Debt Settlement Letter,
Fair Debt Collection Online Information
As an alternative to debt management, debt consolidation, consumer debt counseling, or filing for bankruptcy, many debtors turn to debt negotiation in order to clear away their debts. This is best done employing the formality of a debt settlement letter. This settlement letter is used to convey to creditors and collectors that a consumer wishes to pay less on a balance than what is owed. Often, debt negotiation, particularly a settlement letter ends or even avoids all the hassle of litigation. The actual settlement is what both parties agree on as the accepted payment.
In several respects, a debt settlement letter is similar to a debt dispute letter.
After the first Collection agency letter by a debt collector, a consumer has thirty days to dispute the debt or only a portion of that debt with a written notice to the collection agency, which is generally a dispute letter. According to the laws established by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a debt collector does not have to cease his or her collection efforts during this 30-day period until they receive the dispute letter. Once they have received the dispute letter, debt collectors must cease collection activities until they can verify the debt or the portion of it that is being disputed.
If the consumer wishes to negotiate the debt or a potion of the debt that is owed, he or she may make his dispute letter into a settlement letter. Part of writing a settlement letter is stating a disagreement with the amount that the consumer supposedly owes, which is a dispute. Therefore, the formats of a dispute letter and a settlement letter are quite similar. However, within the settlement letter, the consumer must in some way state that they are negotiating and looking to settle for a lesser amount. That is what makes it a settlement letter. Otherwise, it is merely disputing that the debt or part of the debt that is owed, making it merely a dispute letter.
Several other main differences exist between a settlement letter and a dispute letter. If a collection agency cannot verify a debt that is disputed, then the consumer does not have to pay. If it is verified, then collection efforts may be renewed. With a settlement letter, the consumer is agreeing to pay an amount back to the creditors, just not what they originally wanted. Negotiations may go back and forth from there. Several follow-up settlement letters may even be sent out.
However, there is no need for verification since the consumer is admitting that the debt belongs to him or her. Also, in a settlement letter, a consumer is offering to pay at least a portion of the debt. They are not negotiating to pay nothing. A dispute letter offers no negotiations. It is based upon discrepancies and, due to these discrepancies, the consumer either wants to not pay the debt at all or pay a different amount. It is not a settlement. What the consumer pays in the instance of a dispute letter, even if it is nothing, is rooted in facts and figures that can be verified. What a consumer pays in the instance of a settlement letter is rooted in the back and forth debt negotiations with the debt collectors and the creditor.
Two basic kinds of debt exist and one is better suited to debt negotiation than the other. They are secured and unsecured debts.
A secured debt typically includes homes and automobiles. An interest in property is put up if the loan is defaulted. The actual piece of property (such as the home or automobile) becomes the settlement. If there is money owed after the property repossessed or foreclosed is sold, the debtor still owes this money, which is referred to as a deficiency balance.
An unsecured debt has nothing concrete attached to the loan that can be used as repayment. They include medical bills, student loans, and credit card bills. Generally, people need good credit to be given these loans. Usually, creditors are more willing to settle on unsecured loans. In such a case, if the loan is defaulted, creditors have no guarantee that they'll receive anything from a consumer at all. Therefore, settling makes good business sense for that situation.