6 Tips for Finding the Right Credit Repair Company
Stuart Hunter asked:
Choosing a credit repair company is a big decision. Choosing the wrong company could cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and if they are not successful, you have delayed your goal of a good credit score by months or even years. And if that wasn’t enough, using a fraudulent credit repair service could even get you in legal trouble.
So to help you through this process and help keep you safe from getting taken advantage of, here is a guide to shopping for a credit repair service. Below are some tips you can use to make sure you end up choosing a legitimate credit repair company to help you work towards achieving your credit goals.
Know how the credit system and credit repair work
Before you even begin searching for a credit repair service, you should know the basics of how the credit reporting system works. After all, you wouldn’t go shopping for a new car if you didn’t know anything about how to drive or how cars operate. So make sure before you begin looking for a credit repair service you understand the basics of how the credit bureaus operate, how your credit reports are created, and how they are used, and why it is your responsibility to ensure their accuracy.
Know what a credit repair company can and cannot do
Despite what some credit repair providers would like you to believe, there are no secret tricks to repairing your credit. Credit repair companies use the same methods to clean up your credit reports that are available to you as a result of the numerous consumer protection statutes enacted to help protect you from being taken advantage of by creditors and the credit bureaus. The only difference is that an experienced credit repair company already has the knowledge and experience necessary to take advantage of these credit repair tools. In comparison, it may take you many hours of research and a few months of practice to figure out how to go about effectively restoring your credit.
Look at the services being provided
A credit repair company is legally able to provide all the same credit repair services you can perform for yourself, but this does not mean that all do. Many credit repair services only provide credit bureau disputes which can be effective for some people, but are typically less successful and take more time than pairing credit bureau disputes with other credit repair tactics.
Look for experience and results
While no credit repair company is perfect and ultimately the success of any credit repair effort is dependent on your creditors and the credit bureaus, an experienced company will likely produce faster and more meaningful results than a relatively new company that is still learning the nuances of the system.
Look at the price tag
The goal is then to get the best value for your dollar. To determine this, take into account what services you will be getting for your money and make a best estimate of the relative quality of these services. This should help you get a feel for how companies compare to each other. For example, if one service charges $49 per month for credit bureau disputes and has been operating for only 2 years, you are probably better off using a competing service for $20 more per month that also provides creditor interventions and has been in business for a decade.
Use your common sense
Just as you would at any other time when someone is asking you to part with your hard earned money, when you are looking at a credit repair service, trust your instincts and remember the old adage of anything that sounds too good to be true, probably is.
You should be completely confident that you are making the right decision. It is your credit that is on the line and your money that is being invested. Don’t let anyone pressure you into something that doesn’t feel right.
Choosing a credit repair company is a big decision. Choosing the wrong company could cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and if they are not successful, you have delayed your goal of a good credit score by months or even years. And if that wasn’t enough, using a fraudulent credit repair service could even get you in legal trouble.
So to help you through this process and help keep you safe from getting taken advantage of, here is a guide to shopping for a credit repair service. Below are some tips you can use to make sure you end up choosing a legitimate credit repair company to help you work towards achieving your credit goals.
Know how the credit system and credit repair work
Before you even begin searching for a credit repair service, you should know the basics of how the credit reporting system works. After all, you wouldn’t go shopping for a new car if you didn’t know anything about how to drive or how cars operate. So make sure before you begin looking for a credit repair service you understand the basics of how the credit bureaus operate, how your credit reports are created, and how they are used, and why it is your responsibility to ensure their accuracy.
Know what a credit repair company can and cannot do
Despite what some credit repair providers would like you to believe, there are no secret tricks to repairing your credit. Credit repair companies use the same methods to clean up your credit reports that are available to you as a result of the numerous consumer protection statutes enacted to help protect you from being taken advantage of by creditors and the credit bureaus. The only difference is that an experienced credit repair company already has the knowledge and experience necessary to take advantage of these credit repair tools. In comparison, it may take you many hours of research and a few months of practice to figure out how to go about effectively restoring your credit.
