Pros and Cons Of Credit Repair

In my last post I had briefly discussed the tit bits of credit score.

Inspired by its overwhelming response, I decided to do a bit of research about credit repair. Credit repair and credit score are inter-connected but there exists a thin line of difference between the two.

Whereas credit score is a number that represents the credit history of an individual, credit repair is the process that one adopts to improve the credit score. Negative credit history is fatal to a individual’s living and one must adopt necessary steps to work on it. Times are not rare when you get bombarded with tele-marketing calls and flayers in mails when credit repair companies are too eager to undertake the responsibility to repair your credit history. Selecting a credit repair company is a Herculean task. In exchange for their services, the primary consideration they require is your trust followed by lump sum money.

Never get lured by false promises who say that it is possible to get rid of record of bankruptcy, defaulted payments and unsettled bills in no span of time. It is never possible to get rid of correct negative information until the lapse of a certain span of time. However if any negative information is found to be inaccurate, you should get in touch with the consumer reporting agency along with copies of supporting documents and a letter bearing your name, address and stating the reason of your grievances.

Secondly, stay out of credit repair companies that provoke you to alter your credit identity and generate a fresh credit report by misrepresenting your social security number. Such misrepresentation of facts is an offense in eyes of federal law offense and you’re liable to get prosecuted for it.

Sometimes they ask you to abstain from contacting any credit reporting company directly. In most cases, these fraud agencies, forfeit your money and disappears into oblivion in a few days.
Most of these companies charge you a fee before initiating the credit repair process itself. This is prohibited by law. A credit repair organization is bound to produce a copy of

“Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law” before your sign their contract.

If however you’re not satisfied with your credit repair company, you can report the same at local consumer affair office or your state Attorney General