Credit repair companies

I have the same question. Are the CA's and CRA's familiar to the point that they can recognize if one is represented by a credit repair company? Will that effect the possibility of a favorable outcome? I am worried about how they may represent me and if the letters will be professional. I am interested in anyones experience with the current methods of the better known companies like Lexington Law for example.

 

No, the letters won't be professional. Or at least, they shouldn't be. They will look like yours should, like they're written by the least sophisticated consumer.

There have been mixed reviews on the credit repair companies. If you search for Lexington Law or Lex Law you will probably find a bunch. I don't remember the other names.

It really doesn't need to take a lot of time, a few hours a week could do some good. I personally think it's better to do it yourself. Some people think that because you pay the company by the month, that they drag out the disputes more than you would.

 

it doesn't take much time, just dispute all of your negs, most likely if they are paid or close to being paid, they will be easier to get off.
just order your free credit reports, and dispute away.

those credit repair companys are big rip offs, i would stay away from them.
good luck

 

Thanks for your replies DaveM and ofhumbon. After my original post I found more information on another site. There were examples of letters from Lex Law that sounded folksy. As this may come across as appearing more original, it is not how I would represent myself and sounds uneducated. There were also posts from users that were accused of using a CRO (likely due to postmarks). It seems that the CRO's may be losing effectiveness. After much research I agree with you that the best way to repair is to do it yourself, especially with great sites like this and knowledgeable people willing to lend help. However, organization and tenacity are not my strong points and I would much rather pay someone to do it for me.

 

it is extremely simple, just do it online and say "not mine"
it requires very little time and no tenacity at all.
just a computer and a few minutes!
good luck

 

Always do your disputes in hard copy, certified mail, return receipt requested. You want proof of what was said and when they received it.

A lot of the CRAs routinely send the letter about CROs, whether you're using one or not.

And that's the problem with someone else writing the letter or with a form letter--it doesn't sound like you.

 

I didn't have time either and thought about going your route with a credit repair agency. All the reports I've read about any of them didn't seem too good - so I took a stab at it myself. I spent originally about 20-30 minutes a week to get my reports pulled, write letters, and go to the post office to mail em CMRRR to the debt collectors.

In less than 6 months, I had increased my score 100 points on all 3 credit bureaus, and had all my creditors removed from my report. I still have 2 baddies sitting from my old car loan, but I can't do much more with those - they drop off of my CR in 3 months anyway.

YMMV - but you really don't have to spend a lot of time. The hardest part is the time spent waiting for responses from the debt collectors, and the time it takes to get things changed on your credit reports.

I would say take a stab on your own first and see how easy it is for you. Then make your decision to go with a CCC, although do your research on what you could be getting into. They can make your credit worse off than before by actually paying creditors instead of disputing non-valid debts.

 

I don't think the OP was referring to a CCCS type organization, but a credit repair company like Lexington Law firm.

 

i posted this in another thread, but i think it also applies here.

i know a lot of people are hardcore about the mailing in disputes with return recpt, but in my experience, it is just faster to do it online.

just print out your dispute as proof, and they also send you confirmation email, which is can be used in the same manner as the ret recpt you get from the post office. you do need to have ordered your report from each company to get a confirmation number (except transunion)

also it is faster (and cheaper) online, because you don't have to send them proof that you are you, since you have your credit report number and don't have to send them copies of your drivers license and utility bills.

just do it online and dispute as either not mine or paid on time.

 

The problem with online disputes an your proof may arise if you go to court. They can say you made up a document to look like the receipt and printed it on your printer. You have no proof that a certain person got it.

When you go into court with a green card signed by their employee, it is considered proof of mailing. Many things in the legal environment must be done in writing, by US mail, to be considered legal evidence in court. A good example is disputing a charge on your credit card. You can call, you can e-mail, but if you read the fine print you will find that there is only ONE way to preserve your rights, and that is in writing, through the US mail.

So if something ever gets undone, you may not have sufficient legal proof to go to court if it's an online dispute. That's why we advise certified mail.

 

an email can be used to prove binding contracts in a court of law.
it is just as good as the us mail as far as proof is concerned.

the email you receive comes from the cra, and you have all of their isp header info. that combined with a print out of your screen shot, is proof enough in a court of law.

like i said before, the cras have everything to lose by not following the exact letter of the law, and they don't want to risk a lawsuit.

in 99 out of 100 cases, they will follow the 30 day rule and wipe the neg info off if they don't hear back from the creditor.

in that 1% case you have your proof.

anyway,
it is a lot faster to dispute online and the OP was concerned that he didn't have the time to spare.

 

You are better off finding something about the tradeline to dispute as opposed to a simple "not mine".

 

just avoid credit counseling companies no matter what...

dunno about credit repair companies

 

I'd make sure that is true in all courts. It's pretty easy to spoof an e-mail and receipt.

 

It seems like the big the CRA want you to dispute items online. If the big 3 encourage it, I want to AVOID it! Could it be that if all disputes are electronic they can easily forward the dispute to the correct creditor? I don't know much about anything, but I do know that if I send in a normal, certified letter to the big 3, they have to sign that they did indeed get the letter. Then they have to open it. Then they have to read it. Then they need to somehow let the original creditor know they got this dispute. if it's not electronic, some humans need to do some work and read my letter, and THEN somehow send that dispute info to the creditor. Sending it via certified, snail mail makes them do a lot of work. Think about it. If it's electronic, they get the dispute, press button or two, and they can send that dispute to the original creditor in a matter of seconds. It's just like forwarding an email.

If someone sends you a letter, how long would it take you to copy that letter and send it to 2 people? A LOT longer than it would take to forward an email to 1000 people. Make the big 3 do some work. Disputing electronically makes their lives easier (that's why they promote it!) Make them do some work and I would expect that will get better results in the long run!

I'm new to this, but that is my logical opinion,

Dave

 

Great discussion on (and a little bit off) this topic
After working on my credit in the past 5 years, I have tried both online and mailing disputes, and in my case, it was 6 or half dozen of the other.

Most of the time the cras don't want to mess with getting sued, and follow the 30 day limit (at least in my 250 times disputing!).

In my case, however, I was dealing with 0 bal accts and chargeoffs.
I suppose if you still owe balances, maybe you might have to play hardball and dot every I and cross every T.
I think the problem with non-zero balance accounts, is that the creditor has a lot more reason not to delete the tradeline than the zero bal (obviously)

Even if you have an account with a non zero balance deleted, a lot of those accounts can come back to haunt you, usually at the worst possible time (closing on your mortgage, new employer, etc).

I've found that it is more of a numbers game as far as disputing goes. Some have come off very easily, and others I've had to dispute 30 times or so over a period of 5 years. I just got to the point of doing it online because it is easier.
The main thing is that it takes time to get some negs off your report, and you just have to be patient. Just be persistent, and let them know you are not going to go away until they delete the neg.

Another note completely off both topics: I had luck with my last 3 negs that were not coming off by contacting the bbb and my states atty general.
In both cases, there were easy online forms that I filled out and made a complaint. Within a month, they were wiped off of my credit report.
I guess when the cras get an official letter from a state agency, they don't want to mess around.

Anyway,
That's my 4 1/2 cents.
BTW
I've been hanging out at creditnet for quite a while now, and wanted to thank everyone around here for offering such a great place to exchange ideas and tactics. It's great knowing you are not alone in your credit despair.

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