Choosing the right company to help you achieve your credit goals is pivotal. What follows are tips and things you should look for when choosing the best credit repair company for you.
1) Look for a credit repair company with experience
An experienced credit repair company will have taken the time to learn what tactics work best for each type of dispute. Having a large number of clients and a track record of removing many items means the company has enough information to know what works and what does not.
Effective credit repair is not something you learn in a book or by studying the credit repair laws. Getting the best results in the shortest amount of time requires a working knowledge of the methods and tactics that get the best responses from the credit bureaus and creditors for each individuals unique situation. This knowledge is something that can only be gained by helping a large number of people with their credit.
2) Look for a company that has been in business for a while
Credit repair, like many other industries, has it's fair share of scammers. Preying on desperate people who long for a better credit score, fraudulent "credit repair" companies promise amazing results but the only thing they manage to do is take off with your money.
Fortunately, these companies never last very long. They are either run out of town or shut down by the FTC or local law enforcement. What this means for you is that you can usually trust a credit repair company that has been in business for a number of years.
Something to keep in mind when shopping for a credit repair company is that some companies know how important a track record is in the credit repair industry and will try to make it sound like they have been in business longer than they have. Watch out for claims like "25 years of experience" as this frequently means combined experience of all people in the company.
3) Check out the company's BBB report
To start with, look for the BBB's rating of the company and their explanation of this rating. For example, the BBB report for the company Credit Bureau Experts shows the company as having an unsatisfactory rating because of unsubstantiated advertising claims made on their site.
Also look at the number of unresolved complaints to see if the company has been responsive to their customer's problems. Almost all companies will have some complaints, and the larger the company the more complaints it will have, but it is how they deal with these complaints that is important. Look for a company that addresses the concerns of its clients as opposed to a company like Credit Fix Now (see BBB report) who has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB for not responding to to complaints.
Finally, the BBB reports contain a business start date that is helpful for determine how long a company has actually been in business (although in some cases such as the BBB profile of Ovation Law, the business start date is deceptive because the company did not begin offering credit repair services until much later).
4) Get the details on the company's payment policy
A common tactic of fraudulent credit repair companies is to charge you a large fee upfront and then either disappear with your money or otherwise not perform the agreed upon work. Many of the companies have been known to charge several hundred or even thousands of dollars before they will do any work.
Even though the practice of charging large upfront fees is illegal, there are still a number of smaller credit repair companies that try to get away with it. For example, the companies Credit Clean and Today's Credit Solutions are perfectly content to charge you one time fees of $1223 and $499.99 respectively for a year's worth of service. Granted, these companies may offer money back warranties, but that will be of little use to you if the company goes out of business or otherwise disappears.
5) Watch out for companies that guarantee to raise your credit score
To help protect you against companies who make impossible claims, the Credit Repair Organizations Act also forbids any credit repair organization from making guarantees about the results of their service when it pertains to the effect it will have on your credit reports.
While searching for a credit repair company, take note of any claims to "increase your credit score by 100 points", "lower your interest rates", or "remove all negative items from your credit reports". No company can legally make these claims and any company who implies they can should be avoided.
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