Due to the popular demand for credit repair, credit repair services companies have mushroomed all over the country. More often than not, they claim that they can actually repair the credit reports of people with bad credit. They also claim that they are capable of erasing negative reports, including bankruptcies, judgments, liens and bad loans. Such claims are not entirely true.

The Reality Behind Credit Repair Services

The best service that a credit repair services company can provide is repairing your credit report only if it contains inaccurate or incomplete information. However, you can actually do this all by yourself. You do not need to pay thousands of dollars for the credit repair services to do this for you.

Also, credit repair services can offer you finance counseling. They can give you advice on how to build a positive credit record in a short time. An example would be advice on how to prepare your personal debt repayment plan.

Other than these services, credit repair services companies cannot do anything more for your credit report. So, you have to be wary of many companies that victimize a lot of people with bad credit. Below are some of the practices of fraudulent credit repair services companies:

a. They will ask you to leave all the work to them. They will not inform you about your legal rights and their process of repairing your credit.

b. They will ask you not to contact the credit report company by yourself. They will offer their agents to liaise for you.

c. They will ask you to do something illegal, like creating a new credit identity or a new credit report.

d. They will ask you to pay first before they start rendering their services.

Know Your Rights

You or any credit repair services company cannot remove accurate, complete and timely information from your credit report, even if it reflects a bad credit or it adversely affects your credit-worthiness.

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), all that you can do is ask for an investigation regarding incomplete and inaccurate information in your file. You have to realize that once you request a copy of your credit report, all the credit report companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) will provide you a free copy each. You can request a copy and eventually check if the report is correct, once a year.

Now, if you find the report inaccurate or incomplete, you can actually file a dispute and ask the consumer reporting company and the credit information provider to correct their mistakes. All you have to do is contact these companies and send a written complaint to each of them. With your continuous follow-up, they will be obliged to investigate, correct their mistakes, and file a new credit report for you. Note that under the FCRA, these credit repair services are all free of charge.