Ian Webber asked:


An Urgent Need for Credit Repair



Credit repair has become a necessity. Prior to the recession you could afford to have blemishes on your credit report; lenders didn’t really care. If your credit score was a little low you would simply pay a modestly higher interest rate. Not the end of the world. But along with the recession came the most dramatic credit crunch ever. It started with mortgage lenders as they scrambled to mitigate risk in their real estate portfolios. Over the following year every other creditor followed in step. One thing leads to another and now millions of people are finding that without some form of remedial credit repair effort they are unable to purchase anything on credit.

The Credit Crunch



The severity of the credit crunch has taken many by surprise. In mid-2006 money was flowing freely. The economic froth was beyond anything the world had seen since the roaring twenties. Even then credit repair paid dividends, it’s true, but there was no desperate need. You could purchase a home with credit scores in the low 500s. You might even get an interest rate as low as one percent, albeit an adjustable rate mortgage. But, oh, how times change. Now, for millions of people, the lack of an intelligent credit repair effort can mean no loan at all. And the non-availability of credit can mean real hardship. Just think of something as simple as automobile financing. Can you do without a car? Urban dwellers might get by with public transportation, but that is not the case for most of us.

Is Credit Repair for You?

Credit repair can change everything, and quicker than you may think. Credit repair can be done by you, but for most people it is worth considering employing the services of a professional credit repair service. A professional service will offer comprehensive clean up and restoration with a focus on credit score optimization. If you are shopping for the right credit repair company, make sure they offer more than just credit bureau disputes. Your goal is to improve your score and make your credit as lender-ready as possible. The right company will produce the right results. How about you, are you a candidate for credit repair? If you have examined your credit reports and imagine that there is little benefit to be had, I would like to share a little information that might inspire you to take a step towards credit repair today.

A Lot of Mistakes



Almost three-quarters of all credit reports contain errors. Not all of these errors are significant enough to cause major financial disruption, but a lot of them are. How many? According to a series of studies conducted by public interest research groups over the last decade about half of all credit reports include errors serious enough to cause consumers to pay premium interest rates or to be denied outright for loans. To put these statistics into perspective it helps to know that the three major credit bureaus each report on just over two hundred million Americans. Half of the total is one hundred million. That’s a lot of mistakes. Where do you stand? Here are some things for you to consider.

Your Credit Repair Opportunity



Credit reporting errors are not always easy to spot. You may have multiple errors which could use credit repair attention, and not even know that they are present on your credit reports. One of the most insidious forms of reporting errors is caused by the redundancy of illicit collection accounts. The cause is simple. Collectors buy and sell debt on a regular basis. By law, a collector is supposed to withdraw their reporting of a collection account immediately upon the sale of the debt to another collector. And yet this rarely happens for the simple reason that there is no punishment for compliance failure. Other common errors needing credit repair attention include duplicate accounts, accounts reported as open with balances that are closed and paid, underreported credit limits on revolving accounts, and file merger errors causing other peoples accounts to report on your credit.

Reach Out Today



It’s time to reach out for credit repair help. Shop the internet; call three or four credit repair services before making up your mind. Most legitimate companies offer a free consultation. I suggest that you take advantage of this. You should make a list of questions that you want to ask. Be organized. Think about the issues that are of concern to you. Make notes. It is important to feel comfortable with the company you hire. Take your time and do it right. Your credit repair project is bound to succeed. Good luck!

Copyright © 2009 Ian Webber. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Joseph Feross asked:


When people have credit problems, they don’t know what to do about it. They realize that they are not good money managers or they would not have credit problems. If you are having a hard time managing your finances maybe it is time you contacted a credit repair company for assistance in repairing your credit and learning how you can better take care of your finances. Bad credit can hurt your credit report and also damage your credit score. It is not always easy to repair your own credit without having the right knowledge. A credit repair company specializes in what they do and can help anyone turn around bad credit.

If you choose to get credit repair help, you will need to hire a credit repair specialist. They should be experienced in what they do to get you back on track with your credit. Ask around before choosing a credit repair specialist to make sure you are going with a reputable company that will do what they say.

