Getting Help With Your Credit
Selecting a credit repair company
Credit repair is not a quick or cheap process. If you are serious about legally repairing your credit reports, you should expect to wait six months or more depending on the quantity and type of negative items on your credit reports you want to dispute. This much work from a typical credit repair company will likely end up costing you a few hundred dollars.Choosing the right credit repair company is vital because, even when a company has a money back guarantee, if they are not able to get results, you are stuck in your current credit situation for a year or more (six months for ineffective service and another six months waiting for the job to be dome correctly). If you are stuck paying high interest rates because of bad credit, ineffective credit repair service could mean hundreds of dollars in payments while waiting for your credit to improve.
When choosing a credit repair company
When considering a credit repair company, you should know what to watch out for. The Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) provides rules for how a credit repair company can operate. Credit repair companies who do not follow these rules should be avoided.Watch out for credit repair companies who:
- Charge large upfront fees
CROA says that credit repair companies are not allowed to charge for services until they have been performed. Set up fees can only be collected after an account is set up and monthly payments have to be collected after work has been completed for the month. Stay away from credit repair companies who charge large upfront fees. - Guarantee results
No company can guarantee that they will be able to remove any items from your credit reports. They are, however, permitted to offer money back warranties if they are not able to do so. - Create a new credit report
Companies who claim to invent a new credit report for you, also known as file segregation, are operating on the wrong side of the law. Never work with a company like this. Not only is file segregation illegal for a credit repair company, but it could get you in trouble with the law as well.