Are organizations which claim to be able to mend or erase bad credit too good to be true? Well, in a word YES – in most cases. You will have seen adverts in papers and the Internet from credit repair agencies offering credit repair services. They all make the similar claims:
“Credit problems? No problem!”
“We can remove bankruptcies, liens, and bad loans from your credit file forever!”
“We can erase your bad credit – 100% guaranteed.”
“Create a new credit identity – legally.”
The law is VERY clear on credit repair – bad but accurate credit information cannot be officially removed from credit records, nor can new credit identities be created, bad loans be erased and so on. There are no quick fixes – if it is bad for a reason then no trickery is going to help – hard work will. You can improve your credit report legally, but it takes time and effort.
So, recognizing scams? Credit repair companies target consumers daily who have poor credit histories promising to clean up their credit report – once they pay them a fee for the service. Note that last point. No one can supply you with an improved credit report using the strategy they promise – It’s criminal: they can’t remove correct negative information from your credit report. Having paid thousands of dollars in fees you are left with the same bad credit report and they have your money.
So, how to tell if the credit repair agency is up to no good:
Most importantly, if they ask for money in advance the advice is simple – WALK. By law credit repair companies cannot insist on you to pay until they have concluded the services they have promised.
The Credit Repair Company doesn’t enlighten you of your rights.
They tell you they can erase of most or all of the poor information in your credit report, even if that information is truthful and current.
They urge that you do not contact any of the three major national credit reporting companies directly.
The company suggests that you try to invent a “new” credit identity – and then, a new credit report – by applying for an Employer Identification Number to use instead of your Social Security number. This is fraud and can get jail time.
The company recommends that you dispute all the data in your credit report, regardless of its truth. This wastes your time and that of the credit agencies – hardly a way to impress them!
Simon Myring has been an internet publisher for over 10 years, writing on many topics. His latest hobby is in Credit Repair Help and whether there is anything to be gained using Credit Repair Agencies. Be sure to visit his website and find out whether you can fix your credit history.
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