The Truth About Credit Repair

“We can delete negative information within 24 hours!”

How often have you read or heard a statement like this regarding credit repair? Whether you have been researching Credit Repair companies or just driving down the street, you have probably seen statements like this more often then not. It’s an enticing offer. Who doesn’t want the best credit score possible? Who hasn’t let a payment or two fall behind? If you’re anything like the majority of consumers you have some delinquencies on your credit file. It would be great if these so called credit repair companies actually had some secret plan that would remove inaccurate delinquencies from your credit file.

The truth is that they don’t.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) states that accurate credit information can not be removed from a credit file for a minimum of 7 years. The bottom line is that it’s the law. Credit Repair is a lot like trying to get out of a speeding ticket. You know you were speeding but you’re still going to try to talk the cop out of giving you a ticket. If you get enough tickets and try enough times you may get off on one. Most of the time you won’t. This is how these companies work. They send dispute letters to the credit reporting agencies on your behalf stating that the information being reported on your file is inaccurate. They may use several reasons why the information is incorrect. It could be that you were not late, it’s being reported incorrectly, the information is misleading, etc. They send these letters by certified mail and start counting the days. Per the FCRA a creditor has 30 days to verify an item. If they do not verify within the 30 day time frame that information must be removed. What the Credit Repair companies don’t tell you is that most companies do verify the information within 30 days and even if they don’t, with a compelling reason they can verify after the 30 day time frame and the information will stay on your credit file. Every now and then you may get something to come off and stay off. It happens, but not often.

The amazing thing is that most of these companies charge you $100’s if not over a $1,000 to get started and then charge you a monthly maintenance fee to mail letters for you. If you want to take this approach to rebuilding your credit, save your money and mail the letters yourself. It’s not that hard do. It’s like playing the lottery, you might get lucky but you probably won’t.

The good news is that there are ways to radically improve your credit score without resorting to asking credit repair companies to commit fraud on your behalf. If you are interested in improving and maximizing your scores please speak to a credit expert. A competent Credit Advisor will review your credit file with you and create a battle plan that will improve your credit score to the level that you desire. Good luck!

Tom Barker is a Credit Advisor with over 10 years of experience in the credit industry. He was an Officer of MBNA America where he dealt with all aspects of the credit industry from collections to lending to working directly with the credit bureaus. Currently he serves as a loan officer and Credit Advisor in Baltimore, MD. He uses his credit experience to help consumers rebuild their credit score and improve their financial outlay. To receive a no cost credit evaluation please contact Tom through his website: http://www.peakcreditrepair.com