Look at the services being provided
A credit repair company is legally able to provide all the same credit repair services you can perform for yourself, but this does not mean that all do. Many credit repair services only provide credit bureau disputes which can be effective for some people, but are typically less successful and take more time than pairing credit bureau disputes with other credit repair tactics.
Look for experience and results
While no credit repair company is perfect and ultimately the success of any credit repair effort is dependent on your creditors and the credit bureaus, an experienced company will likely produce faster and more meaningful results than a relatively new company that is still learning the nuances of the system.
Look at the price tag
The goal is then to get the best value for your dollar. To determine this, take into account what services you will be getting for your money and make a best estimate of the relative quality of these services. This should help you get a feel for how companies compare to each other. For example, if one service charges $49 per month for credit bureau disputes and has been operating for only 2 years, you are probably better off using a competing service for $20 more per month that also provides creditor interventions and has been in business for a decade.
Use your common sense
Just as you would at any other time when someone is asking you to part with your hard earned money, when you are looking at a credit repair service, trust your instincts and remember the old adage of anything that sounds too good to be true, probably is.
You should be completely confident that you are making the right decision. It is your credit that is on the line and your money that is being invested. Don’t let anyone pressure you into something that doesn’t feel right.
Categories: Credit Tags: Legal Trouble, New Car, Repairing Your Credit
Easy Credit Repair – How to Repair Your Credit in Three Simple Steps
Curt Dillion asked:
A HOAX? Have you seen the commercials about identity theft wrecking a person’s credit? Well, the truth is that if it happens to you, you can get a brand new social security number from the Social Security Administration. You can be sure that the people who make those commercials don’t want you to know about that!
The following two quotes are from the Federal Trade Commission:
“Your credit repair: self help may be best.”
“Credit repair services have been a big problem for consumers. Credit repair firms typically charge hundreds of dollars for their ongoing services, but don’t deliver on their promises.
The Scam: Everyday, companies nationwide, appeal to consumers with poor credit histories. They promise, for a fee, to clean up your credit report so you can get a car loan, a home mortgage, insurance, or even a job. The truth is, they can’t deliver. After you pay them hundreds or thousands of dollars in fees, these companies do nothing to improve your credit report; most simply vanish with your money.”
End of Federal Trade Commission quotes.
You don’t need to pay firms or attorneys to send out form letters once a month that get limited results. Credit reporting agencies recognize these form letters, and treat them accordingly. It’s better, cheaper and faster if you do your own credit repair.
Below is a complete advanced strategy that anyone can use to repair their credit. It should be sufficient to for most credit repair situations.
Here are the three simple steps you will use to repair your credit. It’s easy. I’ll go into detail later in this article.
1. Obtain your three credit reports. Each credit bureau must furnish everyone with a credit report once a year, if it is requested.
2. Review the reports and locate the negative items. Reading the information on a credit report takes a little effort, but it’s not hard.
3. Dispute the items that you want removed or corrected.
Repairing your credit is not as intimidating, or difficult, as it might seem. It’s as easy as writing a few very simple letters. The best letters are short and direct. This point is very important, and I want you to remember it: “the best letters are short, simple, direct, AND DO NOT look like form letters.” Never offer any explanations whatsoever, unless you are giving an explanation of a negative entry in a credit bureau file that you have been unable to repair.
Your BIG GUN is “Debt Validation.” It is the primary tool you will use when repairing your credit. If a credit reporting agency does not properly validate a debt within thirty (30) days of your request, they must remove the entry from your file. “The time limit is often the key to success for repairing your credit.”
Credit bureaus are merely big filing cabinets that take in vast amounts of information every day. They don’t have the time or resources to check all of the information which comes in on a daily basis. Frequently, the information is wrong, and they never question it!
Here are some things that they would rather you don’t know.
- Credit reporting agencies are subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1971 and the Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996.
- Each item in your credit file must be proven or it cannot remain in the file. If the credit bureau cannot validate the item, it must be removed from your file, whether it’s true, or not. Validation is not simply, “yep, they said it’s yours.” It takes some actual effort.
- Every negative entry on your report can be denied or challenged at any time. The bureau must reinvestigate and if that item cannot be verified within a “reasonable amount of time”, (30 days) it must be removed from the file. However, they do have an option to deem your request “frivolous” under certain conditions.
