A good credit repair company can help you boost your credit score, especially when it’s being held down by inaccurately reporting negative information. Most credit reports have inaccurately reported negative information on them. Under the law, it’s your job to stay to review and keep your credit report clean.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad players mixed in with the legitimate ones. Equally unfortunate is the fact that you can’t always rely upon the reviews to give you a straight answer as to whether the credit repair law firm or credit repair company is going to meet your expectations. Some bad actors either buy reviews that are fraudulent or have their buddies post good reviews, bragging about results that they never achieved. Either way, it can be hard to tell who is legit vs who is not from just the reviews.
Here are some tips on how you can review credit professionals yourself to be sure that you are going to get the right service.
Before you start analyzing credit repair law firms and credit repair companies, you have to know the differences between the two.
The difference between a credit repair law firm and a credit repair company
A credit repair company typically charges monthly fees to consumers, irrespective of whether it’s successful in removing negative items from credit reports. A credit repair company only writes letters and does no litigation.
A credit repair law firm, by contrast, does more than write letters; it sues the credit bureaus and lends that report inaccurately reporting negative information on your credit report. While under law, any credit repair professional has to send a dispute letter to the credit bureau to dispute any negative information, a good credit repair law firm will only have to send a singular dispute letter and then file a lawsuit on your behalf. Moreover, a credit repair law firm will only charge fees to the defendants and not to you as the consumer. With a credit repair law firm, nothing comes out of your pocket. Understanding these differences will allow you to review credit repair professionals more clearly. For a video explanation, click on this video.
Not all credit repair law firms are actually law firms.
Lexington Law, for instance, holds itself out as a law firm. However, it charges consumers a monthly fee and does absolutely no credit repair litigation. It’s actually a credit repair company and not a credit repair law firm. While it’s owned in part by a lawyer, that lawyer/owner, is a minority owner of the firm. The biggest part of the firm is owned by a marketing company. If you read the reviews for Lexington Law, just understand that it’s a credit repair company and not a credit repair law firm.
Credit Repair companies must comply with the Credit Repair Organization Act (“CROA”).
This means that they cannot charge you fees in advance of providing services. For example, in CFPB v Lexington Law and FTC v Financial Education Services, the government is pursuing these credit repair companies for charging fees to consumers before delivering credit repair services. To do so violates CROA.
Another thing you should know is that under CROA, you must be given a written contract that states the length of time that the credit repair company anticipates its needs to complete its services and the amount of money that they will charge you for the entire length of the contract. The contract must also explicitly give you the right to terminate the agreement within 3 business days from signing. In some states, this can be made for a longer period by state law. Be sure to ask for a copy of the contract before you sign up with any credit repair company.
Avoid companies that make promises that seem too good to be true.
For example, some credit repair companies will promise you that they can increase your credit score to the low or mid 700s within 90 days. This is just a lie. Others will promise you that they can remove bankruptcies from your credit report. This is another lie. Credit scores are fluid and can change daily. Bankruptcies, unless fraudulent or past the statute of limitations for reporting, can remain on one’s credit report for up to 10 years.
Conclusion
If you are trying to legitimately clean up your credit report from inaccurately reporting information, you should contact us at Identity Theft Law Group. We have been fixing credit reports since 2008. Visit us at Identity Theft Law Group at www.idtheftlawgroup.com or call us at (404) 591-6680or email us at [email protected] We are happy to look at your credit reports for free and give you our opinion as to how we can help.
Join our 3 for Free program and we will send out up to 3 dispute letters for you for free. You can also join our Auto Pilot program and we will pull your credit reports for free every two months to make sure that they stay free of inaccurately reporting information. Contact us today for your free, no-obligation consultation.