Collection Agency Debt Sample Letters To Send To Collection Agents
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Want to send a letter to a collection agency to tell them to stop harassing you, but don’t know what to write? In this article, you'll find some sample letters that you can use as an example when creating your own letters. You might also want to take a look at my article Collection Agency Debt Collection - Know Your Rights To Stop The Harassment, in which I outline ways in which you can effectively deal with and curtail collection agencies’ bullying and harassment. By knowing your rights and what collection agencies legally can and cannot do when dealing with you, you can become empowered to stand up to their intimidation tactics, and make them operate with professionalism and within the laws’ outlines.
It is important that you note that this is general information only and is NOT legal advice nor intended to replace legal counsel.Consult with a qualified and competent lawyer to handle your specific case, so that you can make a fully informed decision best for you. Know for yourself what you can and cannot do legally. The governments of Ontario and Canada also have many laws to try and safeguard consumers including the Collection Agencies Act, R.R.O 1990, Regulation 74.
Sample Letter 1 To Collection Agency
If you believe that you do not owe your creditor any money, or if your debt is statue barred, or if you are judgment proof, or if you would just prefer the whole thing be settled in court, a sample letter like this sent to the collection agency and/or the creditor by registered mail may help. Sending the letter by registered mail is very important, because it is your proof that your letter was sent to them. Registered letters are kept on file by the post office, and requires a signature of receipt from the collection agency when it is delivered.
By Ontario Canada laws, collection agencies are supposed to immediately stop calling you, and not contact you at all when you send them a letter disputing the debt and suggest that they take you to court. If after you’ve sent the register letter (which is presumed to have been received after 5 business days), the collection agency continues to call you or send you mail that has nothing to do with taking you to court (don't count the first letter they send to you after the registered mail because they will claim it was already sent or already in the system to be sent), then they are in violation of the Collection Agency legislation. Log every phone call and letter they send to you after you've sent the registered letter, then file a complaint with the Consumers Protection Branch of the Ontario Ministry Of Consumer Services. The collection agency's abuse of the laws may net them a large fine and even loss of their licence, and give you evidence to sue them for harassment. By the way, the “without prejudice” is just a look-official, look-good thing, but it really has no merit if you do go to court.
Sample Letter 1 to Collection Agency
(insert your first and last name)
(insert your address OR your P.O. Box)
(insert your city, postal code (or P.O. Box’s city and postal code))
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
(insert Date)
(insert collection agency name)
(insert collection agency address)
(insert collection agency city, postal code)
Dear (insert collection agent’s name):
(if you don’t have a name use - To Whom It May Concern)
Re: your account # (enter the account number that they gave to you)
This letter is a response to your letter arriving (insert date).
Be advised that I dispute the alleged debt and suggest you take the matter to court. Pursuant to the Collection Agencies Act, R.R.O. 1990, REGULATION 74, you must immediately cease and desist from ALL contact and attempt to contact me.
Regards,
(insert your signature)
(insert your first and last name)
_______________________________________________________
Sample Letter 2 to Collection Agency
If you agree that you owe your creditor some money, and if you don’t mind dealing with the collection agency, but want them to follow the law, a sample letter like this sent by registered mail may help. Sending your letter by registered mail is very important, because it is your proof that your letter was sent to the collection agency, plus it is kept on file by the post office, and requires a signature of receipt from the collection agency.
You are entitled to ask for the information you request in this letter: it's also great information to get for preparation of a lawsuit. Most collection agencies will not respond to your letter, because they cannot provide the proof nor the information you request. They will likely either disregard it, and then continue to hound you as if they had never gotten it, or drop your file back into the collections pile for another collection agency to try their hand at .
If they do send you some information, scrutinize it fully and very carefully to make sure that what they sent to you is all of and exactly what you asked for. For example, the collection agency and collection agent’s licence is something that no collection agency wants to provide, because you will know the agency’s and agent’s information. Need I say more here?
Remember that most collection agencies like to operate in secrecy and in an underhanded, intimidating manner. Be sure to log every phone call and voice mail, and where necessary file a complaint against them with the Consumers Protection Branch of the Ontario Ministry Of Consumer Services. Again, the “without prejudice” in the letter is just a look-official, look-good thing, because it really has no merit if you do go to court.
