You Do Not Need A Credit Repair Service

Category: Finance, Credit.

Every day, consumers pay huge sums of money to credit- repair service companies that promise a quick credit fix in an effort to handle disputes, improve their ratings and get a good FICO score.

Having good credit can help you get much better interest rates for a car or home loan as you may know. And almost all of the time, they find that their money is completely wasted. A bad credit history can leave you stuck with loans that carry sky- high interest rates and bad terms that are tough to get out of. The offers you find may seem attractive but let the buyer beware ! At times some of your bad credit can cost you a needed job. Some legitimate credit- repair companies exist but many of the claims that you hear advertised are usually false and just a way to part you with your hard- earned money. Please be aware of the following five reasons why you should not commit: If the credit- repair company charges an upfront fee- do not commit.

If you re thinking about signing a contract with any credit- repair service you should at least know your rights. Under the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act- which was enacted to take care of deceptive and abusive credit repair business practices- it makes it illegal for companies to charge consumers BEFORE they perform any credit- repair services. If the credit- repair company says it will, dispute information in, on your behalf your file, including items you know are correct, then beware. So it s against the law for credit- repair companies to seek payment from you until they have fully completed the repair services they have promised. If the service s plan is to lie, or dispute what you know to be accurate information then it s not a reputable company. And if the information in your file is totally correct good or bad, only the passage of time can reduce the impact of any negative information. While YOU can dispute any information in your credit files that you think is incorrect, no credit- repair company has the right to remove any accurate, current information from anyone s credit report.

Negative information such as late payments can stay in your credit file for as long as seven years. Any negative information on your credit scores lessens as the years pass by. And a personal bankruptcy filing can take as ten years. Before you sign any contract, the company has to provide you with a free copy of the FTC s" Consumer Credit File Rights Under State And Federal Law. " These guidelines clearly outline what the service can and cannot do. But if you don t own a business, then this isn t a legitimate way to repair your personal credit history. The company may tell you they can get you a new credit identity by applying for an employer identification number, from the IRS, or EIN( Internal Revenue Service. ) They may tell you that you can use this number instead of your Social Security number. And it s a federal crime to get an EIN under false pretenses.

Simply put, you can easily clean up your credit report and repair your credit report history yourself. If the credit- repair service tells you not to directly contact any of the credit- reporting agencies or credit bureaus, you don t want to hire them. Everything a credit- repair company promises they can do that is legitimate, you can do yourself. Many are unethical and will just take your money and run. You do not need a credit repair service. Some will even charge you a monthly fee for ongoing credit repair. You can easily get your business or personal annual credit report online free.

With these tips you should be well- informed before making a decision about hiring any credit- repair service. Why not order and get your newest free credit report from Equifax, Experian or Trans Union, the 3 credit bureaus or reporting agencies, do a little research and fix your credit history yourself? It s really not hard at all.