There are legitimate companies that provide services for credit repair, however this field is also renowned for scams, and it is essential to research any business you’re thinking of hiring.
The Federal Trade Commission warns against the use of credit repair companies that claim they will eliminate negative information that is accurate or claim they can assist you in establishing your new identity by using an private number on your credit report.
The Credit Repair Organizations Act requires businesses to provide you with the exact cost of their services along with an estimated timeframe of the time the process will require to achieve results. The law also allows you to have three days to stop services for free.
A reputable business should instruct users on the best way to manage your credit cards to prevent any further harm. Furthermore, a trustworthy company doesn’t promise a specific outcome or even encourage you to be honest.
What can credit repair companies provide?
Legitimate credit repair companies will check your credit reports for any information that isn’t there and then dispute it for you. Writing a credit dispute letter is an effective way to fix your credit score, and there is proof that it works. A lot of them will also look to make sure that the report doesn’t show up.
If the information you have in your credit reports is not in agreement credit bureaus are given 30 days to look into the matter. But, they aren’t required to look into disputes they consider “frivolous.”
One of the mistakes that could be fixed are:
Accounts that aren’t owned by you.
Legal actions like bankruptcy or other in which you are not the beneficiary.
Misspellings can result in negative entries belonging to a person with a similar name, or could cause positive entries to not show up as they are supposed to.
Negative marks that are not old enough to be considered.
Debts that aren’t verified and confirmed.
How much will credit repair cost?
You pay a monthly charge for the repair provider generally ranging between $69 and $149, and the process can last from a few months to one year. It is possible to pay a set-up cost to start the process with, and a setup fee to continue.
Credit repair companies often come in tiered packages that add the associated services, such as the monitoring of credit score or credit history to higher levels.
How to “Fix” Your Credit Yourself
There’s nothing that a credit repair company can legally help you with–not even removal of inaccurate information that you cannot do yourself at a low or no cost. The costs of hiring such company could be significant and range from hundreds or even thousands.
While it’s tempting to delegate the task in repairing your credit with a repair firm It’s crucial to understand what they are able to and cannot do, and to make sure you’re yourself before you make the decision to shell out money to cover their costs.
Can You Pay to Have Your Credit Fixed?
If your credit report contains data that you believe is inaccurate the credit repair firms may offer to contest the data with agency that handles credit on behalf of you. The majority of credit repair companies charge a monthly cost for any work they have done during the month prior or a flat rate for each item that they have taken off your credit reports. But, Experian does not charge consumers or require a specific request form for disputing information and, therefore, this is something you can complete by yourself, for free.
In the case of a month-long subscription that costs about $75 per month, but will vary depending on the company. Same applies to charging a fee for every deletion, though this option is typically $50 or more.
It’s also important to remember it’s not a panacea and in many instances, it could lead to unlawful or even illegal practices through the removal of the information that has been reported accurately to credit bureaus. While some companies will attempt to deny every bit of negative information that appears on your credit reports, it’s not likely that the information accurately reported by the lenders you trust will be removed.
In addition it is true that credit repair businesses aren’t able to do anything that you cannot perform on your own without cost. So it’s a good idea to think about fixing your credit before you spend money on the credit repair services to take care of it for you.
How to “Fix” Your Credit by Yourself
There isn’t a quick solution for your credit. Negative information that is precise (such as late payment, charge-offs or collections account) are likely to be on your credit file for anywhere from seven or 10-years. There are actions you can take to begin building a positive credit score and increase your credit score in the course of time.
