Has anyone been successful using a credit repair company?

Question

They are charging $1800 to remove items from both mine and my husbands credit report. The process takes about 18 months to complete, and I was told by then, we should be able to qualify for a mortgage, which we need to get in order to keep our house (rent to own for 2 years, then we get a mortgage in our own name).

Has anyone had any success using one of these companies?

(I have $15k to be removed, and my husband has $30k from medical bills to be removed. Can they get rid of the stuff in collections?)

Answer 1

Credit repair companies cannot do anything that you cannot already do yourself. In fact, using a credit repair company will strip you of certain consumer rights you have under the FDCPA and FCRA and any state consumer protection laws. There are many good FREE resources on the net that can help you repair it yourself. Most credit repair companies are operating illegally anyway.

Answer 2

To raise your credit score you need to do two things:

1 - add positive things to your credit records.  Such as paying your bills on time!

2 - Remove negative things from your records.  These may be mistakes made by the credit report companies or bills you haven’t paid!

If your problems aren’t too bad or too complicated than you can do this yourself.  This review site gives you e-books to explain the process and guide you through it:

<>http://www.onlinebestinformation.com/cre...

if your problem is complex - or you just don’t have the time or patience to do it yourself then you will want to use a credit repair company.  This review site will guide you to the three best companies to use:

<>http://www.onlinebestinformation.com/cre...

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Before you sign up with this credit repair company, read this:  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/cred...

Legitimate derogatory items cannot be removed from your credit file.  There are no special letters or magic formulas.  Instead of wasting your money paying this company, use it to settle your debts.

Get copies of your credit report (AnnualCreditReport.com).  If there are any errors, dispute them with the credit bureaus.

Work on settling your derogatory items.  Start with the newest item and work back to the oldest.  If anything is close to the 7 year reporting period, you may want to just let it age off.

If you have single entry items like cell phone, medical, and utility bills, try to negotiate a pay for delete.  This will help your score.  But it doesn't work as well for regularly reported items like credit cards.  The collection agency can only remove what they report.  The original creditor's charge off remains.

If the debt is more than 3 years old, offer 25%; 2 or 3 years old, offer 50%; less than 2 years old, offer 75%.  Lump sum gets the best deal.  Payment plans need to be short term.  Get any settlement agreement in writing, and keep it, along with your payment proof, forever.  Do not give the collector direct access to your bank account.

Paying off old debt won't improve your score (unless you get the item deleted).  In fact, initially it will lower your score.  The older the item, the less impact on your score.  Paying old debt makes it a current transaction which counts more in your score calculation, including the negative stuff.

However, creditors look at more than just your score.  Paid old debt looks better than unpaid.  Mortgage companies will insist you settle open derogatory items before approving you for a mortgage.

Answer 4

I wouldn't do it.  There is nothing on your credit report that you can't already do yourself (remove incorrect items, payoff debt, even negotiate a smaller payoff).  The worst part is that it will show up on your credit report- and the lenders will know you went through one.  Many lenders view this the same way they view a bankruptcy, and they will not let you loan on a house until 12 months have passed.  I am a loan officer and am dealing with the same thing right now.