Credit Repair Companies Accused of Abuse
If there is one financial service that has come to acquire a negative meaning in the US it is credit repair counseling. The blame for this rests squarely on credit repair counselors who have misled clients and abused the faith that their clients vested in them.
It is commonly said that if you can fix your own credit problems, it is a good idea to do so. You can thus be sure that you private personal information stays just that and is not tampered with.
You must realize that most credit repair counselors do little to improve your credit rating.
Instead of bettering your credit rating, many such companies merely help you reduce your debt. Some counselors may even damage your credit rating. Even if you turn your payments in to him on time every month, you are at his mercy. If he makes the payments late, this will reflected negatively on your credit report. You would have been better off making the payments yourself.
Some of these companies are fraudulent in other ways. Some have been known to contact credit bureaus stating that there are errors in their reports. They are able to convince the bureau to get rid of this information pending an in depth investigation. They then show these improved reports to their clients as proof that their credit score is improving. However, these reports are entirely misleading. Once the investigation has been completed and it is established that the previous report was accurate, all of the negative notes are once again put in your credit report.
However, this does not mean that every credit repair agency is a scam. There are some agencies that are honest, and have made their name the hard way. These agencies can be trusted to get those items removed from your credit report that are actually incorrect. These items include double listings, children’s items on parents’ reports, and paid-off items that still show past dues.
You do need to understand, however, that regardless of any claims a credit repair company cannot do anything more that what was just stated. It is impossible to remove negative aspects from your credit score if they are not mistakes. Such notations will be on your credit score for a total of seven years, with bankruptcy information showing up for more than ten years.
Once again, giving private personal information to others, even to a credit rapair company, can be risky. If you want to be aware of your true credit score, your best option is to handle your credit matters personally.
Filed under: Business