Credit Repair Companies Tips – How to Avoid Scams
The first thing you should look out for when you’re in need of trustworthy credit repair services is the affiliations of the organization you’re evaluating. All ethical credit repair businesses will willingly share with you their references on request. These are some important issues you should check out so you can avoid deceitful credit repair companies.
1. Check to see that the company is a member of the Ethical Credit Repair Alliance (ECRA) or a similar regulatory organization. It’s often suggested to choose businesses who have membership in the BBB (Better Business Bureau) When considering. those agencies that belong to the ECRA are some of the best.
This body has its own stringent codes of conduct and the member companies will give you their best services. All credit repair companies that have membership in this organization must maintain high standards of ethics in dealing with their clients. This means protection for you, the consumer, from being “taken” by a predatory scammer.
2. Know what credit repair is before seeking help. Most people who are cheated out of their hard earned money when hiring help with their credit, do not understand credit repair. You should be knowledgeable about what these services can do for you and what they are not able to do.
Only when you know clearly this difference, can you distinguish which companies are dishonest and which are not. For instance, no one can remove negative remarks entered on your credit report if these can be verified. There are those credit repair companies telling you that within as little as a month you can have a completely clean credit report. Now take a close look; is this legally possible? If not – and it clearly is not – you would be well advice to run the other way.
3. Never accept unsolicited offers by e-mail. When you get an e-mail offer to repair your credit, at the very time when you most need help, don’t fall prey to the belief that divine intervention is somehow involved. Such e-mails are sent out by unscrupulous agencies who use shady methods to get your e-mail address, and send out emails to millions of unsuspecting victims trying to fool a person in dire need whom they can scam for all they’re worth!
Don’t fall for these e-mails. In 99.9 percent of cases these are crooked agencies looking to take advantage of the unwary. Trustworthy credit repair professionals will contact you only in the case that you have ask for them.
4. Creating a “new identity” cannot be done legally. This is one huge fallacy that many people choose to believe, primarily because it looks like the “Silver bullet” that will resolve all their difficulties. This is so easily believed because, again, most people do not understand credit repair. This illegal practice is called “File segregation” and will get you in deep trouble with the law!
A credit score is an aggregate of the history of your financial behavior from the day you became an adult until the present. So ask yourself “how can getting a ‘new’ credit history be possible”? And if you do so, does it seem to you like this would be legal? So it’s glaringly obvious that the credit repair companies that propose this as a solution to your difficulties are fraudulent.
5. Demanding complete payment upfront should raise a “red flag.” According to Federal Law you need to have a detailed written contract from the agency beforehand and that they cannot charge you a fee prior to completion of the services offered. In addition you have three days to cancel the contract if you so choose.
Some companies may charge an upfront fee for credit report analysis or a consultation, and charge monthly fees after that as follow-up with the credit bureaus is continued on an ongoing basis. But if an agency insist on full payment upfront, the odds are they are doing this because they are keenly aware you will not be inclined to pay later when it becomes obvious that they cannot do what they have promised they would. Companies such as these are ripoffs and you must not deal with them!
6. Repairing your credit is a time-consuming process. As we discussed, no reputable company can solve your credit problems in the blink of an eye or remove verifiable derogatory accounts from your credit report.
In a best case scenario, less serious issues can be fixed within two or three months, by getting incorrect information removed from your credit report, and through improving how you deal with your finances. More serious negative trade lines like foreclosures and the like stay on your credit report for 7 years, even with the best financial management. Bankruptcies cannot be removed for ten years. Don’t fall for guarantees that such items can be removed within a month or less.
7. No contract? Forget it! To avoid being scammed, make certain you are given a written contract; and according to the law, this is your right. Fraudulent companies will shy away from offering you such a contract, and if a contract is given, important information will be missing on aspects of the services, the fees charged, and the like. You will acquire an insight into these agencies by looking at the contract. And if they do not offer a contract.
8. Do not trust any agency that guarantees results! Not even the best and most experienced agencies can make guarantees as far as results of their service they provide. They may reasonably promise that all legal procedures will be used to improve your credit. But to guarantee results is a different matter entirely.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of human beings, people would rather hire a company that tells them what the want to hear, rather than hire a credit repair business who gives them an honest and truthful assessment of the situation. Avoid falling prey to this trap! Even though you would prefer to hear about guaranteed results, credit repair companies that give you guarantees regarding results are out to scam you.
9. Look for counseling services. Many quality credit repair companies offer counseling services at no charge.
If the agency you are looking at does not, look a bit beyond. It might be an organization unworthy of your trust. All agencies of repute encourage and educate people on how to repair credit. The company performs those services that are for those matters that need professional intervention toward improving the credit scores.
10. Bad advice? Beware! There are companies who will advise you to dispute all the negative entries on your credit report declaring “this is not my account..” Although the short-term results may be impressive, the creditors whose remarks are thus disputed may later counter it, and at a later time the bureaus will verify it.
Given the poor record keeping habits of the credit bureaus, it’s highly likely that any trade lines on your credit report has mistakes regarding the details. But credit repair companies that tell you to state “this account is not mine” if you are certain that it is, are not worthy of your trust.
As you can see, there is no shortage of warning signs to warn you against scams. The first thing you must do when you seek to hire credit repair companies is to educate yourself on what “credit report” and “credit score” mean. You also need to know the minimum applicable laws before you go for any type of credit repair help. For starters pay a visit to the web sites of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Ethical Credit Repair Alliance.
Related posts:
- Choosing A Credit Repair Company
- Credit Repair Company – Choosing a Good One
- What to Look for in a Rockford Advertising Agency
- How To Get Good Mortgage Refinance Rates If You Have Bad Credit
- How Does A Home Equity Line Of Credit Work?
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