When it comes to credit repair, the law is on your side. The laws created by the FTC on credit repair are to protect you from the credit reporting agencies, collection agencies and credit repair companies. Legal credit repair methods are not only smarter (because you won’t end up in jail), but they are also less expensive.

Most unlawful credit repair companies have been taken down by the FTC; however there are still some in operation. If you are would like to repair your credit, it’s important that you don’t get lured in by illegal tactics and fraudulent companies. If you follow illegal advice and commit fraud, you may be subject to prosecution. Below is a list of illegal credit repair techniques to look out for:

Illegal Credit Repair Tactics

• Changing your social security number or starting a “new” credit file. Some companies will offer to teach you how to start a new credit file by applying for an Employer Identification Number to use instead of your Social Security number. Avoid and report such companies.


• Companies that ask you to pay for credit repair services before they provide any services.


• Companies that don’t tell you your legal rights and what you can do by yourself for free.


• Remember, it is also illegal to try to obtain credit by lying or making false statements on an application.

Now that you know what to avoid, let’s look at some of the things you can do to repair your credit.

Legal Credit Repair Tactics

• Dispute erroneous information on your credit report. Not only is it legal, it’s your federal right. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute items on your credit reports directly with the credit bureaus. The burden of proof is on the credit bureaus. If they can’t verify that information is correct, then it must be deleted.


• Debt validation is a tactic that’s used when dealing with collection accounts. The FDCPA gives you the right to demand that collection agencies validate any debts that they are trying to collect on.


• Negotiating directly with creditors is a tactic that is sometimes used to ask the creditors politely to remove the negative items from your credit report.

If you would like to have professionals repair your credit, check out the top legal credit repair services. If you prefer to do-it-yourself, the credit repair forums are a great place to start!

Labels: collection agencies, credit repair, credit repair forum, credit repair service, credit reporting agencies, debt validation, dispute bad credit, do it yourself credit repair

If you are being harassed by lowly debt collectors, there are ways to stop them cold! You have legal rights and you do not have to endure any type of degrading treatment from these leeches of society. It's not bad enough to them that you are obviously experiencing some financial difficulties; they need to accentuate the problem - it's just in their bloodlines. Check out the following tips to stop debt collector harassment quickly.

Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), debt collectors have their boundaries explained to them. You can use these guidelines to understand what they are allowed to do and what they are not. You should also download a free copy of your credit rights from the Federal Trade Commission's website. Alternatively, you can call 617-542-9595 (National Consumer Law Center) and request a copy of "What You Should Know about Debt Collection".

After you educate yourself about the debt collection realm, you can start ridding your life of any debt collector that has been bothering you. The first thing to do is to record your conversations. Tell the collector that you need a minute to get your recorder turned on. Flick the switch into the microphone of your telephone so that they can hear it. This alone will put you on a whole new level of conversation. Suddenly, they won't feel so brave with their disrespect and lacking professionalism. A tape recorder will definitely put any debt collector in check.

Keep excellent records of your phone conversations with debt collectors. Ask for their names. Write down the times of the calls. Write down the dates. If you are not recording the conversation, take accurate notes of what is said.

If you enter into any payment agreement with a debt collector, tell him that you will be happy to stick to it as soon as you receive it in writing - no other way. If you fail to get your deal in writing, you really have no deal at all. Avoid talking to them on the phone.

Send a letter to the collection agency outlining your understanding of the deal that has been made with the debt collector. Send it to them certified with a reception receipt requested. Show them that you are paying attention and demand professional courtesy and respect. Make sure to keep the copies and receipts in your records.

Add the following if you pay by check: "Cashing this check constitutes payment in full." Write this right on the check itself.

Request that the negative item be removed from your credit report. At a minimum, ensure that the item will be marked as "Paid in full" and not left as unpaid. Again, get everything in writing.

