Credit Repair Counseling Has Lost Credibility
In recent years there has been much unfavorable publicity when it comes to companies that offer credit repair counseling. It has become public knowledge that many such counselors have been caught deceiving their clients and betraying the trust that was placed in them.
The general refrain is that if you can repair your credit on your own then you should do so. Don’t visit a credit repair counselor because you may end up sharing personal information that might be misused later.
The honest truth is that such counselors don’t better your credit score a great deal.
Instead of bettering your credit rating, many such companies merely help you reduce your debt. Some counselors may even damage your credit rating. Even if you turn your payments in to him on time every month, you are at his mercy. If he makes the payments late, this will reflected negatively on your credit report. You would have been better off making the payments yourself.
Some of these companies are fraudulent in other ways. Some have been known to contact credit bureaus stating that there are errors in their reports. They are able to convince the agency to get rid of this information pending an in depth investigation. They then show these improved reports to their clients as proof that their credit score is improving. However, these reports are entirely misleading. Once the investigation has been finished and it is established that the previous report was accurate, all of the negative notes are once again put in your credit report.
However, this does not mean that each credit repair agency is a scam. There are some agencies that are honest, and have made their name the hard way. These agencies can be trusted to get those items removed from your credit report that are actually incorrect. These items include double listings, children’s items on parents’ reports, and paid-off items that still show past dues.
You do need to understand, however, that regardless of any claims a credit repair company cannot do anything more that what was just stated. It is impossible to remove negative aspects from your credit score if they’re not mistakes. Such notations will be on your credit score for a total of seven years, with bankruptcy information showing up for more than ten years.
Once again, giving private personal information to others, even to a credit rapair company, can be risky. If you want to be aware of your true credit score, your ideal option is to handle your credit matters personally.