Choosing the Best Credit Repair Company – Extra Services vs. the Basics

Sometimes, people turn to professional credit repair to help with one particular issue, and sometimes there are several. Different credit repair companies all offer different levels of service. What one person may consider necessary, another may consider to be extra, unneeded “frills”.

The best credit repair company for you will match up with your needs, but you have to know what those are before you choose.

Credit Repair “Basics”

At the very least, the credit repair company should do the following:

• File your disputes with the credit bureaus
• Follow-up on any confirmed items
• Provide you with a list of disputes filed
• Give you copies of any letters or responses from the credit bureaus
• Help you to keep track of which disputes have been filed and what the results were

Most credit repair companies will also:

• Request debt validation from collection agencies
• Follow-up on ignored validation requests
• Act as an intermediary between you and the collections agents

Extra Services You May Need

The additional services offered will vary from agency to agency, but if you need extra services, then the best credit repair company for you may include some or all of the following:

• Credit score tracking
• Credit report alerts
• Identity theft monitoring
• Letter writing for additional credit repair tactics (Goodwill, Pay-for-Deletion, etc.)

There may be other services as well – some credit repair companies offer finance classes, for instance. In order to find the best credit repair company for your situation, make sure you are getting all of the services you need, or as many as possible for what you can afford.

Choosing the Best Credit Repair Company – One Time vs. Long Term

This one may seem simple on the surface but once you start to think about it, there are a number of factors that may contribute to whether you want one-time credit repair assistance or a long-term solution.

You may only have one or two items, but how fast will these items be resolved? If the negative listings on your credit report are complicated, then the best credit repair company for you may be one that offers long term services.

For people who only need help with a particular problem – maybe a bill that is listed as 90 days past due when it is really current  and you can’t work things out with the creditor on your own – a one-time solution may make more sense.

Choosing the Best Credit Repair Company – Legal vs. Professional

Generally speaking, small legal firms offer fewer services than the larger professional companies, so if you want all of those services wrapped up into one package, this choice may already be made for you. However, you may need to reconsider when it comes to choosing the best credit repair company, as small legal firms and professional service firms have some distinct differences.

In particular, you need to decide which is more important: access to someone knowledgeable at (nearly) all times, or one-on-one discussions either in person or over the phone. Also, while a person does not have to have a law degree to assist with credit repair, it may be an issue if you need assistance dealing with a judgment or will need representation in court proceedings.

These are all complicated issues, so it’s important to get it right the first time. You don’t want to spend money on a credit repair service, only to find out that it’s not the best credit repair company for your situation.

Take the time to prioritize what it is you want out of a credit repair company, and then use those criteria to narrow down your choices. Once you have five or less to choose from, start calling them up and get a feel for how well you will work with them, whether a company or a lawyer. Trust your instincts and be ready to take action once you’ve made your decision.

Choosing the best credit repair company is important, but what’s even more important is getting started right away so that you can see real improvements in your credit situation sooner rather than later.

Credit Repair Agencies – How to Choose

When it comes to fixing your credit, reputable credit repair agencies will handle anything from late payments to charge-offs, judgments, bankruptcies, and more. This makes finding the right credit repair agency the most important task you’ll have when it comes to getting rid of negative items on your credit report.

There are several qualities that you’ll want to look for in the credit repair agencies you are considering. First and foremost, you want a company that has verifiable experience and expertise. Testimonials help, but having a reputation in the business is important as there are so many fly-by-night companies that only exist to take your money and run.  Make sure that the company doesn’t ask for payment up front, and that they know and respect the law when it comes to protecting your credit.

Second, you’ll want a company that has proven success rates. You want to be able to see that the company really has removed negative items from their customers’ credit files. And you want to be sure that there is consistent pattern of success.

Once you have these two factors in place and are sure that the credit repair agencies you are considering are well-established and professional, you need to narrow the field. To do this, you’ll want to work out what kind of services are most important to you – is it just the dispute letters, or is it follow up support, credit monitoring, etc. – in addition to the basic services that all credit repair agencies provide.

