1. If you spend more than 50% of your credit limit every month, this indicates to the Credit Bureau that you do NOT have enough cash on hand to meet your monthly expenses. This will identify you as a high credit risk and will actually reduce your credit score by 60 - 70 points overnight (Fair Isaac).

2. If you miss 1 or 2 payments on your credit card debt, the issuing company will skyrocket your interest rate to a whopping 27% - 30%!

3. Out of a random sample of 3 million American consumers (included in Experian's National Score Index), 51% of them have at least 2 credit cards and 14% of them have 10 or more credit cards.

Final Debt Payment Letter: Letter to Alert Creditors that You have Sent Payment

If you intend to fully settle a particular debt, writing a check and and marking "Paid in Full" on your checkbook or record book may not be enough to fully relieve you off debt. This is because some debt collectors will refuse to set your account to Zero or forget to do it. In order to avoid this risk, you should use the below sampled debt settlement letter to inform the debt collector that you intend to send payment within 30 days and settle your account to $0. If the creditor does not agree with your payment, he is required to send you a written correspondence letter within 30 days. If he does not send you a written communcation letter, you will assume the credit has set your account to zero.

If the debt collector cashes in your check but does not settle your debt to $0, you will have much more solid ground in the court incase they decide to sue you.
Warning: Do not try to fool your creditor by sending a $100 debt settlement letter when you really owe $1000. This is unethical and stupid! According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, only send this letter if you really believe your last debt payment will settle your debt to $0.

Click here to get an MS Word format version of this letter. A .doc file will open up and save it to your Desktop. This way you can easily retrieve the file.

Today's Date (dd-mm-yyyy)

Your Name
Your Address
Your Phone #

Debt Collector's Name
Debt Collector's Address

RE: (Account # of Debt Owed, Customer Name & Type of Debt)

Mr/Mrs. Debt Collector,

According to my records, I owe $____ on the above referenced account. This letter is to inform you that within 30 days, I will be sending the above due amount of $____ in order to fully settle my Debts with your company. I will then mark this debt as "Paid in Full."

If you do not agree with the above amount that I owe, you are required to send me a written explanation before these 30 days pass. If I do not receive a written correspondence from you within 30 days, I will assume you agree with my payment and will accept this final debt payment. I will also assume you will mark my account as Zero.

If you have any clarifications or questions, you can reach me at (###-###-####) or my Email: ____@.com

Sincerely,

(Your Signature)
(Your Printed Name)