Author: Alonso Pinar Jiménez

What to say when you are current, when you are behind, and when it has been sold. Word-for-word openings, and the four things never to say.

Debt buyers revive accounts that are years old and unenforceable. The one thing you must not do — and why a $20 payment can cost you thousands.

Benefits are protected from ordinary creditors, and your bank must automatically protect recent direct deposits. The federal debts that are the exception.

They may contact others once, to find your address — and may not reveal that you owe a debt. What that means for calls to your parents, spouse or employer.

A goodwill letter can remove a late payment on an account you have paid. It cannot help an unpaid debt or a collection. Here is the letter and the odds.

Collectors are not required to agree, and some will. Here is the letter, when it actually works, and why the agreement must come before the payment.

Never pay a settlement without these four clauses in writing. Copy the offer letter, the confirmation letter, and the paid-in-full request.

Send it within 30 days of first contact and collection must pause until they verify. Copy the letter, the five items to demand, and how to send it.

A charge-off is your bank's accounting entry. A collection is a tradeline from whoever bought the debt. Seeing both is normal; two balances is not.

Not automatically — it needs a separate request and an undue hardship finding. The process became far more workable in 2022, and most people never heard.