List the services that you must have in order of importance and be ready to shop around with a few credit repair agencies until you find the one that is the right fit. Going this route may mean that you have two or more credit repair agencies that fit your needs once you’ve narrowed your choices.

How do you choose between them? The best advice here is to get on the phone and actually speak to one of the people who may be handling your credit repair. You want to feel comfortable talking to the people in the company, and you want to feel like these are people who will work hard on your behalf.

Avoid any credit repair agencies that make you feel uncomfortable or pressured to make a fast decision without checking out your options. A good credit repair agency will recognize that getting your credit back on track is too important to make a snap judgment call, and will always be willing to let you know your rights under the current laws.

Credit Repair Agencies – Moving Forward

Once you’ve chosen the credit repair agency that’s right for you, you need to get started with your credit repair efforts right away. The reason for this is that the longer you wait, the more serious your credit problems are likely to become.

For example, most credit repair agencies can help you to clear up a 30-day or 60-day late payment notation on your credit report. But if you keep waiting, to the 90-day or even 180-day mark, you risk having the account sent to collections. Once that happens, it triggers another wave of negative items on your credit report which will need to be addressed.

Continue to wait, and you’ll have to deal with a charge-off account, and additional negative hits as the debt collection companies add their own negative entries to your credit report. Each of these new items will be more work (and more money you’ll have to spend) to get the item taken care of properly. Additionally, each of these new items further drags down your credit scores, and makes it difficult to recover.

If you already have these issues, you may wonder what you have to gain from taking action now versus continuing to wait. Depending upon which state you live in, hiring a credit repair agency may be the best step to preventing judgments, liens, wage garnishments and more – getting rid of inaccurate or untimely information before it can cause additional problems is just the right thing to do.

No matter what your financial situation, whether it’s just a few problems or several, you need to be proactive this new year in getting your credit problems under control. Let the credit repair agencies help you ring in the New Year with a bright financial future.

Despite the negative publicity surrounding these types of dishonest companies, there are still thousands of people who have tremendous success with professional credit repair services each year. These legitimate credit repair companies provide a necessary service for anyone who needs help getting their credit back on track.

Finding the Best Credit Repair Company

Once you weed out the obvious scammers (be particularly wary of any small, local companies without any reputation to back them up) it may still seem as though there are far too many credit repair companies to choose from. Fortunately, you can usually narrow the field further just by taking into account:

• Experience – What kinds of credit problems has the company handled in the past? Do they mention your specific issues? Is the company well-established or is it only a few years (or months) old. Decide whether you’d feel most comfortable with a well-established company or a newer company.
• Results – Is the company truly able to deliver on their promise of credit repair? How many satisfied customers are there? If they have testimonials, do they seem authentic?
• Availability – What kind of case load does the company have, and can their agents/professionals keep up? Is the company legally permitted to do business in your area? What kind of turnaround time can you expect?

Don’t just choose the first credit repair company you find that meets your preliminary expectations. To truly find the right credit repair company for you will require deeper research so that you can be sure your credit will have the best chance of improving.

How to Choose the Best Credit Repair Company

Choosing the best credit repair company for your particular situation can be broken down into a 4-step process:

1. Evaluate your situation.
2. Evaluate the credit repair companies.
3. Narrow your choices.
4. Choose the best fit.

The first step in choosing the best credit repair company for you is to honestly evaluate your present credit situation. Are you behind on just a few bills, or are there several? How much debt do you owe? Are there charge-offs on your account? Have you recently filed for bankruptcy? The answers to each of these questions will affect how much any reputable credit repair company is able to help you.

Once you’ve taken inventory of your current credit situation, you’re ready to start shopping for the best credit repair company. Take the time to talk to several companies about your specific situation. Reputable companies will always want to make sure that you are a good fit, so be wary of a credit repair company that tries to force you to make a snap decision.