- Many times the creditor does not re-validate in the time allowed, or the credit bureau is busy and does not handle your dispute properly. The disputed entry must then be deleted.
- The older an item is, the more difficult validation is. It is possible it cannot be validated because records may no longer exist after a year or two.
- As of September of 2005, all credit reporting agencies must provide one copy of each individual’s credit report every year, upon request. The three major nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up one central website and a toll-free telephone number, through which you can order your free annual report.
To order your free credit reports, go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228. You must obtain copies of your credit report from all three of these major credit reporting agencies. You should do this every year.
NOTE: These companies ARE ALLOWED to charge you for your “credit score.” They don’t like doing anything for free. But, you DO NOT need your credit score.
A free report is all you need. You only need to see the entries that other people have put in your file. Remove negative entries, and your credit scores will automatically improve.
The Credit Bureaus want you to do everything online. Other than getting your reports online from www.annualcreditreport.com, DO NOT contact the Credit Bureaus online at any time. You must use the postal service for ANY credit repair strategy to work.
When you have received and reviewed your credit report, follow these instructions for any negative entries. Send a very brief letter by certified mail with the following information.”I am disputing this item (or these items) on my credit report. (insert a sentence here which explains why you are disputing the items, ie “you are mis-reporting the information,” or “this account is not mine,” etc.) Please verify and validate it (them).”
NOTE: the word “verify” is a very special and strong legal word. In Black’s Law Dictionary, fifth edition, it is defined, “To confirm or substantiate by oath or affidavit.”
Always use the word verify, in any type of dispute letter. You will probably never go to court over a credit dispute, but if you do, it may be important that you have used the word “verify” in your letters. You will need to make it part of the court record that you asked for verification, and that you know its legal definition.
VALIDATION: A COPY of the original contract with your signature on it is NOT validation. It is no more valid than a copy of a $100 bill, or a copy of one of your checks. Anyone can copy your signature.
There is case law involving The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, which states that validation of the debt can either be a signed judgment order, or an accounting which is signed and dated by the person responsible for maintaining the account general ledger. Credit reporting agencies should be held to the same rules for validation. I’ve never had to go to court for this, but I have successfully used these validation standards for my own clients.
Back to your own credit repair. When the credit reporting agencies receive your dispute letters, they will check the item, or items, that you dispute, and give a brief reply. They have a total of 30 days from the receipt of the original certified mail you sent to them, asking for verification. Wait until there are only 10 days left, and send another certified letter stating: Your alleged validation is not sufficient to show that I am a debtor to that creditor. Remove the entry from my file.
They will have insufficient time to check it out, and they must remove it from your file. If for some odd reason they do provide sufficient validation, it must be 100% accurate, or they must remove that information from your file.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS – only communicate with these people in writing thru the mail. An old axiom is “if it isn’t written, it wasn’t said.”
1. Always send certified letters that make them sign a card when they receive your letter.
2. Always keep copies of everything in a special folder, just in case you ever need to go to court.
3. Always demand an updated copy of your file after the negative items have been removed.
About dispute letters:
- You want to make your letters to look “unprofessional,” so that you don’t raise any Red Flags with the credit bureaus.
- Do not use dispute forms or file numbers provided by the bureau.
- Do not use a “fill in the blanks” form letter.
- Do not use a letterhead.
- Instead, send a simple handwritten letter, or a letter printed from your computer.
WARNING: Do not dispute more than three (3) items on your credit report at any one time. Also, wait sixty (60) days before disputing any other items on your report. There are laws in place which allow the credit reporting agencies to deem your disputes as frivolous if they detect that you are trying to eliminate all negative information on your file.
A word about bankruptcy and other legal items in the public records on your credit report. These items are almost impossible to get off your report without using more advanced strategies.
It is unlikely that you will vastly improve your credit score in thirty days as some promise, but you should see some solid improvement in thirty days. Everyone’s situation is different. In some cases that need only two or three corrections, thirty days might do it.
A HOAX? Have you seen the commercials about identity theft wrecking a person’s credit? Well, the truth is that if it happens to you, you can get a brand new social security number from the Social Security Administration. You can be sure that the people who make those commercials don’t want you to know about that!
