Are Credit Repair Companies A Scam? How To Protect Your Credit

Lexington Law has been a prominent name in the credit repair industry for 20 years, established to ethically and effectively assist consumers needing credit repair. Since 2004, Lexington Law Firm clients have seen over 83 million items removed from their credit reports. The Credit Corrector Team will actively dispute any errors on your credit report with all three major credit bureaus within 24 Business Hours of your enrollment. If these items are not corrected or removed during the first round of disputes, we’ll send follow-up customized challenges to increase your chances of success/removal. Scoring models pay close attention to your credit utilization ratio.

Alternative Ways To Repair Credit

Learning how legitimate credit repair companies operate can help you spot scams and protect yourself from fraudsters. Finally, ask the credit counseling agency for free information about their services and what they provide. A reputable credit counseling agency should be willing to send you free information about itself and the services it provides without requiring you to provide any details about your situation. If a service doesn’t do that, consider it a red flag and go elsewhere for help. Knowing where you stand and watching your progress can be important. Your account gives you a breakdown of which factors are impacting your score the most, so you can take a focused approach to improving your score.

It’s unlikely, because the checks are considered refunds for payments that consumers made to the credit repair companies, rather than taxable income, the CFPB said. “If you have tax-related questions, however, please contact a tax advisor,” it added. According to one study by the Federal Trade Commission, one quarter of people had errors on their credit report and 5% of people had errors that could have made getting a loan more costly for them. Additionally, having multiple credit inquiries on your credit reports in a short period could negatively impact your credit score and make it difficult to get credit when you need it.

When you apply for new credit, the lender will pull a copy of your credit report. Before you can create an effective plan to rebuild your credit, you need to understand where you stand now. The best way to assess your current credit situation is to check your three credit reports from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Any qualifying consumers harmed by CreditRepair.com, Lexington Law and their parent companies between July 21, 2011, and August 30, 2023. Victims have been identified through records turned over by the credit repair companies.

Debt Relief Service And Credit Repair Scams

Most lenders offer credit card consolidation loans ranging from one to five years in length. Yet, it’s possible to find lenders offering credit card consolidation loans for shorter or longer periods. Approval for credit card consolidation loans is typically quick because the application process is simple and streamlined. Some lenders, such as SoFi, even offer same-day approval and funding.

💼 Step 4: Rebuild Positive Credit History

For loans that are past due, in default, in collections, or otherwise lowering your score, contact creditors to negotiate an amount to pay off the debt. Before choosing a credit repair company, research and compare options from multiple providers. By doing your research, you can find a provider that’s right for you, with an offering that can help you improve your credit. Credit-scoring models pay close attention to your credit utilization ratio, which is the amount of credit you’re using versus the total credit you have available. They also consider how much unpaid debt you have across all your accounts.

The truth is that credit repair companies do nothing for you that you can’t do yourself, and they can’t remove negative information if it’s accurate. They also can’t remove hard inquiries, and you don’t have to pay to dispute inaccuracies on your credit report. Credit repair companies often find ways to target individuals who are struggling with debt, offering promises of easy financial freedom. But creditrepair offered by these companies come at a significant cost that can send folks with existing financial problems even further into debt. And there’s no guarantee a credit repair company can actually improve your credit score. Each credit repair company has its own process, but their approaches are similar.