This a topic most relevant to the current financial crisis of our economy, and many scammers are taking advantage of these tough times, offering their victims false hope and tricking them into handing over their money.
Using the 340 various laws of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you can have negative information removed from your credit history , and therefore restore your credit to a better status . Knowing how to use these laws can improve your credit immensely because you can practically remove any information from your report, even if it is accurate information. The possibility of this comes from the fact that absolutely no law in the United States requires that your information be reported for any specific length of time. Truth be told, no one can ask the credit bureaus to remove accurate negative information from your credit report. However, as with anything else, things we imagine impossible have a way of working themselves out when we have professionals do them for us.
Finding the right credit restoration company is not as easy as one would think. It doesn’t help that there are only a handful of legitimate credit restoration companies out there. Many of the operations, and especially those that only offer on-line services are run by people who have gained their ‘professional’ knowledge through a do-it-yourself kit and because of their success with their own case, they think they can do this for everybody else as well. What you need though, is a professional with years of experience and information that can be custom-applied to your specific case. Of course, even professional have their flaws, but at least you can be sure that your information and financial status will be safe in their hands. So what qualities you should look for in a professional? You need to make sure they are trained, insured, licensed and bonded. Otherwise, no will be accountable for your losses when things go wrong.
As with anything else each of us is responsible for doing enough research to ensure the protection of our own interests, but distinguishing legitimate businesses from scam artists is not an easy thing to do. So, to help you with this task, we have compiled a list of 10 quick tips that will help you get this done effectively and efficiently:
1) Your credit repair cannot be done in anything less than 18 months, so no legitimate company is going to claim to be able to achieve that in their ads. This is why the LAW actually prohibits credit restoration companies from advertising or representing the ability to repair anyone’s credit in less than 18 months. The importance of this number will be reinforced in the coming tips.
2) Experience is probably one of the most important traits of any given business. Therefore make sure you know how many years the company you want to work with has been in the business. As a rule of thumb, agencies that have been in the business for10 years and longer are preferred over the rest.
3) Be meticulous. Check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to obtain an unbiased report on the number of complaints filed against the agency. Look at the records over the past three years and make sure to check whether there are more than 4 complaints per year. Any number over 12 complaints over a 3 year period suggests that the company is not well run and that you are better off finding another candidate to address your case. Also, remember that what you are really looking for here is experience and good business practice. So if BBB does not have any information on the business, they either lack the experience or the legitimacy you are looking for in order to get the service you need.
4) A key thing for you to remember is that you want to assess the level of honesty of the business. So talk to them and ask them as many questions as you need to feel confident you’re your choice. This will of course include questions regarding pricing. A good company with years of experience will not run you around with vague answers claiming the level of work to be done or the amount of work to be done as the foundation for their pricing. The general rule of thumb is that after explaining your situation you should at least be able to get an estimate on how much it is going to cost you to have your credit restored. This reminds me that you should absolutely refuse to pay anything more than $1000 for the credit restoration of each person.
5) You are looking for a licensed company that is bonded and has insurance for when things don’t go as expected. It is absolutely okay for you to ask the business for their license and proof of insurance (yes, you get to be the cop in this case) and if they refuse to show you proof you can safely guess that something fishy is going on, especially since these businesses can only obtain their business license AFTER they purchase their insurance and bond.
6) A good way to research the type of service you will be getting from a company is to ask them for references and for examples of their successful cases. Surely, they will be able to provide you with copies of their accomplishments without exposing the example case’s personal information to protect that customer.
7) Another important factor is the length of time the agency with be supporting you with your case. I say this because your case is not done right after the negative information is cleared off of your record. The company should develop a business relationship with you that will support you for the length of time it takes to restore your credit. Otherwise, the negative information is removed, the agency walks away and everything seems fine, only for you to find out that the negative information has returned back on your record after a couple of months and now your have to pay for another service to remove that same information yet another time. You sure don’t want to wait 7-10 years, the length of time it is going to take for the information to get erased from your record. A good company will provide you support for the whole 18 months it takes to monitor your credit and to ensure it has been fully restored.
8) A legitimate company will also offer services that will enable you to re-establish your credit and financial status. For example they will offer you with resources to open a debit card without a checking or savings account. You should have easy access to credit advisors and legal representation should you need support against the credit reporting agency. Remember that it is on shoulders to ask questions about these services and to make sure you are covered when the need arises.
9) A legitimate and honest company will clearly explain their contract to you and remind you of your rights. Pay attention to the company’s style of handling this portion of their business, as it will be a fair example of the type of service you will be receiving from them. Especially since restoring one’s credit demands a command over the 340 different laws of the FCRA, and their legal know-how will be essential to the service you need.
10) In the end make sure that there is a money back guarantee, as however hard you try and as much research as you might do to ensure you are making the right choice in your selection, there is always a chance for things not working the desired way. Therefore, it is best that reserve yourself the right to ask for your money if you don’t receive the service you deserve. In the credit restoration business refunds are prorated, meaning that if there are 20 negative things that are to be removed from your record and only 10 have been removed, you are entitled to a 50% refund of your original payment for the package. A company that has enough experience and confidence in its work will surely provide its customers with such a guarantee.
Hopefully this information helps clarify some of the confusion regarding the legitimacy of different credit restoration programs available out there. Good luck.
Comments
margie March 25, 2009 08:06:23 PM 8:06 PM Credit repairing can be a tough process. Because there are so many agencies and companies are out there to do this job and it is hard to trust anyone. So it is always safe to do it ourself if we know the steps.
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