“Credit Repair USA can help you clean up your credit,” says Brad Callen, President of Credit Repair USA. “The most effective way to repair your credit is to have it evaluated by a certified credit repair consultant, who can guide you through the process. This helps ensure that the credit repair company focuses on credit repair from the beginning, rather than just offering credit-monitoring or debt relief services later.”
Credit Repair USA says that it does not receive any funding from any outside source, and all its programs are based on free information provided by many consumer credit repair organizations. “Credit Repair USA provides a national forum where members can share tips on how to clean up your credit quickly and easily. All our members are screened for fraud and the only people who become members of Credit Repair USA are those who prove that they have the ability and the willingness to do what it takes to better their credit.” The main goal of the Credit Repair USA organization is to provide the consumer with an extensive list of professional credit repair organizations which they can choose from to fix their credit.
“A number of people have asked me if there’s a way to avoid dealing with scam artists when using a credit repair company, and the answer is a resounding yes!” says Brad Callen. “Avoid dealing with scam artists by using a reputable credit repair company, which has received good feedback from other consumers. You want to deal with a credit repair company that not only can help you with your problems, but one that will also go out of their way to explain the process to you and answer any questions you may have.”
Another helpful tip is to check whether the credit repair organizations act is being implemented in your state. According to the FCRA, all nationwide consumer credit reports must include certain information about the consumer, including their address, phone number, and whether they are a US citizen or a resident alien. If you live in a state that does not have this act in place, then you will need to check with your state attorney general or state financial institution regulatory agency. In states that do have the act in place, the Attorney General has the authority to exempt certain creditors from complying with the act. For instance, non-profit consumer reporting firms such as Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are exempt from having to include a consumer’s social security number on their credit reports if the person doesn’t identify themselves as a victim of identity theft.
The goal of any credit repair company is to get rid of the negative items from your credit profile, so you must thoroughly research any company that promises you that they can remove negative items from your profile for an upfront fee. It is illegal for anyone to charge you for this service without providing proof that they can do so and that the changes made to your profile will be permanent. Do not pay for a service that promises you that they can remove negative items from your credit history and give you a statement that says “we have successfully removed your negative items”.
Another thing to remember is that if someone tells you that they can help you get out of debt or fix your credit reports faster than is possible by using traditional methods, then you need to take the time to understand what they are saying. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. There is no quick fix, magic formula or insurance policy that works for everyone. If someone is promising you that they can get you out of debt within a week or so, then again you need to think twice about their claims. Quick fixes take time to work, they are not a “get rich quick” scheme.
A reputable credit repair company will offer you a free credit reports check as part of their services. This check will allow you to find out what kind of financial problems you have on your credit reports, so you can begin to develop a plan to correct those problems. Most credit reports have some errors on them, so even if you find one error, you should still dispute it with the credit agencies. Any company that guarantees that they can correct your credit reports for you and give you a full refund just because you found an error on your reports is probably not a reputable company. The credit bureaus themselves have their own process for clearing errors and disputes.
Disputing an error may seem like a daunting task when you first decide to go through the process, but if you look into it carefully, you will find that disputing just about anything on your credit reports with the exception of errors is relatively easy to do. Even if you have no luck in fixing the error yourself through the credit bureaus, you should at least try to get the attention of the credit reporting agencies by calling them every thirty days to let them know that something is wrong. You may want to also consider using a credit repair company to help you with the process, since most of them are pretty good at what they do. If you’re unsure about how to go about disputing an error, then it’s probably best to hire a credit reporting agency and their employees to do it for you.
