Used Credit Repair company..mistake? Please help!

[tolog]

I have two main questions:
1)Did I make a mistake by signing up with a credit repair company?
2)Was one of my judgments filed illegally/incorrectly and what are my options?

1) Credit Repair Company
I made poor decisions when I was younger and it caused some collections and public records on my credit reports. However, in the past 2+ years I haven't had a late payment for anything. I may have jumped the gun and signed up with an online credit repair service in the beginning of October 2008. Its been almost 3 full months now and there has been no changes to my credit score. All collections (which are all paid for) and the 2 judgments are still there.

I started reading online about credit repair and all I see is "Don't use credit repair companies!" I read that they blindly send out letters to dispute the accuracy of the negative items so this may actually do more damage. Is this true? Did I make a mistake by going with a credit repair company?


2) Judgments:
-One of my judgments was paid off in 2005.
-Another judgment is being paid off through a monthly payment plan with a lawfirm that specializes in debt collection. However I believe this judgement should never have been filed. I started paying monthly to the lawfirm at the end of 2006. Looking at my credit reports the judgment for this account was filed in May of 2007. Did they illegally file the judgment? What are my options? What is recommended I do to have this judgment taken off my credit report? I asked the credit repair company for advice and they said "sorry this is beyond the scope of what we do for you"

Thank you everyone in advance.

[chane]

Originally Posted by tolog

I have two main questions:
1)Did I make a mistake by signing up with a credit repair company?
2)Was one of my judgments filed illegally/incorrectly and what are my options?

1) Credit Repair Company
I made poor decisions when I was younger and it caused some collections and public records on my credit reports. However, in the past 2+ years I haven't had a late payment for anything. I may have jumped the gun and signed up with an online credit repair service in the beginning of October 2008. Its been almost 3 full months now and there has been no changes to my credit score. All collections (which are all paid for) and the 2 judgments are still there.

I started reading online about credit repair and all I see is "Don't use credit repair companies!" I read that they blindly send out letters to dispute the accuracy of the negative items so this may actually do more damage. Is this true? Did I make a mistake by going with a credit repair company?

It depends which one you signed up with. For them to say that all credit repair companies are incompetent is unfair and just not true. Most people online are parroting what they hear from other people. It gets said over and over like an urban legend, but the truth is I used to work at a credit repair company and we changed so many people's lives. So, I am 100% sure that there are some great credit repair companies out there and I am qualified to make that statement. I'm not echoing what someone else said on a credit forum.

I also know of some very good credit repair companies online and have heard many great testimonials for happy clients.

People base their opinions on how they see the world, they don't look at it through other people's eyes. They understand credit repair and are very knowledgeable about it so, they think its something that everyone should learn and wants to learn. But, that is not the case. There are tons of people who just don't understand this stuff and learn at a slower pace. Or they just don't want to learn it. They are stressed out and desperate and just want their credit repaired.

2) Judgments:
-One of my judgments was paid off in 2005.
-Another judgment is being paid off through a monthly payment plan with a lawfirm that specializes in debt collection. However I believe this judgement should never have been filed. I started paying monthly to the lawfirm at the end of 2006. Looking at my credit reports the judgment for this account was filed in May of 2007. Did they illegally file the judgment? What are my options? What is recommended I do to have this judgment taken off my credit report? I asked the credit repair company for advice and they said "sorry this is beyond the scope of what we do for you"

Thank you everyone in advance.

It's hard to say if they illegally filed it or just reported it late. You can always dispute questionable items. The burden of proof is on the CRAs. Tell them to verify it or remove it.

Actually, if the credit repair company is doing disputes for you right now, have them do it or fire them and do it yourself. Make sure to wait at least 30 days from the last time they made a dispute.

[tolog]

chane, thank you for your reply. I am currently using Lexington Law. Their paralegal staff told me "sorry this is beyond the scope of what we do for you" regarding disputing the judgment. From what I understand, all they are doing are sending out dispute letters to all my negative accounts hoping that they cannot verify it. If this is the case then is this something that I can do myself? If so, what should I do about the letters that are already sent on my behalf by Lexington? If I wait at least 30 days from the last dispute letter sent then I can send my own?

Thank you for putting up with my newbie questions.

[chane]

Originally Posted by tolog

chane, thank you for your reply. I am currently using Lexington Law. Their paralegal staff told me "sorry this is beyond the scope of what we do for you" regarding disputing the judgment. From what I understand, all they are doing are sending out dispute letters to all my negative accounts hoping that they cannot verify it. If this is the case then is this something that I can do myself? If so, what should I do about the letters that are already sent on my behalf by Lexington? If I wait at least 30 days from the last dispute letter sent then I can send my own?

Thank you for putting up with my newbie questions.

Lexington Law is one of the best in my opinion. I know they dispute judgments, so they must have been talking about something else regarding the judgment.

You are mostly correct. Most of what they do it send out dispute letters, but they also occasionally use other tactics.

It's definitely something you can do yourself. We teach a lot of the tactics here. But, a lot of this is not as simple as it seems. There are certain letters for certain situations and the wording is very important.

Repairing your credit is much like repairing a car. If you mess up it IS possible that you can damage it beyond repair and I see it happen all the time. We have many forum members who have done it. Some even send in copies of their bankruptcy filing (biggest mistake ever). It's like sending in the murder weapon with your finger prints on it. Others just make minor errors like disputing 20 items at once as "not mine".

How long have you been with Lexington?

[tolog]

I've been with Lexington Law Condcord Premier ($79.95/mo) since September 04, 2008. Should I stick with them?

[chane]

Originally Posted by tolog

I've been with Lexington Law Condcord Premier ($79.95/mo) since September 04, 2008. Should I stick with them?

It's been almost 90 days and you said they haven't gotten anything removed? That's not good. I would probably stick it out one more month at most. If nothing comes off after that, ask for a refund. They may not give you one, I'm not sure exactly how that works, but it's worth a try.

It's very rare for nothing to come off after 90 days. I don't think I've ever seen that with any of my clients, ever.