Your Credit: Self-Help Tools | Seattle Debt Law

Self-Help Tools

If you discover an error in your credit report or billing statement, or are being pursued by a collection agency for a debt you do not owe, you can use these sample letters to help you file your dispute. Always use certified mail to send formal dispute correspondence: if you don’t, a creditor can claim that you didn’t notify them in writing, and you will forfeit your rights.

Sample Billing Notice – You can use a letter like this to notify a credit card company of a dispute. Under the FCBA, you have 60 days to notify a credit card issue about an error in their statement, and the issuer then has 90 days to conduct an investigation and resolve the billing dispute. Failure to send a notice will result in foregoing any remedy to contest the debt.
Sample Collection Communications Log – If you are receiving harassing calls from Creditors, keep this chart next to your phone and use it to record any telephone conversations that you have with creditors.
Sample Validation Letter – As authorized by FDCPA § 809, a debt validation letter enables a debtor to find out whether a collection agency has the correct paperwork to prove that they own a debt. It is the first tool you can use to build a potential case against an aggressive creditor if they refuse to comply with the law.
Fair Credit Reporting Act – This is the list of the federal statutes for the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Sample Dispute Letter to Credit Bureau – Use this letter as a sample template to create your own disputes to the credit bureaus. Include attachments to prove the inaccuracies in the credit report and send them by certified mail with return receipt requested.
Sample Cease and Desist Letter for Debt Collectors – If you are saving money for a debt settlement, waiting for a personal injury settlement or inheritance, or waiting for the right time to file an eventual bankruptcy, you may want to stop your creditors from calling you by sending a cease and desist letter. This letter prevents collection agencies from further communicating with you by means other than in writing. Most original creditors will also abide by the warnings in this letter, although original creditors are not obligated by law to comply.