Credit Repair Services: What Really Works?

What Legitimate Credit Repair Services Can Actually Fix on Your Report

Credit repair services have a reputation that is all over the place with some people swearing they helped boost their score and other people saying the whole industry is a scam and the truth is somewhere in the middle because legitimate credit repair services can help with certain things but they cannot do the magical stuff that the sketchy companies promise. Legitimate credit repair services work by reviewing your credit reports from all three bureaus and identifying errors inaccuracies and unverifiable information that is dragging down your score and then they file disputes on your behalf to get those negative items removed if the credit bureaus cannot verify them within the required timeframe. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute any information on your credit report that is inaccurate incomplete or unverifiable and credit repair services are basically just doing this process for you in exchange for a monthly fee. What credit repair services absolutely cannot do is remove accurate negative information from your credit report no matter how much you wish it would go away because if a late payment or a collection account is legitimate and verifiable it stays on your report until the seven year reporting period expires and any credit repair services that claim they can remove accurate negative items are lying to you. Credit repair services also cannot create a new credit identity for you or give you a new social security number or any of that nonsense because those are straight up scams that can get you in legal trouble and any company suggesting that is running a criminal operation not a legitimate credit repair business. Legitimate credit repair services can be helpful if you do not have the time or the knowledge to go through your credit reports line by line and file disputes yourself but everything they do legally you can also do yourself for free.

DIY Credit Repair Steps That Work Better Than Paying a Company

Before you pay a credit repair services company a monthly fee you should try the DIY approach to credit repair because the process is not that complicated and doing it yourself saves you money and gives you a better understanding of your own credit situation which is valuable knowledge that keeps you from making the same mistakes again. Start your DIY credit repair by getting your free credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com and going through each one carefully looking for any accounts that are not yours incorrect payment histories accounts that should have aged off but are still showing and any other inaccuracies that are hurting your score. Write dispute letters to the credit bureaus for each error you find and include copies of any documentation that supports your dispute and the credit bureaus have thirty days to investigate and respond and if they cannot verify the information it has to come off your report. Another DIY credit repair strategy that actually works is negotiating pay for delete agreements with collection agencies where you offer to pay the debt in exchange for them removing the collection from your credit report but get the agreement in writing before you pay because otherwise they might cash your check and leave the collection on your report. If you have a personal loan bad credit situation or high credit card balances paying down those balances is one of the fastest ways to improve your score because credit utilization is the second biggest factor in your score after payment history. And for people who are just starting to rebuild after a rough patch getting a secured credit card and using it responsibly is a DIY credit repair strategy that builds positive payment history and gradually improves your score over time without paying a credit repair services company a dime.