Most credit repair companies will give you a free consultation, and you should take advantage of that and find out exactly what you’ll be getting before you sign on the dotted line. Make a list of your most-wanted features and services. Do you want help with more than just basic disputes? Do you need credit score monitoring as well? Narrow down your choices based on which credit repair companies offer the services that you value most.

You may find that some credit repair companies will offer most (but not all) of what you are looking for, so it’s important to rank which services matter most to you. This will make it easier to choose objectively.

Making the choice as to the best credit repair company for your needs at this point should be fairly simple – choose the credit repair company that offers the most features at the price that best fits your budget. Never spend more on credit repair than you can reasonably afford. That said, having the peace of mind that comes from reputable credit repair services is well worth the investment.

The Best Credit Repair Company: Taking Action

All the research in the world is no good if you don’t take action. If you’ve followed the plan so far, but you find yourself hesitating, then you must ask yourself what is holding you back. Is it fear of dealing with your creditors? Do you feel completely hopeless that your scores will improve?

No matter what the reasons behind your indecision, the best choice you can make is to move forward, despite uncertainty. Once you make the commitment to clean up your credit score, you have to follow-through if you want to see results. The best credit repair company is only going to work if you give the company a chance to actually perform the service. So don’t wait – start cleaning up your credit and get the financial rewards that you deserve.

The FTC regularly warns about credit repair scams, and even provides a list of warning signs to help the average consumer make an educated choice. However, it’s important for those same consumers to realize that reputable credit repair companies like Lexington Law are not a part of the problem.

To help debunk the myth that all credit repair companies are scams, we will go line by line down the warning signs the FTC has on its site, and compare their warnings with the best practices and procedures performed by Lexington Law.

Understanding the difference will help you to understand why not all credit repair companies are the same, and will show that these scam practices do not occur in reputable credit repair agencies such as Lexington Law.

How Lexington Law Stacks Up

The FTC points out six major signs that indicate a company is “up to no good”:

• Asks for payment up front
• Doesn’t tell you your rights
• Recommends that you do not directly contact credit bureaus
• Tells you they can get rid of accurate & current negative information
• Suggests that you use an EIN to get a new credit identity
• Recommends disputing all negative information, even if accurate

Taking these items one by one, Lexington Law proves that not all credit repair agencies are scams.

1. Lexington Law does not ask for any payment up front, and in fact only bills after the work you’ve agreed to has been completed.
2. Lexington Law is very up front about your rights and what you can do to improve your credit. They don’t try to make it seem that you can’t go to the credit bureaus yourself, and they describe their services fully so that you can make an informed decision.
3. Lexington Law contacts the credit bureaus directly on your behalf as part of the services they perform for you, but nowhere do they suggest that you cannot contact them.
4. Lexington Law does not make any assertions that they can get rid of accurate and current negative information – they are all about disputing inaccurate information and helping you to improve your credit scores legally.
5. Lexington Law does not try to get you to build a new credit identity – they work to clean up your current identity and deliver real results you can see in terms of deleted items on you report.
6. Lexington Law specifically states that they do NOT recommend that any consumer (client or not) attempt to dispute items they know are accurate and timely.

Another important fact:

The credit bureaus are only required to investigate your dispute if they believe it is not “frivolous”. This means that the credit bureau is free to ignore any of your disputes that you file on your own, as they alone decide what constitutes a frivolous dispute. By hiring a reputable credit agency like Lexington Law, it makes it much more difficult for the credit bureaus to ignore your valid disputes on inaccurate information.

Lexington Law & Results

On the date of this writing, there are over 200 testimonials on the Lexington Law website from former and current clients that are getting positive results on their credit scores. In addition to that, Lexington Law also claims to have removed 1,297,226 items from credit reports in 2010 across all three credit bureaus.

While no credit repair company can guarantee results, Lexington Law has an impressive track record for helping consumers professionally and in a timely manner. In addition they offer a free credit consultation – something that the scammers just won’t do.

Who Should Choose Lexington Law

So if Lexington Law is a legitimate credit repair company, the question remains: is it the right choice for you? Fortunately, there are some easy questions you can ask to help you decide.

