Bad Credit Repair

(The Anatomy of a Credit Repair Letter)

Bad credit repair involves a lot of steps, and one of those steps usually involves writing letters. At some point in your bad credit repair efforts you may well need to write a persuasive letter to a credit bureau, lender, or other financial institution. The purpose of your credit repair letter may be to have incorrect or outdated information removed from your credit file, to negotiate re-payments, or notify a credit card company about possible identification fraud. Whatever the reason for the letter, the basics of an effective letter remain the same. In this article we will inspect the anatomy of a credit repair letter.

All of the elements of a credit score repair letter are designed to concisely and effectively get your point across, while containing the details needed to document your efforts. Let's dissect the typical credit repair letter to see what makes it tick.

Always include your complete contact information at the top of the letter so that the recipient knows how to get in touch with you. For example,

Your full name (as found in their records)
Your complete street address
City, State, Zip Code

The next item in the bad credit repair letter should be date on which you wrote the letter. This is important for tracking the flow of correspondence between you and the financial institution or credit bureau. Then include the complete address of the recipient of the letter. It's important that you use the correct address for customer correspondence. Lenders, collection agencies, and credit bureaus often have a confusing number of addresses they use. For creditors, if you don't see an address specifically identified for customer correspondence on your statement from them, call them and ask for it. If you have the name of a specific customer service representative who asked for the information you are sending, include that as well. For example,

Name of person
Complete company name
Correct mailing address
City, State, Zip Code

The salutation is very simple - "Dear name of person:"

In the first paragraph of the bad credit repair letter, state in no more than one or two sentences the purpose of the letter. For example, "I have received a copy of my credit report, and I am writing to notify you that the following information is incorrect." Then state the specific information, in a bulleted list if there are multiple items. If you have an account number, of if they have provided you with a case number, be sure to include that in your credit bad credit repair letter.

Conclude your letter with a courteous, professional closing. For example,

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Your signed name
Your printed name

It never pays to get nasty or personally abusive in the letter. After all, your dispute is most likely with the financial institution, not the individual person who will be reading your letter. It also does not help your cause to quote the law in your written correspondence. That only increases the amount of verbiage the reader will have to wade through to get to the point of your letter.

Be sure to include documentation that backs up your case, such as cancelled checks or bank statements. But never send the originals - make copies of any documents you include. Also make a copy of the letter you are sending.

And finally, proof-read your letter before sealing the envelope. Make sure you have shared your point of view in the most direct, and concise way possible. Follow these tips and you will increase the chances that your credit repair letter will be successful.

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