I completely agree with you. There are people who don't want to become the creditnet junkies that we are. I don't discredit them. I have spend lots of time cleaning up my reports and I have been very successful on my own. BUT... Sure, a person is only spending $35 a month on the service, but think about how much money in interest, fees, etc that the average person could have saved if they truly got all the baddies off and not just a few here and there. It seems that all admit that their service does work, but that for those toughies, you need something harder like the nutcase, goodwill, etc. It's those hard ones that hurt us the most. I personally would just rather know what is going on with my finances. Using a credit repair service doesn't truly educate the consumer. They simply enable the person in need of credit repair. That person will see clean credit reprts and may never actually learn the credit "system" and will repeat the same mistakes. That's my main complaint. Now, this isn't to say that the average joe schmoe can't know the law and use the service as well. But it seems like we are talking about credit repair users as people who "can't bother" with intracacies of credit repair. Well, I can tell everyone on this board that all of the hours spent on my reports has not only yielded me cleaner reports, but has also taught me how to handle my credit and how not to have what happened before happen again. It's kind of been like my "kind" punishment for my credit evil ways. lol I've learned so much from this experince. I wouldn't give it back!
Monamour, Skwirl, feel free to call me and I will answer any questions you have about us. My number is 1-800-341-8441 ext. 242. We are on the same team!! No, we are not. Why do you have to come to this board and tell people to call you for something as simple as replying to an e-mail? Why not just reply to the E-mail in the first place? I don't understand.
Jayson, I thank you for the offer but with the encouragement from MANY helpful people on this board telling me it can be done without you and the fact that I don't feel like having another monthly bill and considering the fact that there are other credit repair experts out there for less AND you don't seem to be getting rave reviews, I will have to pass on this one. At least if I fail with my attempts to clean up my credit report I have no one to blame but myself. I may be ALMOST clueless right now but if I hand the reigns over to your company I will be COMPLETELY clueless.
One thing that can be consistantly said about credit repair firms is that their bark is worse than their bite. These guys are relying on advertising and not referal--how many creditnet posts have you seen 'lexington fixed my credit!' Now they are a law firm, and obviously have the ability to take cra's and ca's to court which a few people here have been extremely successful with...but they don't. Two things about their website made me laugh 1) they tell you the number of deletions they got but not the % of derogatories removed and 2) if you look at their section of successful deletions you will notice that almost all of them are from TU which is the easiest bureau to dispute. Hell I had to quit disputing TU because I was running out of tradelines!!!
You concerned me when you said that "almost all" Lexington deletions are from Trans Union. . . Not long ago, I saw a summary of deletions per bureau (Lexington pulled it to examine the relative effects of a stall campaign Trans Union was running.) The percentage deletions from the three bureaus were just about dead equal: one-third Trans U, one-third Equifax and one-third Experian. In fact, the same is true of all the credit repair firms for whom I consult. To confirm, I just pulled the full count of Lexington deletions pdf from their website. It also seems to show an equal spread of deletions from all CRAs. I think you might be mis-interpreting something here. Also, Lexington has refrained from publishing the number of Lexington clients because it would give the bureaus a target when attempting to isolate and identify Lexington disputes (as you know that they do.) I believe I overheard a discussion of publishing total client numbers soon, but I imagine that it will not go so far as to state exactly how many clients Lexington has at the moment. And, if you read over Creditnet posts of the last few years, you will find a high percentage of clients praising Lexington, and that is pretty remarkable when you consider that this board is almost exclusively populated with do-it-yourselfers. Furthermore, these posts criticizing the supposed mass-processing approach of Lexington fail to recognize that Lexington is, without a doubt, a trailblazer in creating credit repair technology and law and that Lexington has been doing so for almost ten years. There is no other credit repair company who dedicates itself so wholeheartedly to the development of credit repair technique (and there is certainly no other credit repair firm who bothers to respond to your ideas and notions posted on this board.) To date, no other credit repair firm I know of disputes with the clients' creditors and no other firm I know of gets direction from its clients as seen on Lexington's Dispute Valet. And, no other credit repair firm would dare publish its results as boldly as Lexington does. I know for a fact that the clients that come from this board do not even constitute one-half of one percent of the overall client flow of Lexington Law, and yet the attorneys and client advocates of Lexington are all over any criticism or concern mentioned here, no matter how half-baked. Bottom line, you may criticize the law firm because you prefer to make a hobby out of your individual credit repair, but you must admit that Lexington cares about its clients, cares about its critics and cares about credit repair in general. What other credit repair venture plays like this, with their cards so clearly face-up?
