Credit Repair Services Versus Do It Yourself
This is a very common question when you are trying to fix damaged credit. Should I hire a professional credit repair service or should I do it myself? Let us examine how the process will work in each scenario.
Do It Yourself
When doing it yourself you need to first get organized and realize this is a process it is not going to occur overnight. You need to first get copies of all three of your reports and examine them for negative items and items that you feel are inaccurate.
By law you can dispute any item you feel in not correct. An item can be inaccurate for many reasons including: it is not your account, the dates are incorrect, the balance is wrong, and it is an error ….
Now you must write a dispute letter and mail it to each bureau. In your letter you need to include the reason for the dispute, the item you are challenging and any supporting documentation you have.
Once the bureau gets your letter they will decide if it is valid or not. Typically there is no decision made and you are sent a letter asking you for more information about the dispute. Unfortunately this is a consequence of the way our credit system is set up.
Let me explain, the bureaus sell your information to businesses and lenders. You the consumer are not the bureaus customers. In other words they do not earn any money by correcting your information, and instead they burn profits.
The only reason the bureaus will investigate is to comply with Federal Law and avoid further fines. The bureaus have been fined by our government time and time again for not complying with federal law and investigating disputes. Thus, they are going to do everything they can to frustrate you and try and get you to give up on your dispute.
If you stay persistent and don’t give up eventually you can have your dispute found valid and the bureau will investigate. However this is where many individuals just give up and continue to live with the high cost of a low score.
Once the bureau investigates they will contact the lender and ask them to verify the debt. If it is not verified then it must be removed from your report. After the bureau investigates they will send you a letter notifying you of the results, if the lender verified your item or if it has been removed from your report.
Hiring a Credit Repair Service
The process will remain the same however your role will be minimal. All you have to do is forward your reports to the service and tell them what items you want to dispute. Next you sit back and wait for the investigation result letters and forward those on to the service.
A service will ensure your dispute is investigated as they have the resources of expert lawyers in consumer credit laws. These laws are constantly evolving and changing. The service will handle all communications with the bureaus and you can just watch your score improve.
They will also provide you with additional tools to repair your report such as: goodwill intervention, court intervention, debt inquiry, and debt validation. These services are very affordable too. You can expect to pay a $100 up front fee and then a monthly fee of about $50. You can expect to stay in the service from 6-12 months, however it will really depend on how much work needs to be done as to how long you will need the service.
For a free credit consultation call us at 1-800-768-3386 or to learn more about credit repair services and credit repair lawyers and how these will work to fix your credit visit us.