Never let yourself be bullied or rushed. Debt collectors will pressure you greatly to act immediately to remit payment. Tell them no - not until you have everything that has been agreed to in writing. Again, avoid talking to them on the phone altogether. The best way to communicate with them is in writing.

You can stop debt collectors from harassing you and make them show proper respect and professionalism!

Labels: bill collectors, debt collectors, debt settlement, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, FDCPA

Having bad credit in the US is a nightmare. There are do-it-yourself credit repair tips that can help to restore your credit rating to a level that you can be proud of. Our journeys through life sometimes lead us into difficult times. It is not very hard to get behind. Once that happens and your credit rating drops, it will take some time and effort to get it back up. Don't let it get to you though, you can do it. Here are some do-it-yourself credit repair tips to help you along:

Tip #1: Know what you're dealing with. If you want to restore your credit to a given level, you have to know where to start from. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report once every year from each of the 3 major credit reporting agencies, but if you're looking to do some credit repair, you should purchase them from each credit bureau separately.

Tip #2: Once you know what you are dealing with, you can begin your credit repair efforts. Do-it-yourself credit repair is all about having negative items removed or updated to a positive account. Even if the accounts are "really yours", they must be removed if they are not verified within a reasonable amount of time - normally 30 to 45 days.

It's important to go through your report and dispute negative items in the correct order. Your first letter should be disputing any contact information that is not current. In your second letter, you can start disputing the negative accounts. It's not wise to dispute more than 5 accounts at the same time.

It's up to the credit reporting agency to investigate the information at this point. They do so by contacting the originator of the negative complaint. If that individual or organization does not respond and verify the item in time, the law states that it is to be immediately stricken from your report. Additionally, there is a statute of limitations on almost all credit report items. They are automatically to fall off after a given time period. Check for them and inform the CRAs of any discrepancies.

Tip #3: You need to keep good records. You want to always be a thorn in the side of these reporting agencies. Clerical errors, human laziness, company mergers and bad record keeping are but a few of the reasons why your negative items may not be verified in a timely fashion. This is what you want to happen! Also, send in your dispute forms at the busiest times of the year like major holidays and the peak of tax season.

Tip #4: After you send in the dispute letters, go about your business and make sure that you are not creating any more negative issues concerning your credit. Make your payments on time - every time. After 30 days, the credit bureaus should have sent you another copy of your credit report. They don’t always do this. If not, you may need to call them or write them and request it. Go over it again and check to see if every dispute that you filed has either been removed or verified. The statistics say that around 40% will have disappeared. That's great! Sometimes, it's a lot higher.

Do-it-yourself credit repair is a simplistic endeavor. It only requires organization and a plan. With some attention to detail and patience, your do-it-yourself credit repair efforts will save you thousands of dollars as compared to hiring the services to be done for you. Your credit rating will be enhanced and your life will begin to flow smoother. When it comes to repairing your credit, do it yourself!

Labels: dispute bad credit, dispute credit reports, dispute letters, do it yourself credit repair

You can stop collection agencies from contacting you in a number of ways. There is a federal law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and you can use what it states to cease any efforts of collection agencies to collect any monies from you. It's true! Remember, this applies only to collection agencies - not creditors who may employ them. If you feel that you are being harassed, then you should definitely utilize any or all of the following methods:

Method 1: The prevention of delinquency.

Creditors will either turn over delinquent accounts to a collection agency or they will have an in-house collection department. Either way, they will not simply forget about the debt. The best way to avoid collection attempts is to not become delinquent in your payment responsibilities. A lot of misplaced anger results from people who would have no problems were they just to pay on time and protect their credit to begin with.

Method 2: Write a cease letter.

Federal law requires collection agencies to stop their attempts to collect a given debt if they receive a written cease letter. There are many online to use as samples. Basically, they simply state that you wish for their organization to stop any type of attempts to collect from you. You further state that you will deal only with the creditor that you owe the debt to.

Method 3: Attorney cease letters.