The following two quotes are from the Federal Trade Commission:
“Your credit repair: self help may be best.”
“Credit repair services have been a big problem for consumers. Credit repair firms typically charge hundreds of dollars for their ongoing services, but don’t deliver on their promises.
The Scam: Everyday, companies nationwide, appeal to consumers with poor credit histories. They promise, for a fee, to clean up your credit report so you can get a car loan, a home mortgage, insurance, or even a job. The truth is, they can’t deliver. After you pay them hundreds or thousands of dollars in fees, these companies do nothing to improve your credit report; most simply vanish with your money.”
End of Federal Trade Commission quotes.
You don’t need to pay firms or attorneys to send out form letters once a month that get limited results. Credit reporting agencies recognize these form letters, and treat them accordingly. It’s better, cheaper and faster if you do your own credit repair.
Below is a complete advanced strategy that anyone can use to repair their credit. It should be sufficient to for most credit repair situations.
Here are the three simple steps you will use to repair your credit. It’s easy. I’ll go into detail later in this article.
1. Obtain your three credit reports. Each credit bureau must furnish everyone with a credit report once a year, if it is requested.
2. Review the reports and locate the negative items. Reading the information on a credit report takes a little effort, but it’s not hard.
3. Dispute the items that you want removed or corrected.
Repairing your credit is not as intimidating, or difficult, as it might seem. It’s as easy as writing a few very simple letters. The best letters are short and direct. This point is very important, and I want you to remember it: “the best letters are short, simple, direct, AND DO NOT look like form letters.” Never offer any explanations whatsoever, unless you are giving an explanation of a negative entry in a credit bureau file that you have been unable to repair.
Your BIG GUN is “Debt Validation.” It is the primary tool you will use when repairing your credit. If a credit reporting agency does not properly validate a debt within thirty (30) days of your request, they must remove the entry from your file. “The time limit is often the key to success for repairing your credit.”
Credit bureaus are merely big filing cabinets that take in vast amounts of information every day. They don’t have the time or resources to check all of the information which comes in on a daily basis. Frequently, the information is wrong, and they never question it!
Here are some things that they would rather you don’t know.
- Credit reporting agencies are subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1971 and the Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996.
- Each item in your credit file must be proven or it cannot remain in the file. If the credit bureau cannot validate the item, it must be removed from your file, whether it’s true, or not. Validation is not simply, “yep, they said it’s yours.” It takes some actual effort.
- Every negative entry on your report can be denied or challenged at any time. The bureau must reinvestigate and if that item cannot be verified within a “reasonable amount of time”, (30 days) it must be removed from the file. However, they do have an option to deem your request “frivolous” under certain conditions.
- Many times the creditor does not re-validate in the time allowed, or the credit bureau is busy and does not handle your dispute properly. The disputed entry must then be deleted.
- The older an item is, the more difficult validation is. It is possible it cannot be validated because records may no longer exist after a year or two.
- As of September of 2005, all credit reporting agencies must provide one copy of each individual’s credit report every year, upon request. The three major nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up one central website and a toll-free telephone number, through which you can order your free annual report.
To order your free credit reports, go to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228. You must obtain copies of your credit report from all three of these major credit reporting agencies. You should do this every year.
NOTE: These companies ARE ALLOWED to charge you for your “credit score.” They don’t like doing anything for free. But, you DO NOT need your credit score.
A free report is all you need. You only need to see the entries that other people have put in your file. Remove negative entries, and your credit scores will automatically improve.
The Credit Bureaus want you to do everything online. Other than getting your reports online from www.annualcreditreport.com, DO NOT contact the Credit Bureaus online at any time. You must use the postal service for ANY credit repair strategy to work.
When you have received and reviewed your credit report, follow these instructions for any negative entries. Send a very brief letter by certified mail with the following information.”I am disputing this item (or these items) on my credit report. (insert a sentence here which explains why you are disputing the items, ie “you are mis-reporting the information,” or “this account is not mine,” etc.) Please verify and validate it (them).”
NOTE: the word “verify” is a very special and strong legal word. In Black’s Law Dictionary, fifth edition, it is defined, “To confirm or substantiate by oath or affidavit.”
