If an attorney has to get involved in the process, resolution can take up to a year.

The majority of situations will be resolved without you ever having to contact an attorney.

In general you can expect a maximum of four months from start to finish.

Note that you will not have to actually work on any particular dispute or account for four straight months. Because of the way Texas laws are designed there are “waiting periods” in between correspondence to allow the debt collector or credit bureau time to meet their obligations. Depending on the particulars of the each account, you may spend anywhere from two to four total hours over this period performing your own investigations, working on correspondence, and visiting the post office.

The specific time lines involved are outlined in 2.1 Understanding Legal Time Frames during the Action Planning phase of Big Tex.

In section 1.4: Reading and Understanding Your Credit Report and 2.1: Understanding Legal Time Frames we learned how to determine the original date of default or “cause of action,” when a collection company took over a particular debt, and the statute of limitations on debt in the State of Texas.

This information becomes critical in helping you to identify which derogatory or inaccurate listings to pursue.

In essence, you want to tackle those accounts that are most likely to be corrected or removed with minimum resistance and the lowest chance of recourse against you.

Best Practices To Follow

Your best chance of success will be with prioritizing the following types of listings and collections:

• Listings with a balance owed of under $1000 that are outside of the statute of limitations (if the original default or cause of action occurred more than four years ago)
• Listings with a balance of $1000 or more that are outside of the statute of limitations
• Listing with a balance under $1000 that fall inside of the four year statute of limitations (Important Note: In these instances, the collection agency still retains the ability to legally pursue action in a civil court in order to collect the debt)
• Listings managed by collection agencies that have violated any Texas Statutes as discussed in 1.7 Understanding Communications From Debt Collectors. Preferably, these listings should also be outside of the four year statute of limitations, but if the credit collection agency is behaving in a deceptive, misleading or harassing manner as defined by Texas law then you have a good chance of prevailing in the dispute without recourse.

As you prioritize which accounts you want to pursue, dispute and correct it is important to keep in mind the statute of limitations. Because the SOL in Texas is four years, a collection agency attempting to collect on a debt older than this has no legal recourse in a court of law. This means that unless you personally choose to make a payment, there is no other way that you can be forced or obligated to make good on the debt.

Determining the Original Cause of Action or Delinquency

If you are not sure of the original date that the account listed became delinquent (i.e. ‘the cause of action’) take special care in determining whether or not to pursue contact with the collection agency, original creditor, or credit reporting bureau.

Because you don’t want to tip off the credit collection agency that you intend to take action against them, you’ll want to avoid contact them directly via a phone call or mail, or indirectly via a dispute with the credit bureau. There are several ways that you can determine when the original cause of action occurred without alerting a collection agency:

• Use your credit report
  One way to help you determine when the original cause of action occurred is by reviewing your personal credit profile with the credit bureau(s). In section 1.4 Reading and Understanding Your Credit Report we learned to understand the difference between the “date opened,” “date reported,” and original date of delinquency. Refer to this section for tips and strategies to help you identify whether or not a particular collection account falls inside of or outside of the four year statute of limitations.
• Use your personal records or recollection
  In some instances you may still have statements from the original creditor, collection letters, phone records, bank records or other evidence that can prove that the original cause of action occurred more than four years ago. You may also be able to recollect how long it has been since a particular account went into delinquent status. 

  Example: There may be a collection account listed on your credit report from a mobile phone provider that you had many years ago. You know that you have been with your current provider for five years. Thus, you can be certain that the original delinquency occurred more than four years ago, thus rendering the collection account outside of the statute of limitations.
  

• Contact the original creditor
  While in most cases it’s not recommended that you make phone contact during this process, there are special circumstances that arise and determining the original date for the cause of action is one of them. If you have exhausted all other options and are unable to determine this date, you may need to contact the original creditor. Note that because the original creditor has since transferred or sold the debt in question to a third-party debt collector, they will not be able to take legal action against you regardless of the statute of limitations. 

  When contacting the  original creditor we strongly advise following the tips and strategies for Written Vs. Oral Communication, namely recording the phone call so that you have a record of exactly what was said.

  Contact the original creditor and provide them with the least amount of information necessary in order for them to be able to identify you and access the account in question. (In some cases you may need to provide your account number which is usually available through the credit reporting agency, your social security number, or other personally identifiable information).

