As with any other service, it’s important to look into what others are saying about conducting business with a group or service. What you can learn from credit repair reviews could save you time and money, and also prevent you from making mistakes that could hurt your credit in the process.
An Important Caveat — Or Two
When it comes to credit repair agencies, it’s important to note they cannot do anything about accurate information. They can only affect data which is inaccurate. Moreover, you can do this yourself, quite easily.
If a consumer credit reporting agency receives what it considers to be a frivolous challenge under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the agency has the option to ignore the request. Because creditors have such a major effect on what appears on a credit report, credit repair agencies cannot promise success.
Credit reporting bureaus also deal with a lot of data, so it’s a combination of art and science to alter or remove a listing from a credit report by a person or a credit repair firm.
You Can Do It Alone For Free
No one has the legal authority to remove accurate and timely negative information from a credit report. You have the legal right to request an investigation into information in your file that you believe is incorrect or incomplete.
You will not be charged if you do this on your own. You can try to have the accounts erased if you paid them in whole and as agreed. If you need assistance with removing negative information from your credit report, you may be able to find help by reading credit repair reviews to find a credit repair agency, such as Lexington Law reviews.
Choose Help Or DIY
As an example, take a look at the Lexington Law reviews. Lexington Law has been in operation for a long time. Any organization with a large number of clients over a long period of time, such as Lexington Law, will produce consumer complaints on consumer Web sites alleging the company is a scam. Of course, each customer must perform his or her own research. The truth is, the company is legitimate, the problem is it does nothing you cannot do on your own.
Depending on how many entries you want to be erased from your credit report, following up with the credit bureaus could take a long time.
You have two methods for getting these things deleted from your credit report:
- You may choose a credit repair service to do your research and file requests on your behalf. Do some research on the company with which you’ll be doing business. Before you sign a contract, credit repair agencies are required by law to send you a copy of the “Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law.” They must also provide you with a written contract outlining your rights and responsibilities. Before you sign any documents, make sure you read them well. You have specific protections under the law.
- The second option is to repair your credit on your own by contacting the credit agencies and analyzing the information yourself. The first step is to get copies of your credit reports from each of the three major credit reporting organizations.
For no-cost, no-frills copies of your credit reports, go to AnnualCreditReport.com. You can also write to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281, or call (877) 322-8228. You can obtain reports from all three national consumer-reporting companies at the same time, or you can order reports from each company separately.
It’s Your Future, Read Carefully
Look over your reports for action items. Consumers can dispute things online with the three largest bureaus, but you’ll need a copy of your receipt in most circumstances. The unpaid debt will not be removed from your credit reports if you rehabilitate your credit.
Prior to doing credit restoration, pay off your bills. What you can learn from Lexington Law reviews can save you time and money, but more importantly, it can help you decide who your ally may be in the most important repair you’ll ever make- repairing your credit.