Make sure to get those debt paid letters

Erikan73

Just a reminder to everyone, that as you pay off your debts (especially any in collections), to make sure you get your written confirmation that the debt has been paid in full. These letters can come in handy if you have to dispute things on your credit report. Or in the case of someone I know, he states that he made a settlement payment on an judgement against him but he has no proof of it. So now he has to pay the full amount plus 8 years of interest. To be honest, I'm doubtful he made that payment, but if he did, and would have gotten a confirmation letter, he wouldn't be paying it now with interest.

brij2006

Oooh ouch!

When I paid everything off on Friday, I asked each of them to send me an e-mail confirmation/receipt for the transaction, and I also wrote down the confirmation number along with the exact amount that was paid.

als1982

Can he not get copies of his returned checks, EFT transfers or credit card payments?

simplyelise

Sounds like he had a bad debt @als1982 and so he might (if he actually paid it) be able to find the payment, but since it was a self-negotiated settlement for less than the original debt, it will just look like a payment to be applied to the debt instead of a lump sum accepted as payment in full for the debt. 

MommyLiberty5013

Erikan73 said:

Just a reminder to everyone, that as you pay off your debts (especially any in collections), to make sure you get your written confirmation that the debt has been paid in full. These letters can come in handy if you have to dispute things on your credit report. Or in the case of someone I know, he states that he made a settlement payment on an judgement against him but he has no proof of it. So now he has to pay the full amount plus 8 years of interest. To be honest, I'm doubtful he made that payment, but if he did, and would have gotten a confirmation letter, he wouldn't be paying it now with interest.

A bank statement with an image of a check or ETF info or a CC statement with proof of purchase should be documentation enough to battle this issue. Those documents hold up in court, so he should be able to use them to fight this.

Erikan73

That's what my husband I told him. But he doesn't have a copy of a cleared check, or remember what bank he was with at the time. We told him then to submit to the court that he wanted his debt validated. Because there is actually someone else in the same area with the same name, for all we know it could be this other guys debt. Nope, instead he submitted a letter to the court that he remembers paying a settlement for what he thought was this debt but has no proof of it. So with him acknowleding the debt and that he had no proof, they are holding him responsible. Just goes to show, it's important to keep good records and not to ignore your debts because they don't go away.