Thats quite enough you paid shill, I checked out Lexingtons new website and noticed a couple of things. One is that they now do seem to have an equal distribution between the different reports, so that has changed over time(you were correct). The second is that Lexington now sends letters directly to creditors which I understand you only started around a month ago(wow serious trailblaizing). And third you no longer are getting power of attorneys(limited or general)-which means you have zero ability to sue in court for any of your "clients". And I'm curious how you would send letters out that end in my name if you don't have that power of attorney(unless your CRA letters are signed Love, Lexington). There is still no odds listed for the removal of an item over a given time period(the true test of a credit repair agency's ability). I think it pretty much BS as well that you say the Credit Bureaus can't figure out which letters are yours as well as how many clients you have. Let's see if I were them I would have people sign up with lexington and just wait for those individuals' letters to come in and viola I know what you say in your letters. Then I would count how many violations per individual(v/i) Lexington on average gets and take the number of deletions(listed on the website) divided by v/i would give me an approximate upper limit of clients you have. This took me five minutes to figure out, I'm sure the CRAs could do better if they so desired. Also have you actually looked through the posts here?? I probably read through 10 posts and have yet to find a really positive one about lexington-you say "if you read over Creditnet posts of the last few years, you will find a high percentage of clients praising Lexington" Lastly who said it was my hobby? If you are getting the big bux consulting maybe its time I started cashing in!!!!
Dear slppryslp, I believe it is counterproductive to mix legitimate criticism with language that is invective in word or in tone, particularly when engaging company representatives directly on the board. Consider how unusual it is for a representative to become involved. Doing so means they waive their right to anonymity and place themselves in a uniquely vulnerable position. On the rare occasion that they do participate we should therefore make an effort not to exploit that vulnerability. Because when we do, we give them all the more reason to continue lurking in the shadows. We want to encourage company representatives, not repel them. Although this board is a venue for negative feedback, that is not its purpose. Ultimately, our goal is to persuade creditors, collection agencies and credit bureaus to mend their ways, to pursue a policy of working with consumers rather than against. To do so we must create a dialog between the parties in an atmosphere which representatives can feel comfortable participating in without the fear of reprisals. But if an organization like Lexington (which helps consumers and is perhaps even more unpopular with the CRAs than we are) faces hostile waters on our board, what possible incentive do creditors, collectors, or bureau officials have to break rank with the lurkers and join the community of participating members? Sincerely, pbm
Now I understand why you are the administrator. One thing I have always wanted to know if you don't mind is who are you Pbm? P.S. I like your oratory style.
PBM, "I believe it is counterproductive to mix legitimate criticism with language that is invective in word or in tone, particularly when engaging company representatives directly on the board." I believe it is counterproductive to allow shameless hucksters to post on this board --his post essentially was a commercial for Lexington with little fact to back up his claims. I have no problem listening to him or any insight he might give but it really bothers me when obvious lies are involved. It is unusual for a representative to become involved I agree, but if they have nothing to say that is interesting or at worst misleading, then I could care less if they left this board feeling unwelcome. I am sure my methods are not the best, but I could just imagine someone just starting fix their credit, reading that post and thinking 'yeah I should try those trailblazers at Lexington'. As usual, PBM, you are the model of diplomacy, but I am not. And despite your many words and best intentions you have not persuaded me.
