Collections, Charge Off Required to Approve Short Sale - Part 2

Here is where I'm going to show you how to remove the collection account you get after the short sale of your house closes. Timing of your response is important. Hopefully, you won't receive the first contact for about 6 months. If it's sooner, then you just start sooner. I say 6 months because that gives plenty of time for the lender to archive the file and not be able to produce what ever the 3rd party collector might try to get from them to validate.

As soon as you get the first letter in the mail, respond with a letter demanding validation. Do this within the first 30 days of receiving the letter. DO NOT SIGN THE LETTER IN YOUR OWN HANDWRITING! Make a copy for your file, send it CMRR and keep the receipt. Look for that green proof of service card to come back to you and keep it in the file.  That's all you will do for now.

If they contact you by phone to collect, you will send them a limited cease and desist letter. This letter tells them that all contact to you must be in writing and not on the phone.  If they call you after you have sent the letter requesting/demanding validation, they have committed one of their first violations worth $1000 to you.  Document the date and time of the call, company name and name of the person, plus title (if they have one) of who called.  Keep this in your file.

Should they send you a bill at this time, they have also committed a violation.  Keep that letter in your file along with the envelope it came in. You want to be able to show that the date you received it is after your demand for validation.  They may attempt to send some kind of validation instead of a typical bill. However, if they claim that you owe it with some kind of print out, it is just a cleverly disguised bill and still  not validation and still a violation.

You next respond to their bill or amateur attempt at validation with another letter. This letter to them will state that though you appreciate their effort, that is not validation and now they have violated the law because what they sent you was collection activity. Let them know that you are documenting everything and that unless they can validate within the next 15 days, they must remove any and all negative reporting and close the account. They must agree that they will not sell the account to any other party and a violation of that will cause them to be liable to a suit you may file.

In order to make this work you will be inserting a self executing contract into the letter.  With this letter, you will include a notice and declaration of fraud against the original creditor. You can actually send this with the first demand for validation you send them.  The reason I like to send it on the second letter is because I like them to rack up the violations, thereby increasing the amount that they will actually owe my clients.

You can actually repeat this process again and tell them last chance, you're feeling a bit generous. Give them another 15 days to respond, on point, hand signed, on letterhead and notarized.  The beauty of this is that you are letting them mount up violations on something they cannot possibly validate!

But this is only half of the plan of action! It gets better. Well better for you, worse for them, and possibly the credit bureaus.  Stay tuned for part 3 where I show you how to get it off your credit report!