  Request that the original creditor provide you with details about the account that include the following (remember, you don’t want to let them on to what you’re preparing to do):

  -The date the account was originally opened
  -The payment schedule (monthly, quarterly, every 27 days, etc.)
  -The actual due date each month
  -The date the last payment was received

  With this information you’ll be able to determine the exact date of delinquencies, providing you with the original date of the cause of action.

  Example:  The original creditor has advised you that the monthly payment on the account was due on the 15th day of the month. You determined that the last payment received by the original creditor was June 14th, 2007. This means that the original creditor never received their payment on July 15th, 2007 (the following month). On July 16th, 2007 your account most likely went into some sort of (as determined by the original creditor) delinquent status.

  Important Note: Unless legal action has been taken against you and the exact day of the original cause of action must be determined, the example above provides you with  a fairly accurate date of when this occurred. Because each creditor is different, their “delinquency status” may differ slightly by several days, thus we recommend adding at least 14 days to the date you have determined to be the original cause of action.

Debts That Fall Inside of the Four Year Statute of Limitations

When a debt falls inside of the statute of limitations, meaning that it has been less than four years since the original cause of action, the collection agency maintains the ability to file legal action against you in a court of law.

Withing this program guide you will find that the procedures you will be taking will include strongly worded letters that cite Texas statutes and, in some cases, threaten legal action against collectors, creditors or credit agencies. Be cautious when taking action against a company who still has a legal right to pursue you in a court of law. What we’re trying to avoid in these instances is to “awaken a sleeping tiger.”

That being said, keep in mind that it is quite costly for a credit collection agency to take you to court. In some instances the costs involved for obtaining a judgment against a debtor far exceed the actual debt owed. In addition to costs, the credit collection agency itself usually will not seriously pursue legal action unless they have all of the necessary documentation (all of which is detailed in Phase 3: Taking Action of this program).

Legal fees for the most basic of cases will often cost a credit collection agency in excess of $1000. For this reason we advise careful consideration when determining whether or not you should pursue a collection account that is within the four year statute of limitations and the debt exceeds this amount. It may best serve your interests to simply wait out the four year SOL before engaging the collection agency.

In all likelihood, for debts lower than $1000 that are inside of the four year statute of limitations, the credit collection agency will not pursue legal action.

Unless it is absolutely imperative that a particular account be removed from your credit report (e.g. you are attempting to purchase a home or car in the next few months, or are taking out some other necessary loan), we recommend waiting for the statute of limitations to expire, even on debt balances under $1000.

Collection agents, debt collectors, and credit bureaus have massive amounts of data on consumers, and they will use as much of this data to their advantage as possible.

Like these organizations, you must be armed with information. The only way to effectively accomplish your goals is by tracking your progress. In this section, we’ll introduce you to the organizational techniques found to be most effective for tracking progress and keeping up with the information you’ll be sending to and receiving from other parties.

Tracking Correspondence (Physical)

Much of the correspondence you receive from third parties will be time sensitive and you may need to prove when a certain letter or envelope was printed, marked with postage, or signed for. Failure to properly track incoming or outgoing correspondence could invalidate some or all of your attempts to modify, update or remove certain credit file related information.

Most of the correspondence you receive from third parties will be in the form of physical letters delivered by physical mail.

It is recommended that you acquire a storage folder or box. Create an individual folder for each account/item you’ll be working with.

Any and all correspondence you receive should be stored in this folder in the event you need to provide it as evidence at a later time.

Real World Example:

When one of our clients requested a debt validation for a specific collection account which amounted to well over $2500, the third party debt collector responded with all of the information requested. However, the date on the letter sent to the consumer showed that the debt collector printed the letter 32 days after their 30 day validation period expired. The envelope in which the validation information was sent was post-marked 32 days after the original validation request was received. Even though the debt collector provided ample evidence, including a signed credit contract with the consumer’s signature, their failure to respond in a timely fashion per Texas law forced them to permanently stop collection attempts. The account was subsequently removed from the credit reporting agency’s database.

Had the consumer not kept a record of the post mark on the envelope and the letter he received, they would have been unable to prove to the bonding company, attorney general, credit agency or a court of law that the third party debt collector violated Texas statutes.

In addition to tracking correspondence from the parties which you are contacting, you’ll also need to keep physical records of any Return Receipts (green card) you may receive after the third party has signed for a letter.

