Choosing a credit repair company is a big decision. Choosing the wrong company could cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and if they are not successful, you have delayed your goal of a good credit score by months or even years. And if that wasn't enough, using a fraudulent credit repair service could even get you in legal trouble.
So to help you through this process and help keep you safe from getting taken advantage of, here is a guide to shopping for a credit repair service. Below are some tips you can use to make sure you end up choosing a legitimate credit repair company to help you work towards achieving your credit goals.
Know how the credit system and credit repair work
Before you even begin searching for a credit repair service, you should know the basics of how the credit reporting system works. After all, you wouldn't go shopping for a new car if you didn't know anything about how to drive or how cars operate. So make sure before you begin looking for a credit repair service you understand the basics of how the credit bureaus operate, how your credit reports are created, and how they are used, and why it is your responsibility to ensure their accuracy.
Know what a credit repair company can and cannot do
Despite what some credit repair providers would like you to believe, there are no secret tricks to repairing your credit. Credit repair companies use the same methods to clean up your credit reports that are available to you as a result of the numerous consumer protection statutes enacted to help protect you from being taken advantage of by creditors and the credit bureaus. The only difference is that an experienced credit repair company already has the knowledge and experience necessary to take advantage of these credit repair tools. In comparison, it may take you many hours of research and a few months of practice to figure out how to go about effectively restoring your credit.
Look at the services being provided
A credit repair company is legally able to provide all the same credit repair services you can perform for yourself, but this does not mean that all do. Many credit repair services only provide credit bureau disputes which can be effective for some people, but are typically less successful and take more time than pairing credit bureau disputes with other credit repair tactics.
Look for experience and results
While no credit repair company is perfect and ultimately the success of any credit repair effort is dependent on your creditors and the credit bureaus, an experienced company will likely produce faster and more meaningful results than a relatively new company that is still learning the nuances of the system.
Look at the price tag
The goal is then to get the best value for your dollar. To determine this, take into account what services you will be getting for your money and make a best estimate of the relative quality of these services. This should help you get a feel for how companies compare to each other. For example, if one service charges $49 per month for credit bureau disputes and has been operating for only 2 years, you are probably better off using a competing service for $20 more per month that also provides creditor interventions and has been in business for a decade.
Use your common sense
Just as you would at any other time when someone is asking you to part with your hard earned money, when you are looking at a credit repair service, trust your instincts and remember the old adage of anything that sounds too good to be true, probably is.
You should be completely confident that you are making the right decision. It is your credit that is on the line and your money that is being invested. Don't let anyone pressure you into something that doesn't feel right.
Legal credit repair service is a lucrative industry that is heavily based on making claims that suggest that they will be able to repair your credit without a hassle. Nothing could be further from the truth in the majority of these cases and they function under the principle of taking information that is private and making it public to ensure that your credit is, somehow, repaired in this way. Always be careful with your credit information, especially in these situations, and never give you information out to a stranger or an unqualified representative that makes ludicrous claims.
There are, however, possibilities that exist for legal credit repair and similar services that are not bent on taking your credit information and that actually work with credit agencies to aid in the repair of credit. These agencies are worth a look, of course. If you are interested in this type of agency, the majority of financial analysts suggest that you first begin with your financial institution and see if they can point you in the right direction for this service. Your broker or loans officer should also have some information for a possibility in the field of a legal credit repair service. The last thing you should do with your credit is trust someone behind a service that you do not know.
Self Help May Be The Best Option
A lot of offers on television or on the internet seem to refer to credit problems as, basically, "no problem". You will hear people talk about erasing bad credit with a guaranteed result or creating a new credit identity, but how much of this is worthwhile and, more importantly, how much of this type of thing is actually legal? The leaders in the world of finance management would tell you to steer clear of anyone making unreasonable statements such as those. Time, an effort to improve, and a personal debt repayment plan usually remains the best way to perform a legal credit repair is without a service from your own home and your own capabilities.
The rest of the possibilities are based on promises that, nine times out of ten, are empty and will actually end up costing you money and time. You do not want to waste your time with a legal credit repair service that is not either self-focused or centered on your bank, so take care as to find out as much information as you can on the topic and make the best decision to repair your credit today.
Both Stuart Hunter & Paul Johnson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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