Credit Repair

True Confession of a BBB team member: Despite local regulations related to limited and specific use of those small advertisement stuck in the ground on the median and street corners, aggressive business owners will use them anyway to entice us to use their service.  Well, when I know (from BBB perspective) that the business is questionable, and they are indeed violating the regulations about sign use, (here comes the confession) as a good concerned citizen, I have been known to pluck those signs out of the ground and dispose of them properly.

The ones that really bothered me most were offering to erase bad credit, 100% guaranteed.  I did some serious plucking!  Credit Repair companies offer to remove bankruptcies, judgments, liens, bad loans from your credit file forever.  As a result of sales strategies that over promise/under deliver, BBB complaints against credit repair companies have risen nearly 50% in the past four years. 

Let’s begin with the official bottom line:  no one can legally remove timely and accurate negative information from your credit report.  But the law does allow you to request a reinvestigation of information in your file.  There is no charge for this.  Everything a credit repair service can do for you legally, you can do for yourself.  It takes time, a conscious effort and sticking to a personal debt repayment plan. And as a final warning, consider this:  attorneys at the nation’s consumer protection agency (Federal Trade Commission) state they have never seen a legitimate credit repair operation. 

Here’s quick and easy advice on how to recognize a credit repair scam and what you can do on your own (did I say FREE!):

Recognizing a Credit Repair Scam

1. The company wants you to pay for credit repair services BEFORE they provide any services.  ILLEGAL!  They may disguise this by claiming it is “set up” fee or fee to order your credit report, but an upfront fee is an upfront fee. 
2. They fail to tell you your rights under The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This is a 1970 federal law to promote accuracy, fairness, and the privacy of personal information assembled by Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs). It was last amended in December of 2003. A company working on your behalf must give you a one page document notifying you of your rights and what you can do for yourself to repair your credit.
3. They fail to mention you have the right to cancel a contract with any credit repair organization for any reason within three business days from the date the contract was signed. 
4. Run away if they suggest you acquire a new social security number or obtain a new Federal Employer Identification Number. Run faster if they suggest you “piggy back” on another’s good credit as that is no longer permitted except for spouses and children.  And we encourage you to stroll on by if they suggest they will simply challenge every negative entry on a credit report.  You can do that!  Why would you pay someone else to do that for you?

What you can do yourself
Remember.  Only incorrect negative information can be removed from your credit report.  So here are some simple steps you can take to see if any relief can be found.
·  You can obtain one report from each of the three credit reporting bureaus per year at www.annualcreditreport.com.  Stagger your request for a free report, ordering one every four months, rotating through the three Bureaus in a year and monitor your own credit report without paying a dime (or $14.95 per month).
·  Review your report for any inaccuracies.  If you identify any inaccurate entries, notify the credit bureau by following their dispute procedures.  They are then required to investigate any errors at no expense to you.  They verify the information or remove it.  Pretty simple!
·  When the reinvestigation is complete, the credit bureau must give you the written results and a free copy of your report if the dispute results in a change. 
·  Contact your creditors directly to ask they correct their records and forward accurate information to the credit reporting agencies.
·  If you are unable to obtain removal of information and you still object to its inclusion, submit a written objection (up to 100 words) to the credit reporting agency explaining your side of the story.  This information will be included in your credit report.

Directions for cleaning up your credit report can be found in the FAQs at www.annualcreditreport.com.  If your report is preventing you from obtaining credit, car loan, mortgage, consult a credit counseling service and visit www.ftc.gov/credit. If you have been a victim of credit repair services, file a complaint www.bbb.org and www.ftc.gov.  Talk soon - Angie