How to Send a Certified Letter to a Collection Agency

You will generally only hear from a collection agency if you are substantially behind in your payments to one or more of your creditors. Collection agencies can either be third-party companies hired by your original creditor or they can be an in-house division of your original creditor. In either case, the contact information for the collection agency will usually be different from that of your original creditor. Sending information to a collection agency via certified mail is a good practice as you can verify the delivery of your letter with the U.S. Postal Service.

Instructions

1

Confirm the valid mailing address of the collection agency. You can typically find a valid address on your most recent communication from the collection agency or in your most recent credit report. If you prefer, you can call the agency directly and confirm the preferred mailing address.

2

Verify you can use the certified mail service. The U.S. Postal Service only allows certified mail to destinations in the United States and its possessions, or to APO or FPO addresses.

3

Get a copy of USPS Form 3800. This is a bar-coded green form that the Post Office requires on pieces of certified mail. Enter the delivery information as requested, then affix the form to the letter above the delivery address and to the right of your return address.

4

Consider getting a return receipt. While certified mail will track your package and allow you to confirm its delivery online, a return receipt provides you with the actual signature of the recipient. This is stronger proof than an online confirmation that your letter was delivered to the correct recipient.

5

Pay the fees. Certified mail will cost you fees in addition to regular postage. According to the U.S. Postal Service website, the additional cost of certified mail is $2.80.

6

Track your letter. On the USPS website, you can enter the tracking number from your Form 3800 and see the status of your letter. You can also call the Postal Service directly if you prefer at (800) 222-1811.