_______________________________________________________
Sample Letter 2 to Collection Agency
(insert your first and last name)
(insert your address OR your P.O. Box)
(insert your city, postal code (or P.O. Box’s city and postal code))
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
(insert Date)
(insert collection agency name)
(insert collection agency address)
(insert collection agency city, postal code)
Dear (insert collection agent’s name):
(if you don’t have a name use - To Whom It May Concern)
Re: your account # (enter the account number that they gave to you)
Without sufficient information at this time to ascertain whether your collection agency is legally authorized to collect money from me, this is a reasonable request of you and your agency to substantiate whether I have any legal obligation to pay you.
On that basis and to that end, I request that you and your agency provide me with the following good and valid evidence:
1) a valid copy of the original signed contract with the original creditor;
2) a valid copy of the original statements from the original creditor showing the balance amount of the debt owing;
3) a letter from the original creditor to (insert collection agency’s full legal name) that grants (insert collection agency’s full legal name) the authority to legally collect on the debt;
4) proper and complete written notice concerning the debt;
5) valid proof from the original creditor of my clear consent to disclose my personal information to your agency a third party; and
6) a valid (insert collection agency’s full legal name) collector's licence and the collection agent named (insert collection agent’s name as given to you) valid collector's licence for the province of Ontario, Canada.
If you are able to provide me with the proper documentation as requested above, then I may be willing to work with you to negotiate small monthly payments. Note that I do not work and have no individual assets. Furthermore, I ask that you restrict all communication with me to being only in writing only sent to the address noted in this letter.
Regards,
(insert your signature)
(insert your first and last name)
_______________________________________________________
Sample Letter 1 to Creditor
If you agree that you owe money to the creditor, but don’t want to deal with a collection agency, and would prefer to deal directly with the original creditor, you can still send a registered letter like this straight to the original creditor. Realize that the original creditor may take your enclosed payments, but refer you back to deal with the collection agency, and the information that you provide them in the letter as to how much you can pay etc. may be used against you.
Again, sending the letter by registered mail is very important, because it is your proof that your letter was sent to them, plus it is kept on file by the post office, and requires a signature of receipt from the collection agency. Remember that the “without prejudice” is just a look-official, look-good thing, but it really has no merit if you do go to court.
Sample Letter 1 to Original Creditor
(insert your first and last name)
(insert your address OR your P.O. Box)
(insert your city, postal code (or P.O. Box’s city and postal code))
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
(insert Date)
(insert creditor name)
(insert creditoraddress)
(insert creditor city, postal code)
Dear (insert creditor name):
(if you don’t have a name use - To Whom It May Concern)
Re: account # (insert the creditor's account number)
This letter is concerning my (insert creditor name), account # (insert creditor account number). I am wondering if (insert creditor name) is willing to work with me to come to some amiable agreement about payment and settlement.
I believed that I was up-to-date with payments. However, I became aware of the status of the account when (insert collection agency name) called me. As this account is originally with you, I would like to deal directly with (insert creditor name) to resolve this matter.
At this time, I am able to pay approximately $(insert amount you can pay) per month beginning (insert date you can start paying). I am also interested in reaching an early settlement agreement with you. To show my good intent towards clearing up this matter, I have enclosed a cheque for (insert number) payments totaling $(insert dollar amount), as well as (insert number) post dated cheques.
Your timely consideration regarding this request is greatly appreciated. You can contact me at the address provided above. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
(insert your signature)
(insert your first and last name)
Well there you have them. Hopefully these sample letters were useful to you.
___________________________________
callmefoxxy.com, my pen is a mighty sword!
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Hiya Micky Dee! How are you? Been reading lots of you lately. So glad you found it useful! Thanks for your feedback too.
callmefoxxy, my pen is a mighty sword!
Do you know if your account was in collection in 1999 and after the
7 yr period goes by do the collection agencies have the right to keep re saling the account now 2011 and the 1999 account appears once more on my credit report went from a 780 to a 580 what can I do?
Hi Ana T.
You're asking questions with differing answers depending on the specific situation. Since I cannot provide any legal advice, I will provide answers based on assumptions taken from the info you provided in your comment. I would suggest that you get legal advice for your specific situation.
Ok, so in Ontario Canada, you should know that there is NO LIMIT to the time that a creditor can continue to contact you to recoup an unpaid, unsecured debt.
A creditor or their hired representative (collection agency) can continue indefinitely to contact (alright hound) you until you either pay the debt or you are released from paying it by the courts (ex. bankruptcy).
The creditor can be either the original company you had the debt with, the collection agency hired by the original company to collect the debt from you for them, or a collection agency who bought your debt from the original company.
Collection inquiries stay on your credit report for three years from the date of inquiry. What's more, since you still owe the debt (you never paid it off) the creditor and collection agency can continue to make updates to your credit report for six years since the date of LAST ACTIVITY on the defaulted account. Date of last activity is a very important point. This may be why you find your credit rate has dropped.
