I am curious. Has anyone tried the credit repair companies like Lexington Law, DUO Studios or creditattorney.com and Junum???? I am wondering if they are as effective or more effective than attempting it yourself. I see posts of frustration about fighting with the CRA's and wonder if it might be worth letting someone else deal with the headaches. Besides, right now Junum boasts $5 per dispute and $15 per deletion with no other charges. It would seem to me that you would spend more than that in postage per dispute by the time you send things certified mail with return receipt and then you have to follow up if you don't get a response etc. etc. etc. and it would be worth the $15 per deletion anyway. Thanks
First off, you can do for yourself the very same things these companies are offering to do for you. The only difference is some people are willing to pay for convenience because they simply don't have the time to invest in the process themselves. That said, I have done it both ways. I retained Jack Schrold and he has been successful in getting some major things removed from my report. I have had him on retainer since may and they have been able to get 2 $3,500 judgements removed from my credit report, 1 Macy's account that had a few late pays was deleted, and 3 tradelines with multiple lates were updated to reflect never late. That said, I still have quite a few negs on my report that they have challenged and was verified. If you decide to go with one of these companies just don't expect miracles. They can and will do only the exact things you can do for yourself and the information to do it is right here on this board. I you have the time I would say do it yourself. It is not necessarily cheaper to do it yourself with the costs of CRRR etc..but you do have greater control over the process when you do it yourself. Whatever you decide Good Luck.
hey, when you start paying $15 per inquiry being deleted or old accounts that would fall off soon than you may hold on to the wallet a lil tighter.
I am really surprised that Junum is making that offer. A while back, Jack Schrold's operation got a slap on the hand from the feds for basing his fees on a charge per deletion. They restructured their fees and called it a consulting service to get around it. I too used Jack Schrold for 3 months. They got 5 items removed for me (incl a bk that was less than 18 months old!) that I had been fighting to have deleted for over a year. I don't know how they did it. Maybe they were just lucky. Maybe they were at the right place at the right time. Either way, it is a deletion that I don't have to deal with now. I do have to say that I HATED their process. I hated using snail mail for everything--they don't accept email or faxes. If you have been down in the trenches with this stuff for over a year, it is really hard to completely let go and let them take over 100%. You will be totally in the dark regarding their investigation. You don't know when it starts, when it is supposed to be completed, what they disputed, what reason, etc. I found myself being a detective through Credit Expert and Credit Watch...."I pulled my report on the 8th and the item was not under dispute. I pulled it again on the 11th and it was. Hmmm. The investigation must have started on the 9th or 10th." If you call their office, they will not call you back. Forget it. My husband never had one dispute filed on his case in 3 months. They suck administratively. When I would call and complain, they would be missing some vital piece of info that would have allowed them to file a dispute i.e. a copy of his drivers license (which by the way had been sent twice at that point). They also never charged us for his account because they never did anything on it. I feel like I wasted 3 months that i could have been working on his file. On mine, I really can't complain too much. They hit some real home runs, but I hated working with them. The results are mixed on this board. Do a search on any of those companies and I am sure you will find plenty of ammunition to make a decision. Good luck!
Thank you very much to everyone that responded so quickly. After I do some further investigating I may go with DUO Studios if I don't find any negative info about them. They charge a $19 set up fee and then three payments of $67 and that is it, no other fees and they will work on your credit report for six months and if you aren't satisfied they will refund your money plus $50 for trying them. Again, thanks for all the quick responses.
Wow, skwirl, your second post to this board sounds like an advertisement for the little-known company you just mentioned. This wouldn't be an example of guerilla marketing, would it? Doc
I use to think that this statement quote above was full of nonsense. When I started I couldn't see how on earth I could get started in this but after 3 to 4 months I find it completely easy and almost fun... You know I am getting to the point where I wish that a CA would challenge me. I feel so empowered! mwuhahahahaha
NO, I have no affiliation with them and was hoping that someone else could tell me they used them for the same price. Was it a bargain? Did they get ripped off?. I am new to this forum and hope I didn't violate any rules. I just thought maybe someone else could use the info also. I just know that Lexington Law charges $75 for set up and $35 a month and I listed what Junum is doing also. It just seems like this other company I mentioned is doing it for a much lower fee so why can't the better known ones do it for the same(I know, free market enterprising). So, the big question is.....are you getting what you pay for? Is the quality of work better from the more expensive companies? I don't know. Maybe someone else has the answer. I may however, after trying this one, let everyone know how it worked out
I guess without having a lot of time to get my credit reports, write the letters, go to the post office and wait in line to send everything ceritified..etc...etc... I thought this might me an easier road for me. It doesn't help that I have given myself a timeline to get my credit healthy again. It's just that I have a buyer for my home in a crappy neighborhood(it wasn't always this way) and I can't get a mortgage to save my life until my credit report looks a little(actually a lot) better. EQ=478(that's the only one I checked so far). Luckily the buyers won't have the down payment until February so I have at least that long. I just thought that a professional company could clean up my report better than I can in six months.