Do you…

If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you could likely benefit from having a professional credit repair agency like Lexington Law help you get your credit score back on track.

The most important thing to remember is that you do have options. Bad credit is not something that you have to live with – there are things that you can do that will improve your scores and help you to have the kind of financial freedom you deserve.

Quality credit repair companies like Lexington Law provide a valuable service for consumers and can help them to get better results than going it alone. Don’t wait around for your credit to improve — the best thing you can do is to take the first step and start fixing your credit now, whether you do it on your own, or rely on a reputable credit repair agency like Lexington Law.

Computer errors, poor bookkeeping and unscrupulous practices by collection agencies are only some of the ways that these errors can occur. The credit bureaus are not required to do due diligence on any entry placed on your file – it’s up to you to request the removal of inaccurate information.

Errors and duplicate entries on your credit reports can lower your credit score significantly, impeding your ability to obtain the credit that you deserve. However, it can be difficult for some people to navigate the processes required to get a fair and thorough verification of the data on their credit report.  This is when most people decide to turn to a professional credit repair agency for assistance.

Which Credit Repair Companies are Best?

While there is no one “best” solution, credit repair companies can be an excellent choice if you know that you need help, but you don’t know where to start. Most credit repair companies provide much-needed services and are a dependable way to start rebuilding your credit.

However, there are some companies that are less than reputable. If you aren’t sure how to weed through the poor credit repair companies to find the good ones, here are a few qualities to look for in a reliable credit repair agency:

• They provide solid advice based on your unique situation. Everyone’s credit history is different, and good credit repair companies don’t take a cookie-cutter approach to solving the problem.
• They make it easy to ask questions. If aren’t certain about part of the process, it should be easy to get answers.
• They never use high-pressure sales tactics. You have enough stress in your life already and good credit repair companies will recognize this and give you the information you need to make a decision without all the sales tactics.

For in-depth analysis of credit repair companies and the services they offer, we offer a rundown of the top three credit repair companies on our site. If you’re trying to decide whether or not you need to turn to a professional for your credit repair needs, this chart outlines a few questions you should ask yourself.

If you answered “yes” to 4 or more questions, you should definitely consider hiring the services of a credit repair company to help you get your credit back on track.

Warning Signs of Bad Credit Repair Companies

Paying for someone else to handle your credit repair needs is a big investment and one that should not be taken lightly. While good credit repair companies will work with you to try to get the best result possible, there are disreputable credit repair companies that do little more than scam people out of their hard earned money.

Fortunately, bad credit repair companies are easy to spot – if you the company you’re considering does any of the following, you should find different credit repair agency to help you:

• Demands payment before services are rendered. By law, credit repair companies aren’t allowed to charge before they actually perform the service, so you should steer clear of any company that tries to convince you otherwise.
• Promises to get rid of all negative information on your credit reports, whether accurate or inaccurate. No one can remove accurate, documented information from your credit report – the ones who say they can are scammers.
• Suggests that you need to create a “new” credit profile with an EIN in order to make a fresh start. Another major warning sign, and a dangerous one – credit file segregation is felony and you would be held responsible, not the credit repair company.
• Suggests that you dispute all negative information on your credit report. If you do so, you’ll risk having your disputes thrown out by the credit bureaus, and it can make it more difficult to get genuinely inaccurate information removed in the future.

Getting rid of inaccurate and misleading data can raise your credit scores by an incredible amount in just a short time, but you have to do it right. Choose a reputable agency that has successfully repaired many credit reports in the past for the best results. If you decide to go with an agency other than our top three credit repair companies, make sure you fully investigate the company before trusting them with your credit information.

Always keep good records in case you need to dispute an item on your report with multiple credit bureaus, and always research any credit repair company before signing a contract or moving forward with services. If you follow this advice, you’ll be well on your way to getting the professional help you need to improve your credit scores.

