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Sample Letters for Creditors

Repairing your credit could mean writing a lot of letters to creditors and the three credit bureaus — dispute letters, debt validation letters, goodwill letters. And so on.

To make writing your letters easier, you can use the links below.

Pick the letter you need to write. Then copy and paste the letter into an empty file. Edit the sample letter to fit your specific needs.

Sample Letters for Debt Collectors

  • Goodwill Letter
  • Negotiate a Complete Removal Letter
  • Advanced Credit Dispute Letter
  • Medical Collection Removal Letter
  • Debt Validation Letter
  • Student Loan Dispute Sample Letter

Goodwill Letter Template

Goodwill letters should be personal. They should reflect your individual financial situation.

This template for a goodwill letter provides some structure, but you’ll have to fill in your own personal details.

Remember, with a goodwill letter you’re asking for a favor — a favor that can help your personal finances.

Ask for a goodwill adjustment only if you’ve paid off the account already.

[your full name]
[your full address]
[your full phone number]

Dear Sir or Madam:

This letter is in reference to a paid collection with the account number [xxxx].

In [year] a collection for the amount of [$xx.xx] was sent to your agency due to a series of hardships and medical problems in my life. While I normally make great strides to fulfill my debt management responsibilities, at the time of the debt I was unfortunately unable to.

Since then I have gotten back on my feet and have paid off this debt to your agency.

I am now trying to buy a home, but the negative item on my credit report has made getting a mortgage complicated. I can’t get an affordable interest rate because of the collection on my credit record.

I am kindly hoping, given the date and amount of this collection, if your collection agency would consider removing this collection from my credit report as a gesture of goodwill.

This kind gesture would sincerely be appreciated and an invaluable gift to my family as we build stronger personal finances.

Sincerely,

[your name]

Negotiate A Complete Removal Sample Letter

Getting a “charge-off” or “seriously past due” notation removed from your credit report can help your credit score immediately.

Usually, you’ll need to negotiate a payment or debt settlement of some kind, using your payment as an incentive for the creditor to remove the “charge-off” or “seriously past due” status.

If you simply pay off the debt to your credit card issuer or any other creditor, the charge-off will still remain on your credit report for up to seven years. (If you’ve already paid, see the goodwill letter template above.)

This letter template should help you write a credit removal letter:

[today’s date]
[original creditor or name of collection agency if the account was sold]
[creditor address]
RE: [account ex: Citibank Mastercard] account # [full account number] (if contacting a collection agency include the original account number, i.e., the Mastercard number in this case, and also include any account number assigned by the collection agency –this number would be on one of your collection letters)

Dear Sir or Madam:

After recently reviewing my credit report, I noticed the above-mentioned account is currently in [status of account, ex: Charge Off] status. I would like to take care of this account as soon as possible.

Due to [whatever caused you to be late on your payments, ex: illness], I got behind on my payments and was unable to meet my obligations. However, since then my situation has improved and I am in a position to recompense this debt.

I am willing to pay [creditor’s name] [x payments a month] equaling the amount of [total they are requesting] provided that the above account is updated on all credit reporting agencies to state: PAID AS AGREED, or completely removed from all credit reporting agencies upon my final payment.

I am not agreeing to an updated credit report that states this account as: “PAID CHARGE OFF” or the like, as this will not significantly increase my credit score, nor will it reflect my sincere willingness to restore my good name and hopefully, someday, again do business with your company.

Your written response will serve as an agreement to my proposal and I will begin payments. Thank you very much for your valued time.

Best regards,

[first & last name]
[street address]
[city, state, zip code]

Advanced Credit Dispute Sample Letter

The listed errors in this template are just examples. Look over your credit report in detail and change these examples to the errors you found for your advanced credit dispute letter.

[your full name and address]
[Credit agency name and address]

To Whom It May Concern:

In a recent review of my credit report, I have noticed some errors. Please make the following changes:

Account name, acc. # XXXXX

  1. The date of first delinquency with the original creditor is not provided. Please provide this.
  2. The end of the seven-year reporting is not listed. Please provide this.
  3. Credit Limit is not listed. Please provide this.
  4. Date of Major Delinquency is not listed. Please provide this.
  5. Actual Payment Amount is incorrect. Please correct or remove this.

Account name, acc. # XXXXX

  1. Date of major delinquency is not listed. Please provide this.
  2. Charge-Off amount is not provided. Please provide this.
  3. Incorrect account status. It should be “As Agreed.” Please correct or remove this.

In the event that you cannot verify the details of these accounts, please remove these damaging accounts from my credit report. If you can verify the information you have listed as accurate, I would need the name of the person providing this data, and the manner in which it was provided in order that I may pursue additional remedies.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Medical Collection Removal Sample Letter

Use the medical collection removal letter for paid medical collections. This letter is specifically designed to leverage HIPAA laws.

