Pay For Delete (PFD) Letter
Among all the dispute letters, a pay for delete (PFD) Letter is among the most valuable. Credit repair can be a challenge. Fortunately, there are many avenues to effective credit repair. If you’ve identified some unpaid debts or collection accounts on your credit report, a pay-for-delete letter may be useful to you.
A pay-for-delete is an arrangement made with a collection agency or original creditor to remove an outstanding debt listed on your credit report. The idea is to negotiate these terms before you arrange payment.
Typically, after the collection agency or creditor agrees to remove the item from your credit report (the agreement should be in writing), the debt is paid in full, and then your credit report will be adjusted.
Validate First
It’s recommended that before you try to negotiate a pay-for-delete you send a validation letter to the collection agency. In many cases, collection agencies cannot collect from you if:
• The debt is past the statute of limitations
• They cannot provide an original credit contract
• They cannot verify specific information about the debt
• They cannot prove that they are legally responsible for collecting
If they cannot validate the debt or provide any of the necessary information, they are legally obligated to remove the item from your credit report. However, validated debts are another matter—if they can prove that you owe, you’ll be expected to pay up.
The problem is that collection agencies aren’t obligated to remove the item from your report even after it’s paid. They must only report that the debt has been paid off. The only way to have the item completely removed is by having them agree to it—and that’s where a pay-for-delete letter comes into play.
