How a Credit Fixing Company Can Help You Improve Your Credit
A credit fixing company can help you improve your credit by disputing inaccurate negative information with the credit bureaus and companies that report to them. These companies identify errors on your credit reports, such as tax liens that don’t belong to you, old bankruptcies and duplicate accounts, then they prepare and send letters to the credit bureaus and creditors asking them to correct or delete the erroneous items.
Using the right credit repair service can help you clean up your credit faster, but you should always research companies before hiring one. Look for online consumer reviews, the number of years in business and educational resources available on a company’s website. In addition, make sure the credit repair agency follows CROA’s guidelines for its fees and services.
Credit repair companies charge a monthly fee for their services, which usually include a credit analysis and score, a set number of bureau disputes and creditor interventions, and financial tools like budgeting software. Sky Blue Credit Repair, for example, offers a single credit-repair package that costs $79 a month and includes all these perks.
Some credit repair companies may also offer extra perks such as free consultations and personal finance tools. However, be wary of any company that asks for payment upfront or requires you to give them limited power of attorney to act on your behalf. These shady tactics are against the law and could lead to legal trouble for you.
A legitimate credit repair company will work on your behalf to dispute inaccurate items on your credit report that can be corrected or removed by following the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s requirements. They’ll review your report, find errors and craft a letter to each of the three credit bureaus asking them to correct or remove the inaccurate information.
You can also dispute information on your credit report yourself, without the help of a credit repair company, by calling the credit bureaus and submitting a written request for a correction. The credit reporting agencies are required to investigate your claim within 30 days, and they should correct or remove the incorrect information if it is verified as inaccurate.
Keep in mind that no matter how much you pay a credit repair company, it will take time to improve your credit. Getting rid of bad marks on your credit report is not an overnight process, and the only way to truly fix your credit is to maintain positive payment history and avoid incurring new debts.
Keep in mind that credit repair companies are different from credit counseling agencies, which provide money management and budgeting advice to consumers. Credit repair companies can only help you improve your credit, while credit counseling agencies focus on addressing your debt and money problems directly. If you experience buyer’s remorse after purchasing a credit-repair service, you can cancel the contract within three days with no penalty. You should also remember that you can still work to improve your credit on your own, by avoiding late payments and keeping balances below 30% of your total available credit.