I am sorry to drag up this veryyyyyyyyyyy old thread, but I just had to respond after seeing this. I agree that Lexington does not keep letters (or does not want to send letters to clients) because the letters make their clients sound like a bunch of dolts! Equifax's affiliate that handles my credit file, on two seperate occasions sent me back the dispute letters with a request for 2 forms of ID. The "fine honed" methods of Lexington could have been invented by a 3 year old. I was diturbed when I read the letters, but I felt they knew what they were doing. After 7 months, and only 3 or 4 deletions, I started doing my own online disputes, and received 3 deletions in my first try. Because I am in law school, and short on time, I thought hiring Lexington was the perfect solution. Now I realize they costs me 7 months of time, and had I done it all on my own I may be already finished. Thank you C-net. Without this board, I probably would still be putting up with Lexington's crap. If Lexington still wants to claim its letters are "professional" I can clear that up with a scanner and adobe. I do not think they want that. I do not believe they dispute positive TLs, but when they dispute accounts they do not include account #s, so if you have 2 accounts with the same Creditor. they arer likely both deemed disputed.
Your most effective method, as you state it, will land you at a federally funded country club for about 15 years. You cannot lie about your SSN on a credit application. Using a EIN is illegal. Keep on believing everything you read on those credit repair sites.
Thanx for weighing in on Lex. I do believe under the circumstances Lex. does do as good a job as they can. Problem is there is no-one on the planet who cares more about the outcome of your disputes as YOU do. They neglected to mention that there is a context within which they operate, it is; Lex is a multi-million dollar firm who disputes thoudsands of derogs a month. You, on the other hand, are embarking an an endeavor which will; 1) Change your entire life 2) Save you ultimately many thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars 3) Allow YOU to emerge with a new sense of personal empowerment, the value of which is inestimable, in terms of dollars When comparing what you're trying to accomplish with the meat grinder, assembly line aspect of Lex. one can easily see the benefit and importance of doing this yourself. In my opinion, I don't care if you don't think you have time, energy or whatever or not, do it yourself anyway. These are just excuses. Some tell me they lack the time. Nonsense! I know exactly how much time YOU have. You have 24 hours a day, just like everyone else. The difference is, what you decide to do with this time. The bottom line; CreditNetters consider their own personal credit scores far too important to put into the hands of someone else who couldn't possibly care, even a fraction as much, as YOU do.
Thank Butch. I found this board about 2 months after I retained Lexington. I realize now I can do this one my own with a click of a mouse online. I have gotten decent results that way. The only one I have to send it wriiten disputes to is Equifax because they use a local affiliate. If I had not retained Lexington I think I would be clean (
well said butch. as a 22 year old, i am so surprised to hear the many people tell me that they don't have time to make the cras report accurately or that they don't think that this is legal and here i am asking them is it legal for them to pay 10-15% higher interest because of a single derogatory tradeline (especially if it's the only one on their credit reports) or even more repulsive pay more for several that aren't even yours. if you choose to go lexington, then go lexington, but don't let the "hired help" know more about your situation than you. i am forced to spout the much used cliche' of "knowledge is power" and it is enpowering (sp?). sorry to make this so long and go off the subject, but if you don't look out for you, who will? EXPERIAN, TRANS UNION, EQUIFAX i think not.
Maybe it is a fair idea to warn people not to do business with Lexington beyond this board? Sharing your experience on Planet Feedback may be a good idea radiohead. No matter how long it may take, I feel it is better to dispute one owns credit items (with good advice) versus a third party. Very few people can do for me what I can do on my own, with some free time.
I've used Lexington, Junum and Jack Schrold and although all three produced some results I regret not starting my own credit repair. None of those companies did anything that I couldn't have done myself. Now as the Lex rep stated, if you don't have the time then for a fee they'll do it for you. So I suppose if you don't want to be bothered the go for it.
Also, The Direct Demand service is a joke. I received one of those letters back also becaue Lexington put the wrong zip in it. Essentially the letter says: "Hey there, I am disputing information you are reporting to the CRAs. Just thought you should know that" Not verbatim, but you get the idea.
