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CREDIT REPAIR AGENCIES
If you have bad credit and overwhelming
debt, you have probably noticed those
commercials for companies that claim to be
able to eliminate your debt and repair your
credit. Sounds like a good deal, but is it
really legitimate? Before you decide to
commit any credit repairing agency, make
sure you have the following questions
answered. This will help you determine
whether or not the service is really going
to be beneficial for you, or if it just a
scam.
What will your credit repair agency be
able to accomplish for me?
Any legitimate credit repair company is
obligated by law to provide you with a
contract that details their exact plan and
what they anticipate on doing for you. The
first thing most reputable companies will do
is analyze your credit report and look to
eliminate any listed errors. Any information
that is not in the contract should be
disregarded. For example, companies that
scam will claim that they will be able to
erase your bad credit. This is impossible
and is not going to happen.
** We suggest that you
get a copy of your credit report as well
so that you are aware of what is your file.
How long is it going to take to achieve
these goals?
As mentioned, any legitimate credit
repair agency is going to include all
information in their contract, including
their estimated times of completion in their
contract.
How much is this service going to cost? How
frequently am I going to have to make
payments for these services?
All payment terms and amounts that you are
going to be charged must be clearly stated
in the contract they present to you. Also,
no payments can be requested until after
their work is completed. Be aware that
scamming companies will often present you
with additional offers while in the middle
of services. For example, they may say that
they can bring your credit score up for a
small fee. It is impossible for them to
improve your score. What they are likely
basing their claims on is the improvements
that will occur as a result of their
original work of removing errors from your
file....which you are already paying for.
Is their any guarantee provided by the
credit repair agency?
Any promises and/or guarantees must be
disclosed in their contract.
Where is the company located? What is their
contact information? How long have they been
in business?
You should never do business with anyone
or any company that is not willing to
disclose you with their business name and
address. Once this information is obtained,
you should research with the BBB to see if
the company has any complains reported
against them. Also make sure that they are
licensed in your state.
Where is my copy of the "Consumer Credit
File Rights under State and Federal Law?"
Any real company is going to provide you
a copy of this report prior to you signing
anything. This is a small document and
should be pulled from the Internet as soon
as you can. It is good to have this
information. It informs you of everything
and anything an agency can do for you. It
also tells you in black and white that a
Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) can only
remove accurate information about your
credit history if it is more than seven
years old.
In conclusion...
If even one of the above questions can
not be answered by a company you are
potentially interested in doing business
with, don't use them! Better yet, before you
pay someone else, learn how you can
eliminate debt on your own.
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