Perhaps youve just started looking into repairing your credit and want to learn a little about the basics of credit repair. Theres an incredible amount of information to be found online, but much of it is contradictory ” and confusing. Is credit repair possible? Is it legal? Where do you start?
Many government organizations and private companies try to convince the American public that credit repair is illegal or that it is only for deadbeat debtors looking to escape paying for legitimate debts. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Its not in the interest of large lending corporations, creditors, and credit bureaus for you to pursue your legal right to remove questionable items from your credit report. This is what you have to keep in mind when you encounter any of the common myths about online credit repair.
Youll find plenty of websites claiming that its not possible to fix your credit score, that credit repair simply isnt possible ” or even legal. Of course, its in the financial interest of lenders, collection agencies, creditors and even credit bureaus to protect their profits and make sure that mistakes that show up on YOUR credit report are in THEIR favor. They want to collect, and they know that theyll lose money if consumers know ” and pursue ” their rights to legal credit repair.
Approximately thirty years ago the government enacted laws to help you - the consumer - when it comes to repairing an inaccurate report. Specifically, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA is a collection of laws that are designed to regulate the large consumer agencies. These laws allow you to challenge any information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
Attorneys who are involved with consumer credit advocacy often are outraged when bankers claim information must remain on your file for seven years. The truth is that creditors and bureaus can report any information as long or short as they like.
A portion of the credit laws force bureaus and creditors to investigate legitimate disputes filed by the consumer. The investigation must normally take no longer than thirty days or the items must be promptly deleted.
There are so many reasons for challenging negative items. For example, often a negative item may belong to another person altogether. Or, perhaps the item is a duplicate. In other words, different parties may be reporting the exact same debt multiple times on your files.
If you are in a hurry to repair your credit and would prefer to avoid the headache altogether, you may consider a full-service credit repair law firm. Many attorneys specialize only in this field. If you do hire an attorney, make sure to check the reputation of the law firm before you plop down your hard earned money. We suggest you look for positive testimonials from past or current clients.
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