Most consumers would rather hire a credit repair specialist so that they do not have to do the work themselves. It is frustrating when creditors call asking for money that you know you do not have to give. When this happens, your best bet would be to hire a credit repair service to take care of cleaning your credit up and giving you a fresh start.

We all need to save time these days being so busy with our lives and this is where a credit repair service can come in handy to do the job repairing your credit. These paid professionals can get your credit moving back in a positive direction.

You can learn a lot from hiring a person dealing in credit repair. They will talk to you about how to budget your money among other things to help you better manage your finances. They want to make sure that you do not get back into the same spending habits that created your bad credit.

You can find credit repair services all over in different areas so anyone that is in need of this type of service can get the assistance that they need without much trouble. People from all walks of life need credit repair service. This type of service can change people’s lives by once again giving them the opportunity to get a loan or other types of credit.

You should always find a credit repair service that is reputable so you can trust them to do a good job in repairing your credit. They should be dependable and easy to talk to. The fees that they charge should be reasonable for the services that they offer. The credit repair company must go by certain laws of the state, local and federal government. If they choose not to go by these laws, they could lose their business. A credit repair company offers a great service to help people with their problem credit and improve their credit score.

Jasmine B asked:


I am interested in finding a credit repair company that has proven to have a very positive impact on your credit score. I know that the best way is to do it yourself so I would not like to hear responses from people who have no actual company in mind. Thank you.

2ManyQuestions asked:


I am a mortgage loan officer and always send customers who have credit issues to a credit company to clean off their credit. I know people can do this on their own, but many do not have the knowledge and time to do it. I have also cleaned customers credit myself including mine and my wife`s and friends and family members but i have been doing it for free. How do i go about it in opening my own credit repair company? Where do i start?

Garrett C asked:


I am trying to start a credit repair company but I have not found a company to go through to pull credit. All the companies seem to only work with mortgage companies. HELP!

Jim Kemish asked:


John and Susan declared bankruptcy in January of 2004 and were discharged four months later in April. They were under the impression that there was nothing that could be done to repair their credit following the bankruptcy. They both felt as if they were holding their breath and waiting for the years to pass. In January of 2008 they decided to apply for an FHA mortgage.

They were not really surprised when they were turned down. The mortgage broker told them that their credit scores were in the 400s, but that he thought they should explore the possibility of credit repair. John contacted a reputable credit repair company for a consultation and was surprised to hear that there are many things that can be done after a bankruptcy to clean up one’s credit report.

John signed up for the credit repair program and provided their account representative with a copy of the bankruptcy discharge and the schedule of items included. The credit repair professional gave them some advice about rebuilding their credit and provided several links to secured credit card issuers.

He informed them that these new cards, as small as they are, have tremendous power to rebuild their credit scores as long as they are managed properly. He advised them that the FICO credit scoring model, in use by the majority of lenders, recognizes five levels of card usage – specifically 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 percent. He suggested that they open two new cards each and maintain the balances below 20 percent of the credit limit.

The credit repair company went to work on the post-bankruptcy clean up while John and Susan opened their new secured credit cards making sure to keep the balances in the range that the credit repair professional had suggested. About 45 days later they received updated credit reports in the mail from each of the three credit bureaus. They were surprised to see the number of items that had been corrected.

They contacted the credit repair company to review the results and after going over all of the details were thrilled to hear that the post bankruptcy clean up was completed. No longer were there past due amounts showing on the accounts that had been included in the bankruptcy, nor were any accounts listed in a collection status. In fact, their credit report looked so clean that they could hardly recognize it.

The credit repair representative explained to them that unlike other derogatory information that ought to be disputed in a paced manner to avoid being rejected by the credit bureaus, bankruptcy issues should be addressed all at once. So, much to John and Susan’s surprise, they found that that had already successfully completed their credit repair program.

The credit repair representative spent some time coaching them about debt management and the ongoing handling of the new credit cards. John and Susan could hardly believe their ears when the credit repair representative suggested that they consider reapplying for the mortgage in another five months, just enough time for the new secured credit cards to produce a positive impact on their credit scores.

And, so it was that in the first week of July 2008, only six months after contact the credit repair company that John and Susan returned to the mortgage broker and asked to reapply for an FHA mortgage. The mortgage broker was surprised to see them and even suggested that it was a bit soon for their credit scores to have improved much from the 400s that they had been in January. But when he ran the credit he was amazed at what he saw.