Always use the word verify, in any type of dispute letter. You will probably never go to court over a credit dispute, but if you do, it may be important that you have used the word “verify” in your letters. You will need to make it part of the court record that you asked for verification, and that you know its legal definition.
VALIDATION: A COPY of the original contract with your signature on it is NOT validation. It is no more valid than a copy of a $100 bill, or a copy of one of your checks. Anyone can copy your signature.
There is case law involving The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, which states that validation of the debt can either be a signed judgment order, or an accounting which is signed and dated by the person responsible for maintaining the account general ledger. Credit reporting agencies should be held to the same rules for validation. I’ve never had to go to court for this, but I have successfully used these validation standards for my own clients.
Back to your own credit repair. When the credit reporting agencies receive your dispute letters, they will check the item, or items, that you dispute, and give a brief reply. They have a total of 30 days from the receipt of the original certified mail you sent to them, asking for verification. Wait until there are only 10 days left, and send another certified letter stating: Your alleged validation is not sufficient to show that I am a debtor to that creditor. Remove the entry from my file.
They will have insufficient time to check it out, and they must remove it from your file. If for some odd reason they do provide sufficient validation, it must be 100% accurate, or they must remove that information from your file.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS – only communicate with these people in writing thru the mail. An old axiom is “if it isn’t written, it wasn’t said.”
1. Always send certified letters that make them sign a card when they receive your letter.
2. Always keep copies of everything in a special folder, just in case you ever need to go to court.
3. Always demand an updated copy of your file after the negative items have been removed.
About dispute letters:
- You want to make your letters to look “unprofessional,” so that you don’t raise any Red Flags with the credit bureaus.
- Do not use dispute forms or file numbers provided by the bureau.
- Do not use a “fill in the blanks” form letter.
- Do not use a letterhead.
- Instead, send a simple handwritten letter, or a letter printed from your computer.
WARNING: Do not dispute more than three (3) items on your credit report at any one time. Also, wait sixty (60) days before disputing any other items on your report. There are laws in place which allow the credit reporting agencies to deem your disputes as frivolous if they detect that you are trying to eliminate all negative information on your file.
A word about bankruptcy and other legal items in the public records on your credit report. These items are almost impossible to get off your report without using more advanced strategies.
It is unlikely that you will vastly improve your credit score in thirty days as some promise, but you should see some solid improvement in thirty days. Everyone’s situation is different. In some cases that need only two or three corrections, thirty days might do it.
Categories: Credit Tags: Home Mortgage Insurance, Repairing Your Credit, Thousands Of Dollars
How many of you are in need of credit repair?
mccray_51 asked:
How many of you are in need of credit repair or know how to go about repairing your credit?
How many of you are in need of credit repair or know how to go about repairing your credit?
Categories: Polls & Surveys Tags: Credit Repair, Repairing Credit, Repairing Your Credit
How to Start Do It your Self Credit Repair
Nikola Govorko asked:
Good credit score is necessary if we want to live normal lives. Lots of people make mistake of not paying enough attention to their credit rating even though without good credit many of the everyday things like renting a car, apartment or having a credit card would be unavailable to us.
Each time you do not pay your creditor on time it will be reported to the credit bureau and your credit score will be adjusted accordingly. And in case that it happens often or even you allow your loans to go default, you are going to find yourself in a situation needing credit repair.
Why will you need credit repair? Well with poor credit score you might forget about getting a credit card or a loan of any kind. Well not probably of any kind, but you will be forced to take a loan with a much higher interest rate and because of that your monthly payments will be even harder to make on time.
So how to begin with repairing your credit? You have a number of options here, you can either try a do it yourself credit repair or you can hire a credit repair company to help you.
Your initial research will lead you to a lot of companies that advertise themselves on the web and in newspaper. Most of them use a very aggressive marketing techniques and offer many promises they can not keep.
Be very careful of this promises because simply put there is no fast credit repair. Even if your credit is damaged only by a few incorrect items in your credit report it will take months before those items are cleared.
Also many of these ads are just scams, with all the identity theft around you must think at least twice before giving your sensitive, private information to a company you have never before heard for.
