Bad credit is bad for many aspects of your financial life and credit score plays a significant role in many aspects of one’s financial life. You may have no access to credit, credit cards, or loans, be charged high interest rates on the few credit products that are available to you, or even get locked out of affordable housing. If you have any questions, it is quite natural for you to begin searching for ways to make such changes and receive a fast credit score boost. However, is it wise to hire someone to repair credit as a viable technique? Here is the information you must know.
The Credit Repair Industry
There is a whole market for people who want to pay to have their credit fixed, which is not a surprising thing in today’s society. Businesses claim they can purge your credit reports for items that harm your scores or otherwise legally repair your credit. However, many of them make grand claims they can’t follow through on.
While reporting on the credit repair industry, the CFPB claims that most of the companies in this line of business are fraudulent. Most business organizations offer services and products that are unlawful, use the consumer’s money then fail to provide the agreed services or offer more than what they can offer legally.
What Credit Repair Companies Can (and Can’t) Do
Credit repair companies are business entities whose services involve the investigation of credit reports and assistance in fixing errors. This may involve:
- Challenging myths such as payments made at the wrong times of the day or the dates that were wrongly noted down.
- A task that could be considered a work in progress is to correct the mistake of listing multiple accounts under one user.
- You get information from the wrong person which messes up all your report.
However, credit repair companies cannot delete true negative items from credit reports as it is prohibited by the law. This means they cannot erase:
- Entries of payments that should strictly be in reconciled accounts such as records of payments that were made late, missed, or only in part
- Information you get from public records such as bankruptcies and foreclosures.
- Credit check inquiries made when you applied for credit, particularly those made within the last 6 months
- Highest rates of successful billing messages delivered for unpaid bills turned over to collection agencies
The specific types of information on your credit report that may relate to late payments and collections accounts can only remain on the report for up to 7 years. It is also impossible to promote the removal of truthful data before that time legally elapses. Be wary of any firm saying that they can remove or change the real credit profile in your account.
DIY Credit Repair
You are free to challenge the errors listed with your credit report and it does not matter that a company is paid to do so. According to federal law, you are allowed to receive one credit report from each of the three major bureaus as often as once a year to check yourself for errors.
If there are errors in your reports, you can write to the bureaus and your creditors to correct the errors and carry out investigations without paying for their services. However, if you are willing to spend time and effort, you might be able to raise your scores with no additional middleman fees to pay.
There are other legal means of increasing credit, as follows;
In addition to fixing report errors yourself, consider these safe ways to build your credit:
- Be added as a second account to an existing user account
- It is therefore advisable to take out a credit builder loan and then repay the loan in installments over some time down the line.
- Encourage credit reporting agencies to include information on timely payments of rent and utilities.
- Apply for a secured credit card and to the best of your abilities ensure that you always pay your balance on time
The Takeaway
Legitimate credit counseling organizations are charitable organizations that can assist you in paying off your debts, as well as establish good payment habits that will help improve your credit scores, though indirectly. Thus, outside of arguing that report errors are inaccurate, any service claiming to legally remove negative history or increase your credit score immediately is most likely a scam. It is better to work on minor problems and rebuild credit or choose responsible credit restoration over expensive rates that can’t be afforded. It only takes a few weeks, but sound financial handling is the only way that has been confirmed to help enhance credit scores in the long run.
Call now for expert credit repair services: (888) 8037889
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