Be Wary of Credit Repair Companies

It is almost impossible to open your email or browse online without stumbling across ads to repair your credit. Companies that promise instant and remarkable improvements to your credit cannot deliver on their word.

With credit at a premium, families are suddenly finding that they may be rejected for credit cards, loans, and mortgages. The temptation to pay for these services for a quick fix can be tempting. While there are steps that consumers can take to repair bad credit, these steps require little to no money, just time.  There is usually no reason to pay someone to do these things for you, and no one can or should promise to improve your credit. 

Credit repair companies often recommend or use fraudulent and illegal methods to repairing credit.  For example, some companies will send multiple credit disputes of negative records to the credit reporting agencies, claiming that information is incorrect, under the law that information must be verified as accurate within 30 days or should be removed from your record. Accurate, negative information should not be disputed, and this information can be added back to your record once it’s verified as accurate.

Another fraudulent method they may recommend is that you open a new social security number or employer identification number. Be wary of companies that require money up front and recommend that you do not contact credit agencies yourself.

Keep in mind that any legal, ethical method to repairing credit can be done by you, without any fee.  This includes sending a 100-word statement to the credit agencies, explaining your delinquencies, disputing any inaccurate information, and continuing to pay bills on time.