Dear [credit reporting agency]:

My name is [your name] , my SS # is [xxx xx xxxx].

I have no knowledge or records of account # [xxxxx] from [original creditor] on my report. Please advise me as to the name and address of the medical provider, the date and type of service, and to whom the service was provided, as any account I might have had would be obsolete.

If you can obtain this information, I also would need the name of the person providing this data, and the manner in which it was provided in order that I may pursue additional legal remedies.

Very truly yours,

[your name]

Debt Validation Letter Template

When a collection agency has contacted you, you have 30 days to request that it validate the debt it claims you owe. Use this sample debt validation letter to make the agency prove it’s your debt.

[today’s date]
[original creditor or name of collection agency if the account was sold]
[creditor address] RE: [account ex: Citibank Mastercard] credit card account number [full account number]

(If contacting a collection agency include the original acc. number, i.e., the Mastercard number in this case, and also include any acc. number assigned by the collection agency –this number would be on one of your collection letters.)

I am formally requesting that you validate all notations you have submitted to the three major credit reporting agencies by [name of collection agency or original creditor] for me, [your name], for account number XXXXXXXXX.

Due to possible inaccuracies in these credit reporting agency reports, I must demand that the validation I hereby lawfully request be in the form of a notarized statement by a person with original knowledge of the debt as it was constituted and who can testify that the debt was incurred legally.

Please know that you have 30 days from the tracked and confirmed delivery of this notice to either answer these demands or to remove the associated negative tradeline notations from the credit reporting agency reports.

Sincerely yours,

[Your Name]
[Your Address, City, State, ZIP]

Student Loan Dispute Letter

This letter would be sent to your student loan lender or loan servicer. In this letter I’ve put in fake names so you can see the formatting a little better:

January 1, 2021

John J. Jones
200 Main Street
Bugtussle, TN 37998

Shania S. Smith
Labyrinth Student Loan Servicing Corporation
400 Elm Street
Nashville, TN 37999

RE: Student loan #XJYZ000198786PPZX567940001112XYZ1235987-01J

Dear Ms. Smith:

A recent copy of my credit report indicates my student loan is being reported as being in default. A copy of the page from my credit report is enclosed. However, this credit status is an error. My loan is in active status, with all payments being made on time.

Enclosed are copies of evidence of payments on the account for the past six months, as well as the most recent statement notification showing the account is active and in repayment status.

Please correct the information in your company’s records to show that the account is current and up-to-date, and has never been in default.

I also request that you provide the corrected information to each of the three major credit bureaus – TransUnion, Equifax and Experian – so their records will show the corrected status on this account.

Please provide written confirmation of receipt of this letter, as well as the corrected status on the account and confirmation that notice of the correction has gone out to the three credit bureaus.

If more information is required please contact me at (266) 555-1234, or by email at [email protected].

Sincerely,

[Your signature]

John J. Jones

Enclosures: Credit report page, recent payment notification, evidence of monthly payments.

How to Follow Up on Letters to Creditors

Writing letters won’t help your credit unless you follow up to make sure the letters were received and to find out whether your creditors took action.

First, to make sure your letters make it to their intended recipients, consider using Certified Mail which requires a return receipt from the creditor. You’ll even know which day your creditor got your letter.

Still, just because your creditor’s office receives your letter doesn’t mean the right person will see the letter or remember to take action. So you’ll need to be ready to follow up with additional letters or phone calls.

If your credit needs a lot of work because you have multiple past-due creditors to work with, I suggest creating a spreadsheet to record when you send a letter and when you follow up. Otherwise, you may forget to follow up.

The right credit repair software can help you keep track of your credit project.

You can also find out the success of your letter-writing campaigns by monitoring your credit reports closely. Get free copies of your credit report — one from each bureau — at annualcreditreport.com.

Try to give a creditor at least 30 days to respond or change your credit reports before you start calling and writing more letters to the same creditor.

Filing a Credit Report Dispute Without Writing Letters

If your credit report has minor inaccurate information, you can file a credit report dispute online without having to write letters to each credit bureau.

Typically, the bureaus will correct incorrect information in compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Because the law works for you, the consumer, an online form is sufficient to dispute inaccuracies.

However, a goodwill letter or a pay-for-delete negotiation will require writing letters because these scenarios need more nuance. You need to make your case as an individual.

Writing letters also provide a paper trail in case a creditor does not follow through on one of its promises to remove negative items from your credit report.

Hiring a Professional Credit Repair Company to Help

If you don’t have time to write letters, follow up on them, and keep track of who you need to write next, you might prefer hiring a professional credit repair company instead.

The credit repair industry has grown over the past couple of decades because these companies specialize in communicating with your creditors and the credit bureaus.

They’ll stop the collection calls, write cease-and-desist letters, request debt validation, and even send goodwill letters for you.

I recommend using one of the best credit repair companies. You’ll have to pay a monthly fee with many of these services, but will save you tons of time.

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