Three Suggestions for Locating the Top Credit Repair Companies
- By Stuart Hunter
- Published January 28, 2010
- Finances
- Unrated
Stuart Hunter
Providing credit repair services since 1991, Lexington Law has helped over 500,000 clients legally take on their credit. Last year alone, Lexington Law helped clients remove over 600,000 negative items from their credit reports.
View all articles by Stuart Hunter
The credit repair industry has become a crowded place. Recent economic turmoil has prompted more stringent lending restrictions that made having a high credit rating far more important than it had been in past years. No longer able to get approved for credit, thousands are looking to credit repair services for help. Hoping to capitalize on the trend, new credit repair services are popping up seemingly every day claiming to be experts at repairing bad credit.
With so many inexperienced credit repair providers entering the market, many of which are simply turnkey businesses using third party software to power their service, it becomes difficult to figure out which services can be trusted with your credit reports. To help separate the best credit repair services from the amateurs trying to make a quick buck, here are three tips for spotting a quality credit repair company:
1) Look for experience - Setting up a credit repair company is surprisingly easy. A person only needs a web site and a few hundred dollars to purchase a software package. Staying in the business and generating results is harder. The leading credit repair services typically have an established history of helping people which is not only indicative of a stable business, but it also is a sign that the company practices within the confines of the law since most shady credit repair companies have a short lifespan.
A credit repair company's BBB report will list how long the company has been in business, although not necessarily how long they have been providing credit repair services. If the companydoesn't
have a BBB listing, it may be a red flag since the company may be very new. When you are unable to determine how long a company has been around, you can try performing a WHOIS lookup of their domain name to see how long it has been since the domain was registered, but if it takes that much work to track down the information, you are probably better off looking elsewhere.
2) Look for an offline presence - The Internet is a great vehicle for commerce, but the process of repairing your credit reports is more effective when performed offline. Trustworthy credit repair companies usually have a physical place of operations you can use as an indication of how solid the company is. Satellite imagery services like Google Maps are great tools for checking out the company's headquarters. Get the company's address, pull up a map and see if the company has their own building, is headquartered in an office complex, rents out a space in a strip mall, or has the mailing address of a personal residence.
3) Look at pricing and payment options - Signed into law in 1996, the Credit Repair Organizations Act establishes rules that credit repair companies must abide by. One of these is to not require payment for services until after they have been performed. This restriction was put in place to help protect consumers from fraudulent companies who would charge large upfront fees and never provide the expected credit repair services.
As a result of this, you should steer clear of credit repair companies who require an upfront payment.
In addition to finding out how much and when you will be expected to pay, note the payment options. Most reputable companies will, at a minimum, give you the option to pay via credit card on their website or over the phone. Additional payment methods may also be accepted.
With so many inexperienced credit repair providers entering the market, many of which are simply turnkey businesses using third party software to power their service, it becomes difficult to figure out which services can be trusted with your credit reports. To help separate the best credit repair services from the amateurs trying to make a quick buck, here are three tips for spotting a quality credit repair company:
1) Look for experience - Setting up a credit repair company is surprisingly easy. A person only needs a web site and a few hundred dollars to purchase a software package. Staying in the business and generating results is harder. The leading credit repair services typically have an established history of helping people which is not only indicative of a stable business, but it also is a sign that the company practices within the confines of the law since most shady credit repair companies have a short lifespan.
A credit repair company's BBB report will list how long the company has been in business, although not necessarily how long they have been providing credit repair services. If the companydoesn't
2) Look for an offline presence - The Internet is a great vehicle for commerce, but the process of repairing your credit reports is more effective when performed offline. Trustworthy credit repair companies usually have a physical place of operations you can use as an indication of how solid the company is. Satellite imagery services like Google Maps are great tools for checking out the company's headquarters. Get the company's address, pull up a map and see if the company has their own building, is headquartered in an office complex, rents out a space in a strip mall, or has the mailing address of a personal residence.
3) Look at pricing and payment options - Signed into law in 1996, the Credit Repair Organizations Act establishes rules that credit repair companies must abide by. One of these is to not require payment for services until after they have been performed. This restriction was put in place to help protect consumers from fraudulent companies who would charge large upfront fees and never provide the expected credit repair services.
As a result of this, you should steer clear of credit repair companies who require an upfront payment.
In addition to finding out how much and when you will be expected to pay, note the payment options. Most reputable companies will, at a minimum, give you the option to pay via credit card on their website or over the phone. Additional payment methods may also be accepted.