6 Things to Ask YOur Credit Repairing Agency
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Credit repair Agency - real help or scam? You're in deep with your credit card problems and need help. You turn to the credit report agency based on the advertisement that you saw on TV late night when you couldn't go to sleep because you were turning and tossing about your current credit woes. Before you commit any money to a credit repair agency, make sure you get the following questions answered. They will help you separate a service that can really help you from a company that is only trying to take your money in a scam.
What will the credit repair agency do for me?
Ever heard of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA)? Now you have. This baby helps protects your rights. First off, a legitimate credit repair agency must produce a written contract that stipulates exactly what they plan to do for you. Most legitimate repair agencies will review your credit report for you and follow through on errors with Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA's). No matter what they say, if it's not in a written contract, disregard, especially any particularly persuasive ideas about erasing your bad credit. It's just not going to happen.
How long will it take for us to achieve these results?
Again, a legitimate credit repair agency must include in their contract how long it will take for them to do their magic for you.
What is the payment schedule for these services?
A legitimate credit repair agency must include in their contract all payment terms that you will be charged with. Furthermore, they cannot request payment from you until after they've done their work.
What guarantees does the credit repair agency offer?
If they have any, they'll have to include it in writing, within their contract.
What is the credit repair agency's name and business address?
Whoa! Don't tell me you were thinking about letting somebody "help" you with your most personal financial information and they weren't going to give you're their business name and address?
Where is my copy of the "Consumer Credit File Rights under State and Federal Law?"
Finally, a legitimate credit repair agency will provide you a copy of this statement before they have you sign anything. This document isn't too long; if you have the time, pull it up off the Internet right now and read it. Basically it tells you that anything the agency can do for you, you could already do yourself. It also tells you in black and white that a Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) can only remove accurate information about your credit history if it is more than seven years old.
If the company that you turned to cannot answer the above questions, then you will not benefit from doing business with them. If they could, go two steps further: check to make sure that they are a legitimate business licensed in your state and contact the Better Business Bureau to find out if there are any complaints lodged against the company. Finally, save your money and find out what you can do for yourself. Good luck!
J.S. Monroe
Posted by jonathan on February 03, 2005 at 06:52 PM