If you are sending correspondence, keep these tips in mind before mailing anything:

• Make sure you have a digital or physical copy of everything you send out, regardless of who it is being sent to.
• In some cases, like if you have to contact the Attorney General, you’ll need to download forms and letters directly from the Texas AG’s office and complete those forms manually. Either make a copy of the form you are sending, or scan it in to your computer and store digitally so you have a record of the letter.
• In many instances, you’ll need to follow-up after the validation period with the company in question, their bonding company, the credit bureau, your attorney or the Texas attorney general. You’ll need to send copies of all correspondence involving the issue so that all relevant parties understand what is happening. At times, this may become overwhelming, but organization remains critical. Be sure to make copies of everything you send to any organization.
• DO NOT SEND ORIGINALS. If you have received correspondence from a third party debt collector, bonding company or credit bureau, keep these for yourself. If you need to forward any of this information, do so in the form of copies. It is okay to advise the receiving party that what they have received is a copy. Simply write the word “COPY” on the document you intend to mail.
• The only time you should ever need to present original documents is in a court of law or to your attorney in the event you need to hire one. In this case, be sure to retain a copy of the documents in question. You do not want to be the only one without evidence.

Tracking Correspondence (Digital)

With computers, it becomes very easy to track interactions you make on an account. Maintaining physical copies is important, but so is tracking your progress.

One of the easiest ways we’ve found to track activity on a particular account is to use a simple Microsoft Word® document or Microsoft OneNote®. If you do not have Microsoft Office®, Google.com provides a simple and free cloud-computing solution.

Simply create a Google® account and access Google Documents.

Security Note

We highly recommend that every time you save a document, be it on your local machine or the internet, that you make a backup copy in the event of system failure.

It’s easy to do. If you are saving a document on the internet, simply download/save a copy to your local hard drive.

If you are using a local application like Microsoft Word®, you can email the document to yourself and store it in an online email folder.

This way, if you experience a catastrophic data loss or make a mistake, you’ll always have your most recent copy available.

Better safe than sorry.

If you have a scanner, we also recommend scanning and storing digital copies of anything you may have received from third parties, as well as any documents you are sending that you may not already have copies of (i.e. a manually completed Attorney General complaint).

Here’s a simple and easy way to track all correspondence activity, interactions and pertinent information related to a particular issue or account. You may have some or all of this information available depending on the account. You may also need to modify this form for your specific purposes.

EXAMPLE OF PERSONAL TRACKING FORM

ACCOUNT NAME: XYZ Debt Collector
ADDRESS: 11133 STREET ROAD – NEW YORK, NY 10001
PHONE NUMBER: 718-555-0000
ORIGINAL CREDITOR NAME: FREE MONEY CREDIT CARD COMPANY
ORIGINAL CREDITOR ADDRESS: 10000 GREEN ROAD – LINCOLN, NB 68508
ORIGINAL CREDITOR  PHONE NUMBER: 402-555-0000
ORIGINAL ACCOUNT ACTIVATION DATE: 01-05-2003
ORIGINAL DATE OF DELINQUENCY: 03-18-2006
ORIGINAL DATE OF CHARGE OFF: 09-19-2006
ORIGINAL AMOUNT OWED: $2137
DATE OF TRANSFER TO DEBT COLLECTOR: 09-26-2009
BALANCE WITH DEBT COLLECTOR ONCE ACQUIRED: $2137
FIRST COLLECTION LETTER RECEIVED: 10-15-2009
CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE: $2385
BONDING COMPANY: TX SURETY CO.
BOND NUMBER: 1000000234
ACTIVATION DATE: 11-01-2007 [ACTIVE]
BONDING COMPANY ADDRESS: 20000 A TEXAS ROAD – EL PASO, TX 79968
BONDING COMPANY PHONE: 915-555-0000

12-15-2009 Sent Debt Validation Request to XYZ Debt Collector
USPS CERTIFIED MAIL #: 7008 2810 0001 6565 9567
SIGNED FOR ON: 12-18-2009
SIGNED BY: Illegible
STATUS: Awaiting debt validation response. Debt collector has 30 calendar days to respond. Due date 01-17-2010.

01-24-2009 Received debt validation letter 01-23-2010
Received most of the information requested from debt collector, including signed contract of original loan. Envelope from debt collector was postmarked 01-21-2010. Debt collector failed to respond in time!
STATUS: Waiting at least five business days for company to remove invalid information at credit bureau and stop collection attempts. Failure to remove within 5 days is another violation.

