I decided to start this process in July 2000 after reading about Lexington. Then they were tied with the law offices of Johnson and Associates. I do not know what my scores were then. A picture of my problems was something like this: Experian 1 judgement 1 state tax lien released 5 late/charge off/etc. Trans Union 1 judgement 2 listing for the same state tax lien, 1 lien, 1 released 5 late/charge off/etc. Equifax 1 judgement 1 state tax lien released 9 late/charge off/etc. Basically I had a total of 26 listings I wanted off. Novemeber of 2000 came and I had my first deletions. I was so happy. January 2001 I was up to 6 deletions March 2001 9 deletions By April of 2001 I had 14 of the 26 deleted. After adding up all that I had paid Lexington I figured that it cost me $25 for each of the 14 deletions. I thought that was good. By May of 2001 here is how it looked Experian Only 3 left Utility company paid Sears urrg, sold State tax lien released, was off but came back on. Trans Union Utility company paid -same as above Sears same as above Equifax <--- I don't like them Utility same as above Sears same as above Judgement 1 account late/charge off/ -not mine but I was AU. These last ones have stuck since I started. In July I begain the process of pre approval for a mortgage. I wanted to wait a while longer but situations change. My scores listed on the mortgage report 7/2 are: Beacon (Equifax) 627 Empirica (Trans Union) 639 Fair Isac (Experian) 638 I started telling Lexington via email that I was happy with their service but I wanted to cancel as I see no more progress. They have ignorned every email. I am sending a certified letter to them Monday cancelling. OVERALL, I am happy with how they have handled this. NOW that I have been learning how to do this myself I would not use them again. I stopped sending them reports and have written several letters myself. Since the beginning of this month, July, I have had 1 inquiry deleted from Experian. 4 more are in dispute. I also received a notice from Equifax that the judgement has been verified vacated and has been deleted. I have not seen an updated report yet with it off. I am working on inquiries now and will keep working away at this myself. In a month or so I will get my scores again and post a comparison. Thanks for all the advice. John
John, Thanks for your update. I am working with Bradley Ross on my disputes and right now, I will see what happens in the next round. Right now, I am too involved in other things to actively pursue this on my own. I am in total agreement with your statement on Equifax. Right now they are trying to stall my disputes. Good luck to you.
Overall, I am very happy I went with Lexington. To have someone do this for you is worth something. To some more, to some less. I don't change my oil in my cars so having it done is worth it. Credit repair is similiar. Now, with only a few items left the challange is worth my time. I like going to the post office with my certified letters. I look forward to those envelopes from the CRA's. Lexington does not give you anything except monthly updates you can create yourself since the credit reports come to you anyway. Then you send them to Lex. They did not have any positive lines deleted thank goodness. By the way, I don't know how they mail to the CRA's. I never had a complaint from the post office or from the 3 agencies. The complaints here from other about different companies is downright scary. The best advice I can give someone is just do it. Use a service or do it yourself. There is no time to spare thinking you can't make a difference. John
John, When you started, did you have paid or unpaid charge-offs & how old were they? I need some improvements on my credit file, and it sounds like you've had an overall good experience. thanks!
For the most part unpaid. Date ranges for my errors, 1994 - 1995 - 1996. The utility company really was an error. We moved, had service in our new place and never received the final bill from our old place. It was only when I got serious about my credit problems last year that I saw it on my reports. I called them and paid it off. They sent me a nice letter thanking them. They did change it to paid but I have not been able to dispute it off. I may have to buy candy for someone at the utility. You know, sweet talk them into removing this. Has anyone ever tried this? John