Credit Repair - Do credit repair Co. really repair you credit by improving your credit score?

Do credit repair Co. really repair you credit by improving your credit score?

I was wondering if anyone who has been to these credit repair companies? If so, do they really repair your credit? Bye how much? How much did it cost? How long was the process? What's the company name you went to? Would you recommend it to others? What other advice do you have for others that want to improve there credit score? or What to look for?

Public Comments

All I can say on this topic, is that while yes, they will assist you in paying off your debt, it also shows that you went to a credit counseling business. Which, from what I've heard is a bad thing.
Nope! itz a scam get non-profit credit help company they will help negotiate y'r rates and paying off y'r debts then time will heal all wounds!
Go to Consumer Credit Counseling...they'll do everything that can legally be done. (Some of the things you see advertised are not legal, and some companies claim to be able to do things that they CAN'T.) Best of all, CCC is a non-profit organization, and won't cost you anything.
They try to remove items by protesting them with the credit reporting agencies. This is a very grey area legally because if the item is legit, it is fraudulent to claim that it is not. If you have items on your report in error (a lot of people do) you can protest them yourself and they will be removed improving your score. It isn't hard and a lot cheaper than the companies.
yes they work, BUT!!!..... You can do the same thing they do all by yourself........ 1st, get a copy of your credit bureau report...Then sent a "dispute letter" to the credit cureau (Transunion/equifax/experian) on every collection account, whether you owe it or not....Do not close any credit accounts you have, leave them open, trust me.. This leaves you more available credit giving you a higher score.. You can also read up on it at msn money, they have some old articles on it... make sure you pay the minimums on any open credit you have also. You can usually negotiate lower interest reates and many times settlements in full right over the phone with your creditors. ... I work in the credit industry....
Some of these companies are scams. Be very cautious with whom you are dealing. Why don't you talk to your bank, they may be able to give you some direction.
I used to own my own credit repair company and can tell you that yes we do fix your credit which in turn raises your credit score. It is a time consumming process-which is why it is rather expensive. I charged an up front fee of $200 plus a monthly fee(as do others) of $50. Like I said,it is a lot of work and does take time-usually about 6 months. Hope I helped.
I would strongly advise you to take a look at the information out there on the internet regarding credit repair companies and the enticing offers they present. For instance, this is a great article warning against falling prey to credit repair scams: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/debt/debtcreditguide/repair-scams1.asp The gist of it is, anything the credit repair companies can do, you can do better - and cheaper. Good luck! -AskYourQ
My friend from work did this, basically you give the company the authority to negotiate with all your creditors for you. And you pay one monthly amount to them, instead of paying your bills. Then they let your accounts go past due, until the companies are willing to negotiate, sometimes they will take like half the cost off, for example if you owe $3000 on a card, they might be able to get it down to $1700 or so. Not always. The process was going to take a long time, a couple years. And during that time your credit is bad still. Plus you will get creditors calling you to collect debt. You just have to tell them you are going through an agency and they need to talk to them. But they may keep calling. Chase Manahattan bank even called my friends work. They were really . I was working the switchboard and told them we were not allowed to take that kind of call due to company policy. (Which has to make them stop. Creditors are NOT allowed to harrass you at work). This woman was like "Why don't you just do your job and transfer the call." I had to be really firm with her for about 3 weeks before they stopped calling work. I would never do business with Chase because of that experience. For my friend I think it was a good process to help her get a hold of her debt. But she had some trouble controling her shopping instinct so you have to treat the root cause too. Good luck.
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yes if you have a consumer credit counseling service in your area go threw them and they do help repair your credit score i have been threw them and with in months of paying off my cc debt i had many offers, but watch your self don't do what i did and get back in debt again. We are currently back with the company and I will be debt free in about 2 1/2 yrs.
They provide credit counseling: Credit Counseling Programs http://www.complete-debt-info.com/category/Credit-Counseling-Programs.html