John and Susan’s credit scores were in the mid 600s, a full 200 points above where they had been only 6 months prior. The mortgage broker was thrilled to complete the application. The next day the mortgage broker called Susan at work and told her the great news; she and John had been approved for their mortgage and qualified for the lowest available FHA interest rate.

Last week John and Susan moved into their new home. It’s a beautiful three bedroom, two bath ranch on half an acre just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. John has already purchased a new grill and a lawn mower. A couple of days ago Susan surprised John by bringing home a new member of the family, a two year old Golden Retriever from the local pound. Yesterday they got on two phone lines in their new home and called their credit repair representative to thank him for his guidance and to share all of their life changing news.

Copyright © 2008 James W. Kemish. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Joseph Feross asked:


There are good companies out there that can help you with credit repair. Their credit repair services are legal and they don’t look to get over on you by charging extravagant fees. They use good ethics and go about the proper way of helping you clean up your credit. They lay out all of the information that you need to know about improving your credit score.

A good credit repair company will abide by the local, state and federal laws that protect consumers from being scammed from companies that claim to offer credit repair with credit repair services. This includes the following federal laws: The Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Credit Billing Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

A legitimate credit repair company will operate their business with the utmost integrity. They will use credit repair services to legally help you. Legal credit repair can help you get the results you need in order to improve your credit and increase your credit score. A good company will go through the legal process in order to help you get erroneous or outdated items removed from your credit report.

They will keep you abreast of what is going on with your credit and how the credit repair process works. Credit repair services can work to get you out of dire straits with your credit. The company will advise you with information that you need to know in order to make changes and improve your credit and financial situation. They will also advise you as to how you can create a budget and learn not to spend so much money. Excessive spending is what gets most people in a credit and financial rut.

A good credit repair company uses the Fair Credit Reporting Act to get some of those items removed from your credit report. They also help you with other credit repair services such as loans or just creating a repayment plan that you pay to them. The payments must be timely in order for you to see an improvement in your credit report and credit score.

It’s important for a good credit repair company to be realistic with their clients. Depending on their situation, it could take a few months or a year or more to get your credit back in working order. Credit repair services work to help you to get you back on track with your credit. Having your credit back in shape is one of the best things you can have. It’s your lifeline to getting goods and services on credit.

A good credit repair company will not scam nor trick you into doing things that are not legal or ethical. If they did that, they would be out of business in an instant. Having a good company to provide the credit repair services that you need is a win-win situation for you and them. If you approve of their services, then you may want to refer someone else who needs some assistance on some of the same or related issues.

c-limeade asked:


I am aware that I can do this myself but I don’t have time to do it myself. Can anyone refer me to a good legit credit repair service. This question is ONLY for people who have used a credit repair service so please don’t answer if you haven’t used one. I don’t have any bankrupt or liens or anything that serious, but I do have a lot of collection, late payments, 1 charge off, and 1 repossession and a lot of inquires.

Stuart Hunter asked:


There are few topics as polarizing as credit repair. Depending on who you talk to, credit repair is usually thought of as impossible, illegal, something you can only do yourself, or something you need professional help to perform. Rarely do you find someone with a perspective on credit repair that is not at the far end of one of these extremes.

The fascinating thing is that in most cases, whatever people believe to be true will be true for them.

The poster on the Yahoo! Answers forum who states that “there is NO SUCH thing as Credit Repair….it’s a scam….” will never realize any benefits from repairing their own credit. By believing that credit repair is impossible, they are fulfilling their own prophecy by ignoring their rights to dispute their own credit. By not believing it can be done, they are proving their own point. This person, and every other person who ignores the possibility of credit repair, will fall into the category of people whose credit scores will only improve through the passage of time.

The same is true of people who believe that credit repair companies do not work. Another poster on Yahoo! Answers stated that

“There is no such thing as repairing your credit through someone else. If they can, they are doing this via an illegal way and be extremely careful, as it can end YOU up in jail and fined.

The ONLY way to repair credit is to do it yourself.

