Use Extreme Caution When Using Credit Repair Companies
Don’t be taken in by one of the many bogus credit repair out there. These deals usually promise help with damaged credit, but what usually happens it that they charge far too much, get you into an illegal situation, or otherwise make your financial situation worse. Watch out for the most common of them.
1) Credit repair organizations that want you to put any false information on an application for credit or a loan, or that want you to get a secondary identity. In addition to being dishonest, it is not legal. Should a credit repair company try to talk you into trying for a loan with anything but factual information, you now know to avoid that company.
You might wind up being charged with fraud if you follow this bad advice, even though it was from the credit repair company’s suggestion. You need to remain focused on solving your credit problems, not adding to those problems with legal issues.
1) Repair companies that bill you for doing work that you could have done for yourself – like putting together a monthly budget. You should also be wary of companies wanting to charge you money up front.
There is an abundance of great information online for anyone wanting to eliminate credit card debt and repair their credit. Be sure to gather all of this information and use it before you pay someone else.
1) Credit repair companies that promise to take care of your creditors from money you pay to them, but that is kept in an escrow account. This practice is, in fact, a common scam that presents a big problem for debtors.
This is how this particular scam works: the debtor provides money to the credit repair company, presumably to pay off debts. The company places the funds in escrow where is grows. The idea is for the company to eventually use the money to pay off your debts once the balance in escrow matches your debts. You can get scammed if the company starts paying themselves all sorts of administrative fees, but not taking card of your creditors so that they start increasing your interest charges and possibly starting legal action against you. As a result, what should have been a helpful service turns out to be a scam that could ruin your credit rating.
1) Credit repair companies that are too hasty to get you to sign a contract without going through it in detail, don’t listen to what you have to say, or try to pressure you. These types of companies can’t be trusted and you should move on to someone that can be.
5) Companies that offer fast – even “instant” – credit repair, even when your credit is badly damaged. No credit repair company can legitimately deliver on this type of misleading claim. Unfortunately, there is no way around the fact that if you have bad credit, it may take years to repair completely. It is generally best to focus you attention mostly on how to eliminate credit card debt, knowing that your credit history will improve over time as a result.
Some companies will claim that they can remove your poor credit history by disputing entries in your credit report. This information is not to be believed. You cannot simply remove items from your credit report it they are true and accurate. It is true that credit bureaus must examine claims of inaccurate information within thirty days this does not mean that the information will simply be removed. Be aware of this untrue claim so that you can refuse to do business with any credit repair company making it.
Hopefully, these tips will help you avoid credit repair scams and allow you to properly locate companies that can truly help you with your credit card debt elimination plans.