If your personally written cease letter fails to be effective in stopping a collection agency's attempts to settle debts with you, a letter written from an attorney will normally do the trick. Federal law requires collection agencies to cease contact with any consumer when that consumer is known to be represented by an attorney.

Method 4: You can work out an agreement to pay with the collection agency.

You can certainly stop a collection agency from calling you by agreeing to pay. That's what they're really after anyway. Aggressive debt collectors are paid based on what they collect in a given time period. They become more zealous about their endeavors to collect when they believe that you are simply ignoring them. If you talk with them in a professional manner and come to terms for repayment, they will be much more polite. Remember, if you strike a deal with a debt collector; tell them you will not pay anything until you receive the deal in writing.

Method 5: Bankruptcy.

There is an automatic stay on collection attempts that goes into effect when you file for personal bankruptcy. In order for any debt collector to further attempt debt collection, he or she must obtain specific permission from a bankruptcy court. This is a rare occurrence. Also, bankruptcy courts will never grant this permission to anyone attempting to collect unsecured debts from you. As you know, bankruptcy is a most serious act. It should be reserved for use only in cases of severe financial turmoil.

You do not have to suffer the harassment of collection agencies anymore. You can stop collection agencies from contacting you and disturbing your quietude. Utilize the above methods to stop collection agencies today!

Labels: collection agencies, collection agency, debt collectors, stop collection agencies

Let’s play a game. It’s called "Which is More Expensive?"

Here’s how it works: I give you 2 things and you tell me which one of the 2 is more expensive. Ready? Go!

1. Buying your favorite magazine every month at Barnes & Nobles.

2. Getting a 1 year subscription to that same magazine.

Did you answer #1? If you did, you’d be correct. #1 is obviously more expensive. Getting a subscription can save you lots of money.

One of my favorite magazines is Men’s Health. It’s $4.50 an issue at the newsstand. A 1 year subscription (10 issues) is $19.97.

Let’s do some real quick math:

10 x $4.50 = $45.00
$45.00 - $19.97 = $25.03

That means if I get the subscription I save $25.03 a year!

Ok, that was a no-brainer. Here’s another one:

1. Having a credit repair service fix your credit for about $500. Then, enjoying a low interest rate of 6% on a 30 year mortgage.

2. Save the $500 by not repairing your credit. Then, get a sub prime mortgage with an interest rate of 8%. (You may pay much higher, but let’s just use 8% as an example.)

#2 would be much more expensive. Hopefully you chose to hire a credit repair service. If you’re purchasing a $100,000 house and paying 6% interest; according to my mortgage calculator you're monthly payment would be $599.55. If you purchase the same home at an 8% rate you're monthly payment would be $733.76.

Let’s do some real quick math.

$733.76 - $599.55 = $134.21

You’d be paying $134.21 more every month. Multiply that times 12 and you’re paying $1610.52 more per year.

Multiply that again times 30 for the life of your mortgage and now you’re paying $48,315.60 more than your neighbor paid after 30 years for the EXACT SAME HOUSE.

So, which is smarter? All of the sudden paying $500 to get your credit repaired seems quite affordable, doesn't it?

By playing my little game, hopefully you were able to see my point. By even paying .25% more in interest on such a major purchase, you're really throwing a lot of money away. When you up that by 2-4 percentage points, it's disastrous.

This is just one example of what bad credit will cost you. Don’t forget about cars, credit cards, cell phones, jobs, insurance rates and everything else.

I hear it everyday, "I can’t afford that kind of money to get my credit repaired!"

Here's the truth: If you have bad credit or even mediocre credit, you can’t afford NOT to get your credit repaired.

STOP paying higher interest rates and start reaping the benefits of a good credit score. For a one time set up fee of $99 and as low as $39/month, Lexington Law Firm will work to increase your credit score by removing negative items from your credit history.

Labels: affordable credit repair, credit repair, credit repair service, credit report repair, personal finance