Use These Sample Letters From USOPM to Contact Your Creditors If You Have Problems
As we get closer to another week of government shutdown, many laid-off government employees may be struggling with how they are going to pay their bills.
Vacation means that the employee’s vacation has increased slightly, but it also means that he is not being paid. While the government is closed, credit card companies and banks are not, so these employees are still expected to pay things like mortgages and other bills as if they were on business as usual.
If this is you, the U.S. Human Resources Office, which is also partially closed, tweeted some tips on how employees can work with their creditors during closings, as well as some sample letters to send to creditors (Warning: This is a link. doc which will be loaded when you click on it).
At a basic level, it’s a good idea to contact the landlord, mortgage company, or lender, explain the situation, and then ask if they can work with you to offer a canceled payment or a reduced monthly payment before the vacation ends. It’s not a guaranteed solution, but it’s worth a try.
After you’ve negotiated a deal, he suggests sending a letter, possibly by certified mail, directly to the person you spoke to in order to arrange for a deferral. You should also keep a copy of the letter for yourself in case the problem arises later.
Here’s what he suggests to send to your mortgage lender:
Dear (Name of the company or person you spoke to)
This confirms our conversation about (date) in which we discussed the temporary reduction in my mortgage payment.
As we discussed, I am a federal employee who was recently fired for lack of funding from my agency. As a result, my income has been severely reduced and I cannot pay the entire cost of the mortgage along with my other expenses.
As we agreed in the conversation, I will be able to make recurring payments in the amount of _______ dollars. I understand that I will be responsible for paying the remainder of the payments, and when I return to work, I will immediately contact you to develop a plan to reduce the payments. I will also keep in touch with you to keep you informed of my income.
I appreciate your willingness to work with me and your understanding during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
(Name)
The emails are not meant to replace a conversation, but rather as a way to close a deal that was struck over the phone or in person in writing – don’t send one of them without first talking to someone.
If you’re on vacation, it might be a good idea to go ahead and try to close these deals right now. While the outage may end soon, it could also be protracted, which could make it difficult to pay these bills in the future, even if they’re not a problem for you yet.