credit repair?
Do companies offering credit repair for a continuing monthly payment actually work?
Public Comments
- Well credit repair companies do what you can do yourself but charge you. There are erroneous entries on most credit files and they get them removed but they can't get every negative entry removed like most claim.
- Ehhh....I used one once. Creditattorney.com. They were effective in removing a couple things-one thing of note was I had a bankruptcy listed incorrectly and because it wasn't correct, it got deleted all together which worked out really well. The only other thing they really did was remove the inquires. All in all I didn't find the service worthwhile for as long as it took. Truly, you can send those letters yourself but in my opinion the best thing to do is go to an actual attorney locally and have them help you. I found it real hard to get the credit repair company to do what I wanted them to (such as fixing incorrect things) in the order I wanted it done.
- no. the only thing that works is making payments timely and time itself to repair your credit rating. you should go to www.myfico.com. its a good website that talks about credit and you can get a copy of your report. its extra to get your rating but worth it to do yearly to see progress. if you find a problem, call and they can usually help.
- They may, but they drag out the process to ensure they keep you on the hook longer. I recommend using a "1-pay" non-profit company to attempt to get your score up 90 points in 90 days. Check out the credit repair link at the source website.
- That depends. A legitimate credit counseling service, when used correctly will help. You have to make sure you are using a real not for profit service. There are lots of "for profit" companies pretending they will do this service for a fee, but they don't always come through. Other companies will Clean your credit. You don't want this. They will remove all of your credit, even the good stuff. You'll have to start all over with nothing.
- It depends on the company you use. I recommend United Credit Education Services at www.unitedcredited.com. they are a 501(3)(c) and charge a one time fee for a one year program. The neat think is you can track your progress as you go thru the process in a secure back office that they provide you access to when you enroll as a client. You can also talk with a live customer service rep during normal business hours. You always hear people say "Why pay someone else what you can do for free". I would bet that these people really don't have the best of credit nor are they going to help anyone. I have done this process for years and it is frustrating as will as takes a bit of knowledge to do it properly. Anyone can get deletions the first round of disputes, the true test lies in what there able to do the second, third, fourth and fifth round. Unfortunately their are a lot of scam credit repair company's out there. You just have to do your home work when picking the correct company.
- MC1968c, As many of the other responses point out, there are some companies that are legit when it comes to repairing your credit but the scams actually outnumber the reputable companies. As a manager at my current job I've witnessed some of the folks that work for me seek help with credit repair and credit counseling companies. Unfortunately many of them were scammed in the long run and paid money (they didn't have) to the so called counselors that were suppossed to help them. Best advice I can give you is to obtain your credit report and look for any wrong information. If everythign is good then focus on a plan that pays one bill off at a time until everything is paid off. This should help restore your credit. Especially if you purchase additional items and pay them of. I actually have an article that I wrote on a free credit report site that offers advice on credit repair. It can be found here (there is nothing to buy, just free advice) - http://www.free-online-instant-credit-report.info/article-11-good-credit-rating.html