Pay your bills on time ;o)”

Along with being misinformed about how the credit repair process works, this person is letting their flawed knowledge keep them from so much as investigating the possibility that a credit repair company may be able to help them out. Once again, in believing that it is impossible for a credit repair company to provide any value, this person has assured that they will never receive any value from a credit repair organization.

It is truly astounding how many people out there believe that credit repair cannot work and credit repair companies are nothing but scams. It is also unfortunate that it is these voices that seem to be the loudest because not only are they making credit repair an impossibility for themselves, but they are convincing so many other people to not even attempt to repair their own credit.

What is equally astounding is how these people can be so passionate about outing credit repair as a pipe dream and a scam when there are so many other people out there who are living proof that credit repair does in fact work. These are the people who have allowed for the possibility that their credit could be repaired and realized the truth about their credit reports.

It is hard to believe that anyone could completely dismiss the idea of credit repair when there are stories like this:

“I signed up for [credit repair firm] a couple of years ago. They basically write a couple of letters a month on your behalf to either businesses or credit reporting companies asking for verification of debt, that kind of thing, or if you instruct them, actually challenging the debt. After a few rounds of this, negative credit items start to fall off your report. You can totally do this yourself, but it’s been worth the cost to me (something like $40/month) since I am too lazy to regularly write this kind of letter. I also like how when the credit bureaus do bother to write back, they’re always pretty whiny and pissy about it.

Some people seem to think this is some kind of scam (like, paralegals write the letters on your behalf instead of attorneys, and some people don’t seem to understand that when you give an attorney “power of attorney,” they can write letters as you), but I think it’s a fair price for something I was too lazy to do myself. Ultimately, they pretty much got rid of all the negative items on my report except for the ones that were at least semi-legitimate. (I’m not going to pay a parking ticket I got five years ago in a state I’m not going back to.) The ones they did get rid of were things like AOL continuing to charge a credit card after a) I had cancelled the AOL account, and b) I had cancelled the credit card! It just wasn’t worth my time to chase this down with AOL or the credit card company.

It’s annoying that I’m responsible for fixing something that this bogus industry screws up in the first place, but other than that, I’m a happy “credit repair” customer.”

People who believe that credit repair is impossible will never see any benefit from it. People who believe that credit repair can only be done by themselves will only see the benefits of their personal efforts. People who believe that credit repair companies do not work will never invite the opportunity to have a credit repair company work for them.

Ultimately, when it comes to credit repair, we all create our own truths. All anybody can ask of you is to perform your own research instead of letting others choose your truths for you.

Jordan FeRoss asked:


You can find many good credit repair companies that are available to help you with your credit. These companies do not try to charge you outrageous fees for their services. They operate a legal business of changing and cleaning up their customer’s credit to get them back on track again. A credit repair service can explain to you how they operate and how they plan on helping to improve your credit.

The credit repair company will have to follow certain laws such as state, local and federal laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Billing Act and help protect people from being scammed by companies claiming to offer such services.

A credit repair company will take pride in how they operate their business offering the best credit repair services available. What they do can legally help your credit situation to improve over time. This will also improve your credit score in the process. Anything that is incorrect or outdated can be removed from your credit report when dealing with a credit repair company.

A credit repair company can keep you up to date on what is happening with your credit and how they can help. If you have poor credit, they will work to change that for you by improving your credit situation. They will give you expert money managing tips so that you can start to improve your financial situation for the better. Saving money can be your first step in straightening out your credit.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is used by credit repair companies to help get items removed that are inaccurate from your credit report. The credit repair company can also assist your with loans and repayment plans if need be. In order to improve your credit your payments must be made in a timely manner every month.

A credit repair company should always be upfront with their customers about how they work. Depending on the person and how bad off their credit really is it could take a year or more before their credit has improved. Getting your credit back in good order is one of the best things you can do for your future. You will once again be able to get loans for important things such as a home or automobile. A credit repair specialist can help to make good things happen for your credit in the future.

A reputable credit repair company will not try to trick you into doing things that are not legal. They are a business like any other that if not ran properly could go out of business. They are around to help people out improving their credit situations. If you like how you are treated and approve of the services that are offer to you then you may want to recommend them to someone else that is in need of credit repair. By managing your money wisely, you can avoid getting into the same credit problems in the future.