Legal Methods Of Credit Repair |
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Everyone wants to have good credit and
credit repair is essential for converting your bad credit into good credit. However, some unscrupulous companies might suggest certain dubious short-cuts that are absolutely illegal and should be avoided. 1) Some companies might suggest changing your social security number to obtain a clean bill of credit. These companies should be reported to the authorities forthwith. 2) You might be advised to dispute every item on your credit report, irrespective of its nature. Per the Fair Credit Reporting Act, only those items that are unverifiable, inaccurate or misleading should be disputed, whereas items that are clearly yours, and reflect your credit history should not be disputed. 3) It is illegal for companies to charge for credit repair services that have not yet been completed. Legal credit repair, on the other hand, consists of methods to remove negative items on the credit report, the most common and effective methods are: 1) Goodwill Negotiation: An effective method of credit repair for mild late-pay accounts is to negotiate directly with creditors and request them to remove negative items from your credit report. Creditors have the right and ability to remove any such items if they feel that doing so would earn them the goodwill of the customer. 2) Credit disputation: Similar to your right to plead not guilty in a court of law, you also have the right to contact credit bureaus directly and dispute any item on your credit report that you feel is inaccurate, unverifiable, or misleading. The onus of proving that the disputed item is indeed correct lies with the credit bureau and if they cannot verify and prove within a fixed period of time, then those items have to be deleted. This is a very viable method of credit repair. 3) Taking the help of Consumer Credit Counseling Service, or CCCS: Being a non-profit debt counseling service, CCCS helps consumers who are in deep debt. CCCS is very beneficial to consumers but since it is funded and controlled by the credit grantors and the credit bureaus, it cannot possibly go against the wishes of the credit bureaus. As such if the credit bureau does not agree, CCCS cannot help you restore your credit. You should be careful not to leave CCCS before the completion of their program otherwise they can make a negative listing on your credit report for failing to complete their program. Your participation in the CCCS program might be noted on the credit report by your creditors. Prospective credit grantors consider your resorting to a debt-counseling program as a major red signal. It is worth remembering that paying off your debts does not restore your credit although it is a step in the right direction for credit repair. 4) Inaccuracies on your credit report can bring down your credit score, thereby depriving you of the many benefits that a good credit score entitles you to. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute any negative item on your credit report that may be inaccurate, misleading or unverifiable. This is the single most effective way to credit repair. When you lodge your dispute, the credit bureaus are obligated to verify that the listings are accurate and verifiable. If they are not able to verify the same and reach a decision within a specific period of time, the bureaus must remove these items from the credit report. Applying for credit repair is legal and is similar to pleading not guilty in a court of law. For disputing the credit report effectively, you can retain the right credit repair firm and this will result in successful cleaning up of your report, as these firms have years of experience in dealing with the credit bureaus and creditors and they can provide carefully drafted dispute letters that will bring the desired result. To assess whether credit repair will help you, you can fill out the form online and a credit expert will speak to you and put you on the path to repairing your credit. |
