Credit repair: Improve your credit for low
or no-cost help
You may get calls
from telemarketers offering credit repair services. The Scam,
companies’ nationwide, appeal to consumers with poor
credit histories and who are desperate. 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. Desperate
consumers fall prey to this scam. Remember, if it sounds too
good to be true. It is. Some credit repair services get sleazy
when they promise to do a job that’s just not possible.
Unlimited credit report disputes, corrections, and removals
with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and guaranteed deletions
are just some of the promises you hear.
LOW COST LEGAL
HELP An ethical firm
(usually reputable lawyers, not shysters) will not tout miracles,
charge you in advance or make false promises. If they do,
sooner or later the FTC
will find them. Just recently a credit repair company
was shut down and fined by the FTC for making promises it
couldn’t possibly keep, by assuring buyers that they
could remove negative accounts even if accurate and for collecting
money in advance for work yet to be performed.
That’s the
key word. Accurate.The foundation
of credit repair isn’t an industry trade secret.
It’s using the law with your customized disputes to garner
the best possible results. Period. By using existing state
and federal laws, you CAN remove negative information from
your credit reports. The fundamentals aren’t whether
the item is negative or positive. It’s is it accurate.
The FCRA is quite clear
on this issue. If it isn’t verifiable
or accurate, it cannot remain.
It doesn’t
matter what your history, background, or credit record is,
you’ll be amazed at how simple correction can be. You’ve
probably been told that your credit history will stick with
you forever, or it takes years to clean up. While no one can
guarantee you a spotless credit record, real credit repair
is a worthwhile investment, and if the bureaus, collection
agencies, and creditors were doing their job, credit report
repair wouldn’t be the top search online.
People are desperate
because credit reports
DO contain lots of errors. Nearly every consumer
has an error in at least one credit report from one of
the major credit bureaus. Credit bureaus generate your report
they receive from your creditors; they don’t verify it…
Unless you ask. The simple truth is that the credit
bureaus and even furnishers of information must comply
with federal law. Doing so isn’t so easy for them.
You need to leverage that. It will take time, but it’s
a very worthwhile investment.
THE DIY CREDIT REPAIR METHOD
Don’t despair. It’s never
too late to become credit worthy - just get started, and remember
that it won’t happen overnight and you
must commit to doing the work. Doing the work can be justified
in how much money you are going to save if you don’t have
to hire someone AND in rates if you do have an improved credit
report.
While I can certainly
understand the FTC warning us all to avoid credit repair and
scams, what I don’t understand is why they don’t
focus a campaign on just how difficult the credit system
makes fixing your credit. The bureaus don’t work
for us, they make billions and our disputes are a kink in
there rhythm. They sort of help us because they have to, not
because they want to. So, what ends up happening, is the consumer
gets frustrated and seeks out a service to fix their credit
for them, and often, it’s a scam. The FTC moves in,
shuts them down, and reminds us that we can do this ourselves.
Trouble is, people get lost in the process and the FTC doesn’t
tell us that communication with the credit bureaus, debt collectors,
and furnishers of information can be a vicious cycle.
That’s
why it’s important to educate yourself and if
you are going to do the work, do some research online. You’ll
quickly find there are only a handful a really good , reputable
DIY sites and credit repair lawyers. The
highly effective letters that we offer have been proven
to WORK in correcting negative items
on your credit that may be outdated, obsolete, or inaccurate
(unverifiable).
When you combine
the right letters to cut through the bureaucracy of the credit
system, you’ll garner much better results, save money
and avoid mistakes that can cause you more trouble and more
time. Not to mention, you’ll understand the dangers of
dealing with bill collectors without proper knowledge.
To get all three
credit reports
Each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies —
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — is required to provide
you with a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months,
if you ask for it. The three companies have a central website,
a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address for consumers
to order the free annual credit reports the government entitles
them to. To order, click on annualcreditreport.com,
call 1-877-322-8228.