02-02-2010 Sent Intent to Sue letter to debt collector
USPS CERTIFIED MAIL #: 7008 2810 0001 6565 9562
SIGNED FOR ON: 02-06-2010
SIGNED BY: D. Smith
STATUS: Awaiting response. Debt collector has 60 calendar days to respond. Due date 04-03-2010.

02-02-2010 Sent Intent to Sue letter to bonding company
USPS CERTIFIED MAIL #: 7008 2810 0001 6565 9683
SIGNED FOR ON: 02-05-2010
SIGNED BY: Illegible
STATUS: Awaiting response. Debt collector has 60 calendar days to respond. Due date 04-03-2010.

03-20-2010 No Response from debt collector or bonding company. Sending final warning letter to debt collector.
USPS CERTIFIED MAIL #: 7008 2810 0001 6565 1002
SIGNED FOR ON: 03-22-2010
SIGNED BY: D. Smith
STATUS:  Awaiting response. Debt collector has until 04-03-2010 to respond.

03-20-2010 Sending final warning letter to bonding company.
USPS CERTIFIED MAIL #: 7008 2810 0001 6565 3554
SIGNED FOR ON: 03-23-2010
SIGNED BY: M. Johnson
STATUS:  Awaiting response. Debt collector has until 04-03-2010 to respond.

03-30-2010 Debt collector responded. Received agreement from debt collector to cease collections. Agreement meets settlement guidelines requested in Intent to Sue letter.

04-03-2010 Signed and returned agreement to debt collector.
USPS CERTIFIED MAIL #: 7008 2810 0001 6565 1002
SIGNED FOR ON: 03-22-2010
SIGNED BY: D. Smith

03-30-2010 Verified that account has been removed from national credit bureau file.

[ISSUE RESOLVED]

After reviewing the above form you’ll notice how important it is to include dates, tracking numbers and any information that you feel is notable. The more information you have available, the more effective your actions against debt collectors and reporting agencies will be.

The United States Post Office, or USPS, offers a relatively low cost way for you to ensure that all correspondence you send is tracked and certified. This means that if you send a letter to a collection agent, credit bureau or surety bond company, there will be a record of the correspondence with an independent third party.

While most debt collectors will not utilize the tracking and certification mechanisms of the US Postal Service, you should.

If it gets to the point that you need to take legal action against an organization, the burden of proof will be yours, thus maintaining accurate records of mailing dates, certified tracking numbers, and signers will be important in adding credibility to your case.

When sending correspondence, you’ll likely be using a standard long security envelope available from your local office supply store.

But, rather than simply applying a stamp to your correspondence, we highly recommend that you utilize the Post Office’s Certified Mail with Return Receipt (CMRR) service. This service is created from two USPS products:

• Certified Mail
• Return Receipt

What is certified mail?

This service utilizes a specific article number and is critical for tracking delivery information.

From the USPS Website:

With Certified Mail™ you can be sure your article arrived at its destination with access to online delivery information. When you use Certified Mail, you receive a receipt stamped with the date of mailing. A unique article number allows you to verify delivery online. As an additional security feature, the recipient’s signature is obtained at the time of delivery and a record is maintained by the Post Office™.

The cost for this service is about $2.85 per letter.

To send a letter Certified Mail, you’ll need to complete the following form at the USPS (It only takes a few seconds):

This form is available at any post office, or you can order it for free at the USPS Web Site.

Learn more about Certified Mail at the USPS Web Site

What is Return Receipt?

This service provides you with a physical copy of the receiver’s signature, date the article was received and the Certified Mail tracking number.

From the USPS Web Site:

Return Receipt provides evidence of delivery (to whom the mail was delivered and date of delivery), along with recipient’s signature and information about their actual delivery address. A Return Receipt may be purchased before or after the mailing. A mailer purchasing Return Receipt service at the time of mailing may choose to receive the Return Receipt by mail or e-mail. (The e-mail option is available at most Post Offices. Contact your local Post Office for availability).

The cost for this service is about $2.30 per letter.

To send a letter with Return Receipt, you’ll need to complete the following form at the USPS:

This form is available at any post office, or you can order it for free at the USPS Web Site.

Learn more about Return Receipt at the USPS Web Site

When you’re ready, take your correspondence to the post office, fill out the aforementioned forms and have a postal clerk process your transaction manually.

You’ll receive a stamped Certified Mail receipt once your correspondence is processed. Each certified mail letter you send will also include a unique “article number.” This is a 20-digit number identifying your specific letter. You can utilize the online USPS tracking service to follow the status of your letter, confirm delivery time and date, and check who signed for it. To track a certified letter visit the USPS web site: http://www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirm.htm .