Protecting Your Credit by Knowing Your Credit Rights

Credit repair like many other legal services is surrounded by laws, and luckily most of these laws are designed with consumer’s best interests at heart. There are hundreds of laws and years worth of documents to read through, so the real question is: where should a consumer begin if they hope to educate themselves? One answer is to start where many of the laws themselves originate, the Federal Trade Commission. By visiting the FTC’s website (ftc.gov), you can gain a solid knowledge when it comes to shopping for a credit repair agency or firm. Topics such as no guarantees or money before services rendered are touched upon and given to us as consumers so we can slowly begin to pick out legitimate credit repair companies from fraudulent ones.

Use the BBB to Review Credit Repair Companies

What about fellow consumers and their experiences? There are many websites that boast user reviews and claim to be unbiased, but one of the simplest and most informing websites is BBB.org. The Better Business Bureau is a format for consumers like us to file complaints and let others know what experiences we did or in many cases did not receive. Any complaint filed on bbb.org is labeled so you can see where your fellow consumer experienced problems and you are even able to see whether the credit repair company they were dealing with was able to reach a solution, or help them with their issue. Know your report before seeking credit repair help.

Check Your Credit Report Before Choosing a Credit Repair Company

It may seem strange, but many people go looking for credit repair before even knowing exactly what is going on with their credit report. This isn’t to say that a credit report is an easy document to decipher, but you wouldn’t want to go to a dentist if you have a broken leg, and going to a credit repair organization before having any level of understanding towards what is damaging your credit is setting yourself up to be misinformed and potentially taken advantage of.

Many websites that now offer credit reports will also include breakdowns on everything from derogatory items, to scores, credit ratios, and even debts owed. While a simple analysis may not give you all the information that you need, it may very well give you enough information to determine what you need from a credit repair organization. Are you looking at getting late payments or collections removed? Do you have inquiries that are dragging your score down? Perhaps you may not even need credit repair at all. Are you looking to pay off debts? Needing to rebuild credit? Having a basic understanding of your credit situation will allow a credit repair organization to explain how they can help with that particular situation, or perhaps recommend you in the direction of another service that is better equipped to handle your particular problem.

Pick the Credit Repair Company that is Right for Your Credit Situation

Because no two credit situations are likely ever entirely the same, it makes little sense that a simple carbon copy document is going to do you much good. While many places online may offer you free letters that promise amazing results, it’s important to remember that what may worked for one person may have no real impact for you. Finding an organization that will format and develop letters for your situation can make the potential difference between 5 months of disputing the same item, and possible deletion after initial investigations.

Do Credit Repair Companies Make a Difference?

This question is really up to you and what makes you feel comfortable. However, I would recommend that you remember that many of the tools used to clear up your credit is based around actual laws, and because of this, a knowledge of the law can be very advantageous. While many credit repair companies may make bold claims of knowing the law, remember that credit repair law firms have credit lawyers that are barred and have gone to school to study these laws. Yes you may end up spending money on your credit, but as your’ grand parents told you. “It’s better to do something right, than it is to do something twice.”

What Credit Repair Company is Best for You?

While your own comfort level and research will determine this answer for you, one credit repair law firm in many ways stands out when compared to others. Lexington Law Firm has been in business for over nineteen years and has firms throughout thirteen states. By following state and federal laws Lexington Law Firm puts you in a great position to take advantage of the many credit repair laws that exist, and a rating of A+ on the BBB website shows that they are committed to customer service.

For individuals with already shaky credit, it may mean that the application is denied outright. This is because many lenders would rather avoid any potential risk associated with disputed listings, and won’t take the effort to perform what is known as manual underwriting in order to get a more accurate picture of your situation. To make matters worse, the dispute does not have to be related to the removal of an item on your credit report – if you have an ongoing dispute over the amount of a bill, or fraudulent charges, you may also be rejected by the automatic underwriting system.

So what can you do to minimize the chances that your application will be denied, while still taking advantage of your legal right to a fair and accurate credit report? If you plan on disputing an item, and you already have decent credit, it may be in your best interests to hold off on the dispute until after your mortgage has been approved.

