementation,
or results associated with using these letters.
Requesting Verification
of a Debt
If a debt collector is attempting to collect
an amount from you which you feel you do not owe, the Fair Debt Collection
Practices Act
gives you the right to have that debt verified in writing within thirty
days of your having been initially contacted regarding the debt.
The sample letter given here allows you to request
that
information. The verification must come from the original
creditor; in other words, the debt collector cannot just send you
information they generated themselves. If the collector fails
to
provide the required information within the thirty days, they must stop
attempting to collect the debt. However, the collector can
pass
the account to another collection agency who starts the process all
over again. If this happens, you just send the new collector
a
similar letter. Even if you know you
owe money, but
feel that they are attempting to collect more than you actually owe,
you still use this same letter to request verification. Use
the
sample letter as an example and change all
information shown in parenthesis
to suit your situation. Then mail the letter to the collector
"return receipt requested" or "delivery
confirmation."
The post office will explain to you how to do this.
The
collector's thirty days start at the time they receive your
letter. Keep the confirmation slip as proof of when their
thirty
days began.
Debt Info Request
in PDF format.
Debt Info Request
in Word Perfect (.wpd) format.
Closing a
Credit Card Account
If
you wish to close an existing credit card account, do not just call
them on the phone to inform them. Quite often, they will say
they
will close the account but not actually do it. Thus, the
account
remains open and continues to appear on your credit report.
They
do this hoping that you will get desperate, use the card again, and go
back into debt with them. Before
closing a credit card account, make sure you have completely paid off
any balance.
Closing a credit card account with a balance on it can make
it
much more difficult to close, and can adversely affect your credit
report. Use the sample letter as an example and change all
information shown in parenthesis
to suit your situation. Then mail the letter to the credit card company
"return receipt requested" or
"delivery confirmation." The post office will
explain to
you how to
do this. Keep the confirmation slip as proof that you closed
your
account and are not responsible for any further charges made on it.
Close Credit Card Account
in PDF format.
Close Credit Card Account in Word Perfect (.wpd) format.
Closing Any
Kind of Credit Account
This letter can be used to close any
kind of credit account as well as credit card accounts. It is
a
bit more strongly worded (makes the point a bit better) and also
restricts the credit company from passing any of your information on to
anyone else. Before
closing a credit account, make sure you have completely paid
off any balance.
Closing a credit account with a balance on it can
make it
much more difficult to close, and can adversely affect your credit
report. Use the sample letter as an example and change all
information shown in parenthesis
to suit your situation. Then mail the letter to the
credit company
"return receipt requested" or
"delivery confirmation." The post office will
explain to
you how to
do this. Keep the confirmation slip as proof that you closed
your
account and are not responsible for any further charges made on it.
Close Account in PDF
format.
Close Account in
Word Perfect (.wpd) format.