subject: Credit Repair Help - Beware Of Some Credit Fix Companies! [print this page] If you've been thinking about getting help with credit repair or having someone help you fix your credit, you have to be really careful because there have been a lot of problems in the "credit repair" field. Many people would like to improve their credit report and credit score (or also called FICO) especially homebuyers who would save a lot of money in interest.
Unfortunately, many credit repair companies advertise promises they cannot follow through on. They can promise to remove marks on your credit report but if the listing on your report is right, they will not be able to remove it and neither will you. Many of these companies promise to remove bankruptcies, missed payments and tax liens or other negative credit information, but never follow through, because they cannot and know it when they take your money.
It's actually a crime, a violation of federal government law for these credit repair companies to charge any fees to consumers without fully performing on the service they promised. These fees can be as high as $2500 to $4000 and they ask for it upfront before they repair or fix your credit. They're asking for money for something they cannot do.
One has to be very careful about doing business with credit repair companies. They cannot repair your credit if the negative information is CORRECT.
But if you know there are errors on your credit report that you want to change, you're better off just facing the situation. It isn't that hard to sit down, write a quick letter, and show copies of the documents or receipts, cancelled checks or whatever you have to prove that they've made a mistake. Send copies to all three credit-reporting agencies and to the creditor or creditors involved. This can save you a lot of money.
If the information is negative AND correct then it's not likely you can remove it nor can anyone else. Some of these debts or credit problems will drop off as time goes by so that is in your favor.
But to fix credit that is correct would be virtually impossible. So be careful. Don't part with your hard-earned money to credit repair companies that are promising to fix correct information on your report. There are plenty of ebooks showing you how to repair your credit and non-profit counselors who can help improve your credit, raise your FICO score, and sometimes in a short time, depending on what the problems are.