If you have an ongoing dispute, be up front about it with potential lenders – most will be able to tell you right away if they’ll be able to process your loan application while the dispute is in effect. And lastly, if you do dispute an item and the company agrees to make the adjustment, follow up to be sure that your creditor removes the disputed item notation from your credit report. Even if the account is no longer in dispute status in their system, a dispute notation on the credit report could cause your loan application to be rejected by the banks.

If you are currently using the services of a credit repair company, make certain that they are following up with your accounts to ensure that any successful disputes are taken care of, and that the notations are removed from your credit report in a timely fashion. By being vigilant, you can enjoy both increased scores and increased financial opportunity.

Tip 1: Ask questions to any prospective credit repair company before you sign up for service.

Make certain that you know what you are paying for, and how your credit report will be handled. Be certain that any credit repair company you choose has a privacy policy and security in place to protect your sensitive information. Stay away from any company that refuses to tell you any details about their credit repair services, or that claim they can remove accurate information due to “special relationships” with creditors and credit bureaus. These types of offers are always a scam – there is no credit repair company that can remove accurate information due to special ties with any of the credit bureaus, and creditors do not maintain special relationships with credit repair companies.

Tip 2: Don’t pay large fees up front.

Credit repair companies that charge thousands of dollars up front are almost always a scam. People who pay generally see little if any action on their case, and often these companies disappear as soon as the complaints start to roll in. Charging high fees up front is illegal when it comes to credit repair companies, so if the price seems unusually high, stay away. Additionally, stay away from any credit repair company that does not uphold the legally required grace period when signing up for credit repair services. If you change your mind within the first few days of your contract for their service, you have the right to cancel and not be billed.

Tip 3: Do your research.

Is the company registered to do business in your state? Are they a member of the Better Business Bureau? Do they have any clients that you can contact as a reference? While the answers to these questions may not identify all potential scammers, any company that has problems following state and federal laws should be avoided at all costs. If they don’t follow the laws in regards to providing their service, chances are good that they won’t be working in your best interests. When considering any credit repair company, always check both online and offline sources for any information that may point to a scam – don’t stop at online complaint boards, as an absence of complaints is not a guarantee that the company is trustworthy.

If you follow these three tips when you are looking for a reputable credit repair company, you’ll save yourself time, money, and financial security in the long run. By weeding out the scammers from legitimate credit repair businesses, you can rest assured that your investment in your financial future is a sound one.

Check out our list of legitimate credit repair companies here.

Protecting Your Identity

Because credit repair companies must handle sensitive information in order to help you improve your credit scores, it pays to find out exactly how they secure your information, and what type of policies they have in place to protect your identity. Stay away from credit repair companies that don’t have a clearly visible privacy policy, and/or don’t have any method of contact other than email. Ideally, you want to be able to contact the company via telephone and an actual physical address – not just a P.O. Box. By establishing a physical presence that is easily located, a reputable credit repair company is one that will be around for the long-term.

Online Precautions

You should be able to get answers about the methods used to secure your data, about encryption on the company’s website (if they have one) and who has access to your data, and when. You should also be able to revoke access to this data at any time, if you choose to end your business relationship with the company. Check the security certificates of the website – they should be current, and they should match the name of the website and the credit repair company. Be wary of any company that has an invalid or expired security certificate – without a valid certificate, your information is not safe.

Company Policies

Different credit repair companies will have different policies when it comes to how your information is handled. You should find out who will have access to that information before you sign up for service. While the credit repair company may take appropriate security steps, third-party vendors with access to your information may not, and this can cause troubles with identity theft down the line, if unauthorized people are able to view your information.

The Final Choice

When deciding on which credit repair company to use, always factor in the security of your personal information. Credit repair can benefit you in many ways, including improved credit scores, lower interest rates and better rates on insurance to name a few. Always make sure that your final choice for credit repair is one that protects these benefits by protecting your identity as well.

We have put together a list of trusted credit repair companies here.