A few days after the letter is signed for by the receiving party, you’ll also receive the hard copy of the Return Receipt in your mailbox. File both, the stamped certified mail receipt and the return receipt, in your records.

Important Note:

Always send correspondence to third-party debt collectors and other organizations with the Post Office’s Certified Mail with Return Receipt service. Though you’ll pay more for these services, the benefits of having this information far outweigh the costs.

By forcing third parties to address your concerns in a timely, professional and definitive manner you gain a very strong advantage. The companies or individuals you deal with throughout this process will know that you are not playing games, and any failure to respond to your time sensitive requests according to applicable collection or credit reporting laws makes them face the real risk of losing the ability for future collections and credit bureau reporting. Additionally, an even stronger motivation for them to act honestly and expeditiously is that failure to do so makes them liable for not only civil penalties (financial damages paid directly to you), but criminal penalties (punishable by various methods including imprisonment and revocation of their license).

The sections below will describe some of the more critical time sensitivities you must be aware of before you begin contacting anyone about your personal credit profile or collection accounts. We strongly recommend that you review the summaries below, as well the applicable Texas laws. While most of the ‘need-to-know’ time frames are detailed below, there may be unique circumstances requiring time line awareness – these are discussed with expanded information as applicable later in this guide.

The First 30 Days: Debt Validation Period

This is the first action step to beginning the process of managing your personal credit and debt. During this period you will contact a specific entity regarding a specific collection account or personal credit profile listing. Do not under estimate the importance of this step, as a properly executed debt validation is necessary to lay the foundation for all actions you will take in subsequent periods outlined below.

Day 1 begins the moment the party in question accepts delivery (signs for) your debt validation correspondence. From this moment, they have exactly 30 calendar days to respond to your request by properly validating the legitimacy of your debt. Details on how to properly format your debt validation letter are available during Phase 3.

During this debt validation period, the party you contacted may be required by law to also adhere to an interim 5-day period described below.

The are four primary scenarios that may result during this period:

• The third party fails to respond with a validation of your debt via correspondence postmarked on or before the 30th day.
  In this scenario you would automatically win your dispute by default. Failure to respond is a direct violation of Texas statute and requires the collection agency to cease all future collections and remove any adverse listing from your personal credit profile with the credit bureau(s).
• The third party responds with a validation of your debt, but the correspondence is postmarked after the 30 debt validation period has expired.
  Texas law is very clear in this regard. Even if the party validates your debt in full, the fact that they failed to respond in time (as designated by the postmark on the correspondence) means they have invalidated their legal right to continue further collections. Any listings associated with the account must be removed from your personal credit profile with the credit bureau(s).
• The third party responds with a validation of your debt within the 30 day period
  It is quite common to receive a response, in one form or another, from the party in question. While they may respond with some basic details about the debt, collectors will often fail to detail specific information required to prove a contract existed. They may very well be violating a host of other provisions within the law itself. Thus, even though a particular company may have responded to your request, it is likely that they have not provided critical details or failed to follow other guidelines required by law.
• The third party responds with a notice that they need more time
  Texas law allows for a third party debt collector to request additional time to perform a validation of debt. There are no specific provisions provided by Texas Law that detail the amount of time allotted for an extension.  An extension of this type requires, among other things, that the item be removed from any credit bureau listings within five business days. It is rare that third parties will request these types of extensions.

Read the applicable law: link here

Interim Personal Credit Profile Update and Cease of Collections Activity Period

This is an oft ignored but essential provision within Texas Law that can effectively stifle any further collection and credit bureau reporting activities on the part of the debt collector or creditor. There is no timeline specified under this provision of Texas Law, so it can be applied as you see fit.

In general, section 392.202 of Texas Finance Code requires a collection agent who has received a debt validation request to cease all collection efforts until their investigation determines the accuracy of the debt. A “collection” effort is essentially a “debt collection,” or action, conduct or practice of collecting debt. Because the debt collector has listed the collection account with the credit bureau, they are conducting a debt collection publicly, for all to see.

Thus, during the validation period, if the party responsible for the credit bureau listing has not either 1) removed the account temporarily or 2) updated the account to reflect that it is in dispute, they are in violation of Texas Law.

Additionally, if the debt collector sends you a collection letter attempting to collect a debt during the validation period, they have broken this law.