When it comes to do it your self credit repair you should know that whatever a credit repair company can do for you, you can do yourself. What that means is do not listen if somebody promises you a credit repair in a few weeks, credit bureaus work for themselves and are not associated with credit repair companies in any way.
Nobody can erase bad items from your credit report if those items are correct. In most cases a credit repair company will persuade you to challenge all of the negative items on your report.
Sometimes they might even propose engaging in illegal activities, do not take this route, even if it does not get you in a trouble with a law any credit improvement will be only temporary.
Much better way for this is do it yourself credit repair, go online and search for information. The best places for information are well trusted, established credit repair companies and law offices and naturally the government sites.
Step 1 – Get the copy of your credit report from a reputable provider.
Step 2 – Examine it thoroughly for any mistakes, if you find any try to dispute them. Be sure to dispute ONLY the incorrect items.
Step 3 – If you can not find any errors you are in deep credit trouble and will have to go through the complete repair process like debt consolidation and maybe even bankruptcy.
One simple step is to apply for a secure credit card. Just be sure to pay the bills for it regularly and by doing this you will start a slow but steady process of repairing your credit score.
This process will require a large amount of patience and determination from you. But by improving financial responsibility you are going to be in a position to payback your debts on time. By doing so you are going to prove to them that you can be trusted with a credit.
Once again keep in mind that credit repair will take both time and patience, but by undergoing do it yourself credit repair you will profit in the long run.
Good credit score is necessary if we want to live normal lives. Lots of people make mistake of not paying enough attention to their credit rating even though without good credit many of the everyday things like renting a car, apartment or having a credit card would be unavailable to us.
Each time you do not pay your creditor on time it will be reported to the credit bureau and your credit score will be adjusted accordingly. And in case that it happens often or even you allow your loans to go default, you are going to find yourself in a situation needing credit repair.
Why will you need credit repair? Well with poor credit score you might forget about getting a credit card or a loan of any kind. Well not probably of any kind, but you will be forced to take a loan with a much higher interest rate and because of that your monthly payments will be even harder to make on time.
So how to begin with repairing your credit? You have a number of options here, you can either try a do it yourself credit repair or you can hire a credit repair company to help you.
Your initial research will lead you to a lot of companies that advertise themselves on the web and in newspaper. Most of them use a very aggressive marketing techniques and offer many promises they can not keep.
Be very careful of this promises because simply put there is no fast credit repair. Even if your credit is damaged only by a few incorrect items in your credit report it will take months before those items are cleared.
Also many of these ads are just scams, with all the identity theft around you must think at least twice before giving your sensitive, private information to a company you have never before heard for.
When it comes to do it your self credit repair you should know that whatever a credit repair company can do for you, you can do yourself. What that means is do not listen if somebody promises you a credit repair in a few weeks, credit bureaus work for themselves and are not associated with credit repair companies in any way.
Nobody can erase bad items from your credit report if those items are correct. In most cases a credit repair company will persuade you to challenge all of the negative items on your report.
Sometimes they might even propose engaging in illegal activities, do not take this route, even if it does not get you in a trouble with a law any credit improvement will be only temporary.
Much better way for this is do it yourself credit repair, go online and search for information. The best places for information are well trusted, established credit repair companies and law offices and naturally the government sites.
Step 1 – Get the copy of your credit report from a reputable provider.
Step 2 – Examine it thoroughly for any mistakes, if you find any try to dispute them. Be sure to dispute ONLY the incorrect items.
Step 3 – If you can not find any errors you are in deep credit trouble and will have to go through the complete repair process like debt consolidation and maybe even bankruptcy.
One simple step is to apply for a secure credit card. Just be sure to pay the bills for it regularly and by doing this you will start a slow but steady process of repairing your credit score.
This process will require a large amount of patience and determination from you. But by improving financial responsibility you are going to be in a position to payback your debts on time. By doing so you are going to prove to them that you can be trusted with a credit.
Once again keep in mind that credit repair will take both time and patience, but by undergoing do it yourself credit repair you will profit in the long run.
Categories: Finance Tags: Everyday Things, Promises, Repairing Your Credit