Many businesses will send a Collection Letter and make every attempt to collect money owed before taking a person to court. The following Sample Collection Letter shows a collection attempt being made to avoid court proceedings.

Furniture Shop
Street Address
City, State, Zip

Date MM/DD YYYY

Dear Mr. Schilling:

How can we try to persuade you to pay your delinquent account? We have tried several different suggestions for extending the payment period, for arrangements for making smaller monthly payments, for getting help from lenders, and for you to at least, discuss this matter with us.

Now, we have come to the end of our own resources. We must now seek help from outside our own company. We have consulted with our attorney and were advised that we have several options available to us for collecting our money.

We are very much interested in resolving this issue with you without going to court and, therefore, have decided to extend your credit for 30 days from the date of this letter.

To avoid legal action, we must have your check for $5, 673.98 on or before (date, MM/DD/YYYY).

Sincerely,

Nancy Goodgal
Office Manager