A few Quick Tips for Credit Repair
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According to the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act, credit repair services (except for nonprofit organizations, banks and credit unions, and creditors themselves) have to give consumers written details of their offer before any kind of agreement can be made. No agreement is set in stone unless you have signed a written agreement, and even then you have three business days to cancel it. They can't request payment until they have done all the credit repairs they promised to do.
It's against the law for a company to ask for payment before they have done the promised credit repair services. If the services are offered through an interstate phone call, the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule says that the company cannot ask for payment until it has given you proof of the credit repairs by giving you a credit report six months after the credit repairs were made.
No one, not even credit repair experts, can remove negative information if it is accurate, even for a fee.
They can only remove wrong information from your credit report. Valid negative information stays on your credit report for 7 years from the time it's reported, 10 years for bankruptcy and can not be repaired. Don't believe any company that promises to remove negative things from your credit report. It can not be done and is illegal.
You can not ever create a second credit file. Scam artists and con companies sometimes offer to give you different tax identification or social security numbers so you can create a new credit file. This is called "file segregation," and it is illegal, besides it doesn't work anyway.
You can make credit repairs yourself.
You can make corrections on your credit report yourself. You can get a free credit report if you were recently denied credit. Otherwise, you have to pay for it, unless your state allows you one free report a year. It doesn't cost you anything to question or dispute the items in your report. You should follow the instructions given to you by the credit bureau. The three major bureaus are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.
You can always add a comment to your report. If there's a excuse why you couldn't pay bills on time or you refused to pay for something because of a legit gripe, ask the credit bureau to put a short remark or two into your report.
Get help rebuilding your credit record from legitimate organizations.
If you can't fix your credit problems yourself or you need more help, you may want to get in touch with a credit counseling service. There are non-profit organizations in every state that help with debt counseling and credit repair. Counselors try to setup payment plans that are good for you and your creditors. They also can help you set up a budget. You can find the office nearest to you by looking in the yellow pages of your telephone book.
Posted by jonathan on February 03, 2005 at 06:54 PM