Kerry
“Dear Steve,
We signed up with Allegro Law (a debt settlement co.) and as with most of these companies, they took our money and we got deeper in debt and now all of our accounts have been turned over to attorneys for collection. I did negotiate a settlement over the phone with the one firm so far that filed in court but I would really like to have a sample settlement letter that I could use to try to negotiate the debt down and get it paid off. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Kerry”
Dear Kerry,
I don’t want you to loose sight of the fact that in the end, a debt settlement is nothing more than a meeting of the minds between two parties. That point of meeting is not absolutely defined, but reached through an offer and acceptance.
This advice might sound way too simple but it comes from years of experience. You can draft any crafty and detailed letter you want to lay out the deal or your offer but when an issue latter arises from the debt settlement the creditor will typically say that the person at the creditor that agreed to it did not have the authority to and then you are in for an expensive battle.
The best suggestion is to ask the creditor or attorney to fax or send you a letter acknowledging the settlement arrangement. The letter will be on their letterhead and the deal will conform to their policy at the time. They can’t latter come back and say that the person there wasn’t authorized to offer or and accept the settlement offer when it originated from their policy.
Bottom line, as long as you’ve got the money, you have some control if you can come to an agreement with the creditor. If they won’t cough up the letter, there were never going to honor the deal to begin with. Tell them that when you do receive the settlement letter as you agreed over the phone that you will send the funds within 24 hours, and then do it.
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
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