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How Can you Spot a Scam Credit Repair Company?

In recent decades, there are countless credit repair companies that are available online and locally. Some of these companies pose great risks to individuals as they are fraudulent and deceptive. Unsuspecting clients most times fall for their ploys. With the alarming rate at which people get scammed, there is a need to be vigilant when seeking the assistance of a credit repair company.

You need to research extensively when searching for companies with the best credit repair facility. In this article, we have listed our top pick credit repair companies for your credit needs. However, if your choice is not on our list, we have also discussed ways you can spot credit repair scammers.

What is Credit Repair?

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When it comes to the term “Credit Repair”, it is often misunderstood. Usually, when someone hears it, he or she thinks about improving a credit score that is not so good. We feel like it’s important to say that this term is in fact, much narrower. In 2017, we’ve witnessed that roughly 50% of all consumer or credit users submitted complaints, regarding errors on credit reports, to the CFPB, which is short for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

You should be aware that one erroneous item can cause severe damage to your credit score. It is of the utmost importance that you see and address the mistake as quickly as you can. When it comes to the credit repair services, they can only provide you help in order to find inaccuracies or negative things and remove them. If you are asking yourself what this means, we are about to provide you with further insight into the situation. In case you missed a payment, made some misstep, or you allowed another account to go into collections, credit repair is not going to help you.

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Of course, you can expect that credit repair services will charge you for the service they’ve provided you with. Including disputing errors with credit bureaus and contracting creditors. However, we are certain that you can do these two things on your own and there is no need for paying someone else to do it for you. Naturally, they have a better knowledge of the subject than you do, but we feel like it’s not worth the cost. If you are interested in seeing what fees look like you can find it pretty easy on Google.

It is important to know that even though they are going to charge you, there is no way they can guarantee that something will be removed from your credit report. If certain information that was found to be proper after the review, it can remain a secret on the credit report. In a case where you the situation is complicated or it was your decision that the cost of credit repair is worth, even though some setbacks are bound to happen, the most important thing you need to be aware of is that there are credit repair scams and that you need to learn how to spot them.

Payment Upfront Before Service

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If a credit repair company requests that you make payment before rendering financial service to you, then that is a red flag to note. Such a company would be violating the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) and would be deemed a scam. Although, this is not to state that some reputable companies do not charge instantly for pre-work service. However, these services are clearly documented.

As stated by CROA, an individual possesses the right to the following:

  • Such a person is given a three-day grace period by the credit repair company to terminate services without being charged.
  • The document provided by the company which shows details of the services offered.
  • There is a briefing on the duration needed before results can be seen.
  • Information on the total cost for the service rendered.
  • Explanation of available guarantees.

Should the company be unable to furnish you with these details, then it’s time to look into another firm. You can find out more about these rights from the customer service representative of the credit repair company.

Assure You A Precise Outcome

Nothing can be assured in credit repair. The reason being that every individual has their unique needs and situations. Hence, what works for one differs from another. A company that offers to get rid of all negative items from your credit reports has a high chance of being fraudulent. No company knows what will be revised, deleted or kept before they view the details of your report.

These credit repair scammers dispute all negative items on your credit score which temporarily clears them during the time of the investigation. However, they reappear as soon as the verification or evidence is completed by your creditors.

Credit Repair Companies with Poor Reviews

One effective way to check out the reputation and authenticity of a credit repair company is via online reviews. With the vast amount of information available on the internet, you can get details of any credit repair company. These reviews represent the outlined experiences of individuals that have patronized the services of such companies.

Credit repair firms with a high number of negative reviews from various clients should be avoided. Checking out these reviews prevent you from making mistakes. Where can you get trusted reviews about credit repair companies? We have listed our top picks for you to evaluate. If you would like to find out more about these companies, please visit this link: CreditRepairCompanies.

The Bottom Line

We’ve provided you with all there is to know about credit repair company scams, and how you can prevent them. Sadly, there are companies that are looking to take advantage of people in need. This was the reason we’ve decided to write an article that would educate you, our readers.

About Suzan Vega