Since Texas provides not specific time provisions for this requirement, we recommend giving the collector a 5 business day window from the time they receive the debt validation request to make the necessary changes.

If you need to utilize this specific provision against another party, you may not have direct access to the updates via your credit report in real time (due to updating guidelines set by your online credit report provider), though some alert services will let you know if this change has occurred. You may need to contact the credit bureau directly after the debt validation period to request information about whether or not this change was performed over the course of those 30 days.

This may add some more time to the overall duration of resolving problems with an account, but it can be a very powerful tool to use in the event that the party in question responded to your debt validation request in a timely manner.

The bottom line: If they failed to follow the provision, they broke the law, which works to your advantage.

************CHECK FOR FEDERAL STATUTE OF THIS*******************************

5 Day Personal Credit Profile Modification, Update or Removal Period

Note that this is a period of five (5) business days, not calendar days.

If a party fails to respond to your debt validation request within 30 days, or has admitted to the inaccuracy, or they have requested additional time to perform their investigation, they must cease all collection and remove the listing at the credit bureau(s) within 5 days. Failure to do so is a violation of statute and punishable by Texas law.

Likewise, if they have made a mistake with the collection account and responded in a timely manner to your debt validation request they must make the appropriate changes, including but not limited to complete removal of the listing, within 5 business days to avoid penalties.

Intent to Sue 60 Day Period

The Intent-to-Sue period involves formatting correspondence to advise the other party that you intend to take them to court if they have violated any provisions of Texas law during the debt validation period or in the process of collecting the alleged debt.

By sending this letter you are not bound to the law suit, so you don’t actually have to follow through with it. However, if it comes to a point where only a court of law can help, it is absolutely essential that this correspondence has been sent. Texas law requires that you provide the other party with a 60 calendar day period before you file suit.

This correspondence will serve three purposes:

• The party will know your clear intention, as well as an estimated amount they may lose if they go to court
• Their surety bond company, or Texas insurer, will be brought into the law suit
• Your offer for settlement will give them an option to avoid court

In most cases the threat of a lawsuit against the surety bond company (which will have to pay the award if the company can’t) will put enough pressure on the debt collector to cease collections permanently. The last thing a debt collector wants is to lose their surety bond as that means they will no longer be able to collect debt in Texas.

If you’ve laid out your case effectively the other party may agree to stop collections permanently and never transfer the account if you agree to not file a future legal action.

If no settlement is reached within the 60 day period you may then proceed to file suit. We highly recommend the assistance of an attorney at this point. If you have executed the debt validation and intent-to-sue procedures correctly there is a strong likelihood that you have a winnable case in which you may be able to collect damages, as well as a “trebling” (tripling) of the award under Texas’ deceptive trade practices laws.

Final Warning 15 Day Period

This particular period is not defined by State or Federal law and is simply a warning period afforded by you to the other party. At this point, you have already advised the other party of your intention to sue them for their failure to meet your demands and/or follow Texas law, so this correspondence or phone call is not required.

This letter can be sent as soon as the 60 day Intent-to-Sue period has expired.

This has proven to be an effective strategy for those wishing to avoid having to go to court, as many third parties may assume your intent to sue is a bluff. This final follow-through is usually enough to push the debt collector over the edge and surrender their collection attempts.

In some cases, especially with larger balance accounts, and if you are comfortable doing it, a phone call to the organization may work even better than a letter. Simply advising them that they have broken the law and you intend to take all legal action at your disposal, including involvement of the attorney general, is enough to close the case. It is important that you record this phone conversation for your records (Texas requires that only one person (you) consent to the recording for it to be admissible in a court of law). In the case of a phone call, you’ll want to speak to the highest level manager you can. While you don’t have to advise the other party you are recording the phone call, it may also be an effective psychological strategy to let them know you’ve been recording the call if they give you a hard time or make any sort of threats.

If there’s one piece of advice we can provide at this stage in the process, it’s CHECK and RECHECK everything. Since we will be communicating directly with creditors, debt collectors, and credit reporting agencies we need to ensure that all of our paperwork, which includes the correspondence we send, as well as the proof that we sent it, is in order. Avoiding mistakes, especially with initial communications, will improve your chances of success and help to ensure victory.

Prior to sending your correspondence always :

• Reread the letter, not once, but twice. Verify that your name, identifying information, the third party’s information, tracking and certification information, and your specific demands are accurate and in order.
• Log your activity, including dates, tracking numbers and brief description of what was done.
• ….