Locating a Credit Repair Company You Can Trust
- By Dona Barlett
- Published 01/3/2010
- Finance
- Unrated
Dona Barlett
Credit Repair BEST provides information about credit repair as well as a moderated question and answer forum where visitors can learn more about the credit system, how they can make the most of their credit score, and how credit repair companies may be able to help.
View all articles by Dona BarlettTips for Finding a Good Credit Repair Firm
As is the case with automobile mechanics, salesmen, general contractors, and every other profession, there are good credit repair companies and companies to avoid. Below are a few tips for identifying a company you can trust.
1. Find out how long the company has been operating as a credit repair organization. Credit repair is a booming industry with many new participants coming and going all the time. Make sure you select a company with a solid track record that you have confidence will be in business for the long run. You definitely don't want to get stuck with a service that goes under before they are done helping you.
2. Make sure there is full disclosure. There is nothing a credit repair company can do for you that you cannot do for yourself. In fact, credit repair companies are required by the Credit Repair Organizations Act to make you aware of this via a written disclosure statement when you sign up for their services.
On top of this, credit repair services are not guaranteed to work because ultimately, whether or not something gets deleted from your credit reports is up to the credit reporting agencies and your creditors. Be wary of services that guarantee to improve your credit score.
3. Make sure their billing policy is legally compliant.
By law, credit repair companies are not allowed to accept any money before performing the agreed upon services. This is to protect people from con-men who would promise to be able to fix their credit report (often times charging many hundreds or thousands of dollars) and then disappear once the payment was received. It is because of this regulation that most credit repair organizations charge a setup fee for creating your account (which should not be charged as soon as you sign up and will in many cases not be charged for a few days), and a monthly charge after the previous month's worth of services have been provided.
4. Know the trademarks of a credit repair scam. Because so many Americans are desperate to improve their credit but have little knowledge of how the credit reporting system works, scammers have set up phony credit repair clinics that claim to help people but ultimately end up making the situation worse. The Credit Repair Organizations Act was drafted to protect consumers from becoming a victim of a scam by defining rules the credit repair companies must adhere to. Knowing these rules will help you avoid being taken advantage of.
1. Find out how long the company has been operating as a credit repair organization. Credit repair is a booming industry with many new participants coming and going all the time. Make sure you select a company with a solid track record that you have confidence will be in business for the long run. You definitely don't want to get stuck with a service that goes under before they are done helping you.
2. Make sure there is full disclosure. There is nothing a credit repair company can do for you that you cannot do for yourself. In fact, credit repair companies are required by the Credit Repair Organizations Act to make you aware of this via a written disclosure statement when you sign up for their services.
On top of this, credit repair services are not guaranteed to work because ultimately, whether or not something gets deleted from your credit reports is up to the credit reporting agencies and your creditors. Be wary of services that guarantee to improve your credit score.
3. Make sure their billing policy is legally compliant.
4. Know the trademarks of a credit repair scam. Because so many Americans are desperate to improve their credit but have little knowledge of how the credit reporting system works, scammers have set up phony credit repair clinics that claim to help people but ultimately end up making the situation worse. The Credit Repair Organizations Act was drafted to protect consumers from becoming a victim of a scam by defining rules the credit repair companies must adhere to. Knowing these rules will help you avoid being taken advantage of.