I am sorry if this is off-topic. I just thought about this: When you hire a credit repair company to repair your credit, I am guessing that everyong thinks it is you disputing? If the collection agency or credit reporting agency makes a violation, how would you get the money if you want to sue? You can't sue them because the repair company is taking care of your credit as you. If the voilations add up, you are losing alot of money in potential 1000.00 lawsuits, by hiring a credit repair company. ;-( By the way, Skwirl, I want to wish you luck in whichever company you choose.
Think Think Think. If their income is determined by the number of disputes they file they will file a VOLUME of disputes. Exactly how you should NOT do this.
Oh goodness, Butch, you are so right. If they dispute 10 items on each of your 3 reports that is 450.00 That is really painful. And imagine if that is the FIRST round of disputes.
Mannequine: I have to disagree. Whether you hire an attorney, a credit repair company or the man on the moon to repair your credit has no bearing on your ability to sue for violations of the FCRA committed by the CRA's. You in no way surrender your rights when you hire someone to repair your credit for you. If a CRA causes you to lose opportunities for credit i.e (mortgage etc.) you can and should sue them regardless of wether you hired someone to help with the disputing process. One thing has nothing to do with the other.
I know you don't surrender your rights. I was just wondering if you have one person doing one thing for you and you don't know what is going on, is there the potential for confusion if you try to say you are going to sue. ie, how would you word your letter if you didn't know what the repair agency said in the beginning. The part about the original dispute. Does that make sense? I can't get out exactly what I am trying to say, so I am gonna stop typing now............ ;-)
Makes perfect sense to me, Mannequine. That was the BIG problem that I had with Jack Scrold's office. You are totally in the dark for the duration. I got out of the program, and went on my own again. Now, I have some serious violations racking up against all 3 CRA's. I attempted to create a list of all of the disputes that I had filed regarding a specific account, what my dispute was, when it was filed, what the resolution was, etc. I can do it for all of the ones that I filed. The 3 months that Scrold did it are a mystery. Maybe they disputed something in such a way that it would have helped my case. Guess I'll never know! I hated not knowing what was going on. It would figure that it would come back to haunt me.
THANK YOU THANK YOU!! That is EXACTLY what I was trying to say in my weird way. I really appreciate you clearing this up for me ;-)
I signed up with Lexington Law Firm a couple of months ago. I decided to go that route to get started. I also don't have a lot of time to work on this. I could find time to write letters, etc. but I did not feel comfortable with the amount (or lack therof) of knowledge that I have with the credit laws and procedures. I was already spending massive amounts of time that I did have just reading this board and other places where I could get info. I have learned a lot, but I still don't know a lot. Lexington has been ok to work with. They are pleasant, return my emails or phone calls in a timely manner, informative BUT so far the only deletion I have managed to get is one that I disputed myself online through Experians website. As everyone here keeps saying, you can do it yourself. I just didnt feel knowledgeable or confident enough to start out on my own. I am thinking of cancelling Lexington now and just handling it on my own. I have a long way to go either way.
It's a long battle either way you do it. My main problem is you never know what the "left" hand is doing because these places refuse to copy you on everything. That would be the ONLY way I would do it through a 3rd party. Not only that but there is a tremendous education value in doing this yourself. Think of all this knowledge you wouldn't have if someone else did it all for you. And then there are unseen consequences. That feeling of new empowerment, self confidence and self esteem you get from doing this yourself. That's all stuff that you wouldn't get if someone else fixes this stuff. THIS STUFF IS PRICELESS!!!!!! Things easily gotten are little appreciated
