Goodwill Letters

[TheBrokeCouple]

I just wanted to throw the bone out and see if anyone has had any luck writing to your creditors and requesting them to remove certian bad items from your credit report as a measure of "good will"?

I read about this somewhere else and decided to try it out. I wrote letters to each company on my credit report and sent them out on Tuesday. I am waiting for their replies and I will let you know what becomes of them, if anything.

Thanks!

TheBrokeCouple - Indiana

[jennordhavn]

Definitely keep me updated. I have a lot of old baddies and collections on my report and since my filing they have been slowly falling off or reporting as IIB. I want to clean up my reports and raise my score so I can buy a house in the Summer 2011. If there are still negative things on my report in early 2011 I may try this approach. Let me know how it goes for you.

[TheBrokeCouple]

Update!

Well,

I got three replies. One from Capitol one said they would remove the derrogatory remarks. We are now excellent customers with them.

Sears did not have all of the information they needed and I will need to resend the letter to them.

An attorney's office also did not have all of my information included. I will resend and see what happpens.

I guess if you don't ask, you can't know.

[AngelinaCat]

My husband's philosophy on asking questions like that: "If you don't ask the question, the answer is 100% NO. If you ask the question, you have a 50/50 chance in getting the answer you want."

[kvangild]

I'm suprised this works? I guess my thinking is that i bk'd them and they would most likely go tell me to fly a kite. I will be anxious to hear more outcomes

[halloweendmb1]

do you have the template of the letter you write?

[Siena]

I asked a department store if they would remove the late payment from my credit report and reopen the account in exchange for my paying off the balance--this was my attempt at negotiation. The woman told me that it was against the law for them to remove the note on my credit report. It seems she was mistaken. She also said that since they had already closed the account, it was against the law for them to open it again.

(I paid off the card anyway, since it was a closed account and I couldn't use it as a revolving account.)

[TheBrokeCouple]

Sample Letter

Here is a copy of one of the letters I wrote:

I am writing to you today as both a previous as well as an existing customer.
I have recently been reviewing my credit report and have located an old account that is listed with a poor account history, due to my irresponsibility.
I have two children with special needs and it has taken a long time for us to learn how to be more responsible with our money and learned our lesson the hard way about paying our debts on time. We had to file for bankruptcy in 2008 mostly due to medical bills and have started the process of recovery for our future.
Your company was kind enough to extend credit to my husband and myself as well as our first step in recovering from our bankruptcy. We are both very happy with our credit limits and the service that has been provided to us. I am very thankful to your company for this as it has allowed us to prove to you and to ourselves that we are able to be fiscally responsible.
I am writing today to see if your company, as a measure of good will, would be willing to remove the derogatory account information listed on my credit report. My husband and I would like to own a home one day and even this small gesture from your company will help to put us in the right direction.
I thank you so much for taking the time to consider my request.


This worked with Capitol One. All you can do is ask them. If they say no, ask again to a different address...most companies have tons of address you can send letters to. I'm just going to keep at it. Even one positive reply is better than none.