First Goodwill Letter - SETF

Question

Hi everyone -  I will be writing my first goodwill letter and have several examples to pull from but wanted to get some advice from you since you guys know the ins and outs of doing this.   I traded in my car the day of my payment due date on 6/29, and although I realize now I should've went ahead and paid that payment, since this was my first time trading in I assumed the process was rather quick.  I traded it in at a Toyota dealership and the loan was through Southeast Toyota Finance.  Just some backstory, I bought the car in 2012 and in early 2013, unfortunately my longstanding job of 10 years went out of business and I struggled paying it.  I kept in touch with them but I got 2 months behind twice and 30 days behind several times over the course of about 6-8 months.  I finally got another really good job and quickly caught back up in late 2013 and have since paid it on time, every single month without fail.  The late payments really wrecked my credit since I didn't have many credit lines but paying on time for such a long period has helped tremendously.  I was about to break 600 (which for me was a great feat coming from the low 400s) when I traded it in on 6/29. However, the process was not quick and unfortunately, the dealership didn't get the payoff to them until last week.  I kept on them 2-3 times a week.  Granted, the cosigner was sent paperwork to sign off on their portion but the dealership just took their time doing everything.  So needless to say, even though I kept in touch with SETF on my end, they reported at least one late payment, maybe two.  I'm pulling my reports now to see but under myfico, my scores took a huge hit from that.  Which is such a bummer.  Lesson learned that next time, I will just pay the payments until I know it's been paid off.  But the payoff amount included those 2 payments from the dealership so it would've been paid twice in my eyes, but maybe I just don't understand it enough.   So here I am with late payments again and I'm hoping with a goodwill letter, they will take them off after seeing that I've been paying on time for almost 2 years.  I was just looking on their website at the contact info and I can either mail it to a general PO Box address or email them.  Any suggestions? Thanks!

Answer 1

When trading in a financed car, I've called the Creditors and asked them to hold my payment for that month. Gave me time to see if I needed to pay that or if my trade in value was enough to pay off the entire balance, it would without any lapses. Used on Lexus w Cap1 Auto - no missed payments car paid in full during last payment month. Talking a week later than actual billing date. as for GW, one that has worked for me was sincere, friendly, short and to the point and most of all polite. You're now asking a favor and they have you by the short and curlies. "I lost my job and steady income in 2012, but as you can see from after that event, I have made timely payments as I understand the need to hold up financial responsibility" you got this. Go get em.