I'm not quite sure what you are referring to when you say seven year period. However, in terms of time past since the debt began (you say it was in 1999) there are two things I can think of off hand:
One - is that the debt could be statute barred. This would mean that if you made no payment on the debt from 1999 onward (no payment to the original creditor nor to the collection agency) and haven't acknowledged the debt to them since 1999, then in your case, after six (6) years have passed from 1999, as per the Ontario Limitation Act 2002, the creditor cannot take legal action to collect the debt (meaning that they cannot take you to court to sue you for the debt) but they can continue to hound you for it.
It's VERY IMPORTANT to know that the limitation time clocks RESTARTS EVERY TIME YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEBT and or make payments on the debt.
Also if a default on a debt happened after January 1, 2004, then a two (2) year limitation rule applies. If the debt is to the Federal government then a 10 year limitation applies.
Second - There is the seven (7) year period that applies to bankruptcy laws which in effect states that you can claim bankruptcy and be released from your student loan and other debts if it has been fully seven years since you were last a student (the exact wording and details of this law can be found in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act).
Ana T, based on the assumptions here, a quick thought would be to consider looking at your credit report to see what has caused the drop and what your creditors have put on your credit report. Check the dates of last activity on each account. If last activity on the accounts listed occurred more than six years ago and you can prove it, ask the credit bureau to remove the old accounts from your report.
Hope the info is helpful. Good luck with your efforts. Look out for my other upcoming articles to do with credit too.
callmefoxxy, my pen is a mighty sword!
1. The only letter I would ever send is letter #2, but do not EVER make claim to own a debt or say you would consider payment arrangements if they can prove a debt. You are setting yourself up.
I would not include the following from your letter #2, it is irrelevant. You must get them to prove they have a right to even attempt collection from you first (ie do they own the debt or do they have the right to act as "agents" to collect debt on behalf of the original creditor? Not did they buy the debt from the original creditor. And your financial situation is frankly none of their business.
"If you are able to provide me with the proper documentation as requested above, then I may be willing to work with you to negotiate small monthly payments. Note that I do not work and have no individual assets. "
2. If they do not have the right to collect or attempt to collect on a debt (as above) then what the heck are they doing pulling your credit score or making reports on your credit file? Did you give them permission to pull your credit? This is a violation.
Hi Me. Thanks for your comments. Let's see now.... reply to your comments #1 and #2- The main objective of this article is to empower oneself with knowledge in order to try and stop collection agents' harassment: knowledge IS power.
If one chooses to admit to owing a debt, then I'm not sure what you mean by setting yourself up (for what?).
Regardless, if you go back to the beginning of my note on Letter 2, you will see that I prefaced the beginning of Letter 2 with "if you agree that you owe your creditor some money, and if you don’t mind dealing with the collection agency, but want them to follow the law, a SAMPLE letter like this sent by registered mail may help."
Letter 2 is not about getting out of the debt owed, it's making collectors/collection agents know that you know your rights, are willing to make small payments on your terms, as long as they follow the laws (most hardly ever do so, true, but it's worth a try).
Therefore, depending on the outcome that you want to get from a collection agency, in this example, agreeing to make small payments and work with the collectors portrays you as acting in good faith.
I too believe that one's financial situation shouldn't be anyone's business, but if one chooses to take credit from someone, then their financial situation becomes the creditor's business. Usually, somewhere in the contract signed with them, is a clause to let them and their 3rd party representatives (collection agency) in on your financial situation. The law also allows creditors to hire a 3rd party to retrieve on debts owed. As such, collection agents gain the right to collect on the debt, and can find out most of what they need to know about you and your credit/debts (financial situation) from the creditor and through their brotherly network credit club -the credit bureaus.
Providing limited personal info, yet declaring your "judgment proof" status in advance lets the creditor and collectors know that they are wasting their time pushing you for more money or full payment (though they will still try), and for that matter, wasting their time should they try to take you to court.
Let me be real. I am no fan of collectors and despise their tactics. Further, I am outraged by creditors who allow their 3rd party agents to pull these atrocious stunts while hiding behind the pretense of not condoning their methods. I urge everyone to nag their MP for stiffening the laws on violation by not only the collection agencies but the creditors too.
At this time, all we can do is gain as much knowledge as we can to do battle and hopefully win. In the end Me, you must choose how you handle your own specific situation.
Micky Dee Level 4 Commenter 15 months ago
Awesomely useful you foxxy girl! God bless callmefoxxy!