Credit Report Repair: The Shady Face Of The Coin |
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There is a virtual deluge of advertisements of different types offering quick and reliable credit report repair, for an exorbitant fee. Telemarketers can sometimes make your life miserable with their annoying phone calls offering unbeatable credit repair services. There is a wide variety of the advertisements and their messages read something like these: Credit Problems? We Can Erase Your Bad Credit: 100% Guaranteed. Or, Create a New Credit Identity: Legally. Or, You Can Get Help From Credit Report Repair Services To Improve Your Credit History. Many credit report repair companies ask for upfront money even before providing any service. Others suggest that you should never deal with credit bureaus directly as it won't be in your best interest. There are yet others that might tell you to dispute every single item in your credit history, even those that are true. Beware! these companies are not interested in helping you but only want your upfront money before disappearing into thin air and leaving you in the lurch. Do not be lured by their advertisements. There are yet other companies that go to the extent of suggesting to you to engage in illegal practices such as starting a new credit file, with a tax number separate from your Social Security number, hence, a new identity! Such dubious credit report repair companies are practicing illegally and you should not touch them even with a barge pole. If you get allured by their promises and act per their suggestions, you will be working outside the legal framework and you will be liable for prosecution. Moreover, if you use your phone or the US mail to apply for credit and you give false information, you may be federally indicted for wire or mail fraud. All this is very serious and if you do not want to fall in such embarrassing and undesirable circumstances, you must not get allured with these misleading ads. To avoid such companies, you should educate yourself about the legal provisions. In accordance with the Credit Repair Organizations Act, credit report repair companies cannot claim any money till they have completed and delivered the services promised by them. Moreover, per the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), these organizations are prohibited, as you are, from legally removing correct and current credit report data. In your crusade for credit report repair, your biggest weapon is knowledge and the more you know about credit report repair the better prepared you will be to undertake this assignment, whether you do it on your own or you contract with what you consider to be an on-the-level credit repair organization. The following practical tips might help you: 1) You should identify clearly every item that you wish to dispute in your credit report and explain the reason for disputing the particular item. You should then officially request for an investigation. A notice of your dispute should be provided by the particular creditor to the credit bureau, if the creditor approaches the bureau. 2) If the creditor finds that the disputed item in your report is truly inaccurate, he and the information provider may not report or use it again. You also have the right to ask the credit report repair agency to insert in your credit report, a brief report from you on your version of your dispute, if it has not been settled. 3) Credit report repair organizations are bound by law to give you a copy of the Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law before you sign a contract. There are strict laws regulating credit report repair companies and as such if you have a problem with any credit report repair company, you should report them immediately. You must keep checking the accuracy of the information in your credit report and try to get any inaccuracies rectified. You can take the help of a credit counseling service if you cannot tackle the credit report repair problem yourself. |
