Debt Made Me Build KiteCourier

January 26, 2026

I read a patio11 comment on Hacker News years ago about disputing debts under the FCRA/FDCPA.

The shape of the system stuck with me:

  • there’s a process
  • there are clocks
  • there are receipts
  • and if you can’t run the process, your rights are mostly theoretical

Then I got to live it.

Stuck in a loop

I had medical debt to dispute.

The advice is simple: dispute it in writing. Often: send it certified mail.

So I did the ritual:

  1. print the letter
  2. sign it
  3. stuff the envelope
  4. drive to the post office
  5. pay for certified
  6. keep the receipt like it’s a golden ticket
  7. wait

And then the debt gets resold.

New owner. Same problem. Same ritual.

Certified mail is supposed to be the "official" way to push back. But the interface is: paper, ink, and standing in line.

If you’re already stressed, the logistics become the friction that makes you quit. And quitting is often the business model.

So I built the thing I wanted to exist

I built a tool so I could push back without turning it into an errand:

  • write the letter
  • click send
  • get the tracking
  • keep the receipts

No printer. No envelopes. No post office.

That became KiteCourier.

Then I realized it wasn’t about debt at all

Once we had it working, the pattern became obvious:

Nobody wants to deal with mailing.

Certified mail shows up everywhere:

  • landlord/tenant notices
  • demand letters
  • compliance letters
  • HR and employment stuff
  • vendor disputes
  • "I need proof I sent this" situations

So we expanded it into a general legal-notice / certified-mail service.

Not legal advice. Not "gotchas."

Just: make the paper trail boring and reliable.

If you’ve ever had to send certified mail repeatedly (or had a situation where proof-of-sending mattered), I’d love to hear what it was.

KiteCourier is at kitecourier.com.