adminBe careful when you pay for credit repair—it might not work out like you planned. If you think someone might be using your personal information to open accounts, file taxes, or buy things, go to IdentityTheft.gov to report it and get a personalized recovery plan. Instead, their value lies in convenience—handling the paperwork and communication with creditors or bureaus that consumers might otherwise manage themselves (FTC, 2024). Experian can help raise your FICO® Score based on bill payment like your phone, utilities and popular streaming services. The Credit Pros has been in business since 2009, so consumers benefit from their long history with credit management and repair. What sets them apart is their use of artificial intelligence (AI) in their platform, a cutting-edge approach that enhances traditional methods.
Fixing Mistakes On Your Credit Report Could Boost Your Credit Score—here’s How To Do It For Free
The company works to correct or completely remove negative, inaccurate, or outdated items from the credit reports of its clients. Safe Credit Solutions Inc. provides clients with weekly updates and works quickly to achieve results. The company also helps stop collections harassment and offers practical advice on how to build credit.
You can get copies of your credit reports free from AnnualCreditReport.com. When your credit history is a barrier to the financial life you want, companies promising credit repair may seem like saviors. But when it comes to credit repair, taking matters into your own hands can save you thousands of dollars.
If you take the steps we have recommended above, raising your credit score by 100 – 110 points fast is a real possibility. However, a credit repair agency can help you with any part of the process you don’t understand or care to deal with. It’s important to be aware that credit repair agencies can’t do anything for you that you can’t do yourself. It just means that you can fix your credit on your own if you’re willing to do the required research and complete all the work yourself.
Most clients see positive results with our credit repair services within days. Improved scores allow you to save money with better rates and lower payments. Lexington Law and CreditRepair.com are two of the country’s largest credit repair companies—companies that promise to fix or to improve people’s credit. The Credit People’s Credit Report Repair service is relatively affordable compared to other programs in the space. Even the most basic package (the standard package) includes unlimited challenges to all three credit bureaus. Upgrading to creditrepair includes escalated disputes and monthly credit score reports and score refreshes.
If you’ve already tried reaching out to the company and still have an issue, you can submit a complaint to the Bureau. Tell us about your issue—we’ll forward it to the company and work to get you a response, generally within 15 days. It’s important to carefully weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether to work with Accredited Debt Relief. Kim Lowe is Head of Content for NerdWallet’s Personal and Student Loans team.
Guaranteed Credit Services LLC is a full-service credit repair agency serving clients in the Houston metro area. With a mission to assist clients with their financial goals, the agency works to boost credit and buying power for future purchases. The Financial Counseling Center credit repair company in Los Angeles has been helping businesses and individuals to improve their credit scores for over 32 years. The firm conducts in-depth credit report evaluations and works to have foreclosures, tax issues, mortgage assistance, bankruptcies, student loans, and late payments removed from records. Its certified professionals assist with wage garnishments, judgments, charge-offs, loan modifications, and negotiations with unsecured creditors.
These services may not specify an exact timeline for results, but many start working on your credit issues soon after you sign up. However, it may still take several months to observe any substantial changes in your credit score and reports. Under CROA, credit repair companies are required to provide you with a written contract detailing their services before they accept payment. They must also provide you with the “Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law,” which informs you of your rights to obtain and dispute your credit reports.
His work is regularly featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Inc.com and Entrepreneur. To help in your search, we compared more than 20 of the best credit repair agencies. However, you should make sure you’re choosing a firm that offers unlimited disputes and an array of other credit interventions that can turn your situation around. By keeping an eye on your score, you can know if the steps you’re currently taking with your credit are helping your score or making it worse.
Lower Your Credit Utilization Ratio
The company was founded in 2004 and maintained a stable of experienced, law-savvy credit pros to address your credit reports and help you raise your score. At the end of their investigation, the bureau will release new credit reports reflecting a change in your scores. As a client, you’re provided with an online account so you can see these changes in real-time. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories, except where prohibited by law for our mortgage, home equity and other home lending products.
Like goodwill adjustment letters, it’s up to the creditor to agree to a pay for delete arrangement, and entirely up to them whether they honor the agreement even after you’ve settled your debt. The CFPB reached a legal agreement with Lexington Law, Credit Repair.com, and their parent companies. The company engaged unfair acts and practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. When you experience a financial challenge, your credit record could suffer. Credit counselors will usually perform a free audit of your finances and help guide you toward the best strategy from a list of options. This education-based approach tends to be more successful at getting people out of debt and helping them stay there.
The CFPB emphasized its commitment to aiding defrauded consumers, despite industry opposition and political calls for the agency’s dismantling. I am only in the beginning stages but, so far, everything in my “plan” to financial stability seems to be going smoothly. This program will help me pay off the debt faster and free up some money to start putting toward my retirement fund. Learn about the status of FTC online services and website information updates during the lapse in funding. Joe Pye is Debt.com’s managing editor and a PFE-certified debt management professional.
You can find one through the National Foundation for Credit Counseling’s agency finder tool or the Department of Justice’s list of approved credit counseling agencies. If improving your credit score is one of your goals for 2025, you’re not alone. With lenders tightening approval standards and interest rates fluctuating, having strong credit is more important than ever. But the process of rebuilding your credit can feel confusing—unless you have a clear plan. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a U.S. government agency dedicated to making sure you’re treated fairly by banks, lenders, and other financial institutions.
You can contact credit reporting agencies to flag or dispute inaccuracies. What legitimate credit repair services offer is convenience and expertise when you don’t have the time or inclination to advocate for yourself. They have no specialized powers beyond understanding the system of disputing and resolving credit reporting errors. As you review your credit reports, make a list of the negative information you find. You should also note suspicious information or mistakes, like accounts that don’t belong to you or that contain incorrect account details (e.g., wrong balances, invalid late payments, outdated accounts, etc.). Credit inquiries that you don’t recognize should go on your list because they could be a sign of identity theft.
For example, they shared loan amounts, interest rates, required documentation and turnaround times for the entire loan process, including preapproval, approval and funding. Besides the wait time to speak with a representative, the call was helpful and effective. While some borrowers appreciate SoFi’s simple application and disbursement process, others are dissatisfied with communication and customer service. Borrowers are also frustrated with misleading promotional offers and how their loan inquiries were handled. Accredited Debt Relief is a legitimate debt settlement company founded in 2011. It’s accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating and holds an accreditation from the Association for Consumer Debt Relief (ACDR).
Credit repair may be a better choice if you have errors on your credit report or are specifically concerned with improving your credit score so you can one day buy a house or secure some other form of financing. Credit repair takes time, and there is no guarantee that a credit repair company can directly help your credit. The best credit repair companies are transparent about their process, fees, and their ability to achieve results for customers.
