Dealing with Debt

Debtor's Settlement Offer

There are times and circumstances during which creditors will accept reduced payment in full settlement of a debt. The savings resulting from these agreements can be substantial, and you can often negotiate an improvement in your credit report as well. The law of contracts binds you to the terms of your offer, so be certain that you can do what you promise. The creditor can respond in three ways. He can accept your terms, in which case you have a contract. He can vary the terms of your offer, in which case, you are still negotiating. Or he can reject your offer outright. If you are behind on your payments and suspect that your creditor may be open to a settlement offer, use this form to offer a settlement on terms that you can live with.

When a debtor desires to settle a debt with a creditor he or she may do so by initiating negotiations with a settlement offer letter. Use this letter to make an offer to a creditor to settle a debt and set forth parameters of the settlement.

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Request for Credit Report

A credit report is a record of an individual's or company's past borrowing and repaying, including information about late payments and bankruptcy. It is used in determining an individual's willingness to repay a debt. The three major credit reporting agencies from where you would need a credit report are Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. Because other reporting firms gather your credit profile from a subset of one or more of these three major agencies, it's always a good idea to get a report from each agency. A separate request needs to be completed for each agency from which you want a credit report.

Request to Correct Credit Report

A credit report is a record of an individual's or company's past borrowing and repaying, including information about late payments and bankruptcy. It is used in determining an individual's willingness to repay a debt.

Once you have your credit report in your possession, and you determine that there is one or more errors, you will want to request that the erroneous entries be investigated and corrected. You need to complete a send a separate document to each reporting agency with which you want to correspond. Use this document to request a correction to your credit report.

Errors that are commonly disputed are balances on accounts, negative information (such as late payments) being erroneously put on the credit report and accounts not belonging to you appearing on your credit report.

Notice of Disputed Account

It is vital that you check your invoices and billing statements for accuracy. Vendors make mistakes. It is important that you provide timely notice of those mistakes. If there is a significant delay in notice, you may waive your rights to receive a credit or refund. This document provides an easy way for you to generate that notice. It is primarily designed for small business use, but can be useful for any vendor that bills for their goods or services.

Credit Card Billing Error

From time to time you might notice a mistake on your credit card bill. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you have the right to make the credit card company correct these billing errors. You can customize this letter to challenging the charge on your bill. Once your letter is sent to the credit card company, the law requires the credit card issuer to acknowledge your letter within 30 days and to resolve the dispute within 90 days.

Lost Credit Card Report

In the unfortunate event that you lose one or more credit cards the first action you must take is to notify the credit card company to ensure cancellation of the card and prevent future charges by someone other than yourself. Use this document to inform your credit card company that you lost your credit card. It instructs them to no longer authorize charges on your card, and asks them to notify you of any fraudulent charges made after the date the card was lost. This letter also authorizes the credit card company to issue a replacement card.

Stolen Credit Card Report

In the unfortunate event that one or more credit cards is stolen the first action you must take is to notify the credit card company to ensure cancellation of the card and prevent future charges by someone other than yourself. Use this document to inform your credit card company that your credit card was stolen. It instructs them to no longer authorize charges on your card, and asks them to notify you of any fraudulent charges made after the date the card was lost.

Payment Request (1st)

Upon the failure of a client or buyer of goods to maintain his account, in other words keep up to date with payment, a seller of goods may remind the client of his failure to pay. A payment request is often enough to prompt payment from a buyer who has simply forgotten. Use this document to notify a client or buyer of goods that they still owe money on their account and remind them to pay.

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Second Payment Request

Following a first request to make payment, if the customer or client has still not paid, they may need a second reminder. This letter not only further notifies the customer of default but also creates documentation of the failure to pay should legal issues arise.

Use this document to issue a second notice of failure to pay and to request payment.

Final Demand for Payment

When a customer or client has repeatedly failed to bring an account up to date, in other words failed to make payments that are due, it may be necessary to make a final demand for payment. At the same time it might be in the best interest of both parties to try and maintain the relationship, therefore a non-confrontational final demand might be the best option.

Use this document to make a final demand for payment in a non-confrontational manner, but let the customer know that the account is seriously delinquent and that action will be taken if the account is not brought up-to-date. Note that by providing a 10-day notice, as this letter does, the company obligates itself to take action after 10 days. Failure to do so will send the message that you're not to be taken seriously on this matter, and further collection efforts will be even more difficult.

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Request for Stop Payment of Check

Under certain circumstances you may find you need to demand to your bank that they don't make payment on a check you have written. This means that the person holding your outstanding check will not be able to cash or deposit the check. If this situation arises you will need to notify your bank immediately of the demand to stop payment and give them all information regarding the particular check. Use this document to send a written request to your bank, asking them to stop payment on an outstanding check.

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