There are over 68 million Americans who are eligible to get a credit score but end up with poor credit scores. This is when credit repair comes to mind. Does this improve your credit score? We have to be careful because there are a lot of scam credit repair companies who prey on those who do not do their due diligence in looking for legitimate companies.
Truth be told, there is nothing a credit repair company can offer you that you cannot do on your own. If you have the time to study all the free information that is now available online, then there may be no need for you to avail of credit repair services.
On the other hand, if you want someone who has the knowledge, expertise, and tools to do the job for you then, by all means, hire a credit service repair company which suits you. This would be also for those who don’t have the time and have the extra money to spend. These companies will charge a fee and will dispute the errors on your behalf. A big help if you have multiple errors or have been a victim of identity theft.
What Is Credit Repair
Credit repair may refer to any means that can be used in fixing bad credit. This is the process one goes through of disputing errors in credit reports. You can do this yourself by filing a formal dispute with the credit bureau involved either online or registered mail. You should include a detailed explanation of the errors backed up with the proper documentation.
Benefits Of Credit Repair Companies
There are a lot of reputable credit repair companies out there who offer valuable services to their clients. They can help make sure that your credit reports are accurate, fair and properly documented.
Credit repair companies can help in instances where you may have a collection account that has been sold to a lot of different debt collectors which may appear on your credit report multiple times. This may be accurate, but affecting your credit score multiple times may not be fair. This is where a reputable credit repair service company comes in and fixes this error for you.
A good practice would be to pull out your credit reports and review them every 12 months. A free credit report summary can be viewed at Credit.com. This tool gives a grade for 5 major factors that are affecting your credit score. Tips are also given on how to improve scores by focusing on the credit factors that are pulling them down.
A reputable credit repair service company will pull reports from all the three major credit reporting agencies. This is done to make sure that all errors will be disputed and none will be left with either of the three agencies as may be the case.
For those who are victims of identity theft and a fraudulent account keeps on lowering your credit score it would be hard to prove this on your own.
This is where your credit repair company can work with the credit bureau to determine if there is indeed a case of identity theft and fraud.
Once a dispute is filed with a credit bureau, they have to respond within 30 days. This is all the time needed in order to erase poor and inaccurate information on your credit report and get a higher rating. This will help consumers manage their timeline and resources if they plan to buy a house, car or apply for a new credit card.
Approval can be given in 30 to 45 days, from the time you file your formal dispute with the credit bureau. One should also take note that getting a higher score is not always automatic since some may have more complicated credit issues than others.
Prices for credit repair services may vary depending on how big the company is, your location and the type of service that you require. Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act, demanding advance payment is prohibited for credit repair companies.
Having great credit ratings can be accomplished either on your own or with the help of good credit service repair companies, the choice is up to you.
