? re: using a credit repair company

[moonwife]

My husband and I both have pretty crap credit scores, and most of it is old debt...simply old credit cards we didn't pay on, a few old utilities, some old medical bills. It's all at least three or four years old, much of it is more than five years old.

We have talked about fixing it for a long time and the reality is that we just haven't. Please don't lecture me on the process or how easy it is or whatever...I swear we're not horrible people, but we just know we won't stay on top of the process so we're looking into going with an agency to help us.

I would like to go with one of the places that does settlement on debt because my husband has a few debts that we can't pay in full at least right now, we'd need payment plans.

So........I've been looking around the site but I can't really find info on NOT doing it yourself. Are there things I need to watch out for? Specific companies I should avoid?

Ideally we would like to see some improvement within the next few months, to get a new car, and then full improvement within a few years so that we can buy a house.

Hope I included all the needed info........

thanks.

[willingtocope]

Start out beleiving that all debt fisers (i.e., "settlement companys") are scams. One way or another you wind up getting taken. Some will just wreck your credit a little, and you wind up owing taxes. Others will take you money and do nothing...and because you had them involved, you lose the protection of the FDCPA (see above).

Do it yourself, or wait out the 7-1/2 years until the bad stuff falls off your reports...and hope you don't get sued while waiting.

[moonwife]

so there is no legitmate way to get help?

also, if a debt is more than 7 years old, how do you get it off? SOme of our debts have gotten transfered so many times we have no way of knowing how old they are anyways.

[swirlgirl]

You'll first need to pull your credit reports to see what is showing. You can get you annual free reports at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Then read the primer: http://debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/forums/showthread.php?t=276514

[nascar]

so there is no legitmate way to get help?

Depends on what your definition of legitimate is. You can be just about sure, however, that you will end up worse than you started if you use a debt settlement or credit repair company. It's best to steer clear of all of them.

[moonwife]

I have my credit report, I read the primer. The primer didn't really talk about using a company.

The reality is that if we do it ourselves, it probably won't get done.

[willingtocope]

If you use a company, it probably won't get done either...plus, you'll have spent more money that you don't have.

[moonwife]

If you use a company, it probably won't get done either...plus, you'll have spent more money that you don't have.

How do these places stay in business then?

What about one of the non profit places?

It seems a little extremist to me to think "they will all screw you" when I can't find anything to support that. I don't mean to be harsh but....it just seems like an extreme stance to take. But what do I know.

[swirlgirl]

Moonwife, I hear what you're saying. But at least do a round of disputes with the CRAs. It's been my experience that most people will get a considerable amount of their CRs cleaned up by just doing this.

[willingtocope]

How do these places stay in business then?

What about one of the non profit places?

It seems a little extremist to me to think "they will all screw you" when I can't find anything to support that. I don't mean to be harsh but....it just seems like an extreme stance to take. But what do I know.

That's why I said start out beleiving they are all scams. There may indeed be one or two legitimate organizations that will teach you how to repair your credit (I honestly can't think of one), but 99.9% of them are bogus. Even the ones that claim to be "non profit" only do that because claiming to be "christain" was already used. They all make money off you.

Sometimes...big sometimes...you might find a company that has done some good for some people. For example, there was a debt fixer who used the name Sifxpert on the board here last year. A couple of people swear that he settled their debts for less than the full amount, and that everything turned out swell. However, there have been recent post regarding "James Lombardo" (Sifxpert's real name) where they describe how he swindled them out of thousands of dollars.

In round numbers, 40% of the companies you see advertised on the internet are individuals who thought "gee, I can make a lot of money helping people fix their credit...even if I don't know nothing about it". 40% are owned by lawyers who got tied of chasing ambulances (Lexington Law comes to mind) and decided to get in the debt fixing business. You'll find lots of references to how Lex Law has taken people's money on the board heare. 19.9% are outright theives..."send me your money, I'll put it in the bank for you, and then just before "charge off", we'll settle"...and then you never hear from them again.

What's left are the legitimate ones....ah...one.

Sorry...there just isn't anyone who can make this go away for you. Its so bad, that congress actually passed the Credit Repair Organization Act trying to regulate these people.

[deltadawn]

In order to make a educated decision on what plan of action you take, please read the following:

'Operation Clean Sweep': FTC and State Agencies Target 36 'Credit Repair' Operations

http://ftc.gov/opa/2008/10/opcleansweep.shtm

[swtprncess281]

Well I understand you desire to "hand it over to someone to make sure it gets done" but like everyone is trying to tell you...it will still probably not get done. The few things that will "fall off" will probably fall off just as easy if you just submit an on-line dispute. I'm speaking from experience because I used a company before and not only did my score drop for whatever reason, I didn't see anything falling off. I also didn't like that fact that I just gave them money and they couldn't SHOW me proof any anything they did. I say this however a friend of mine had wonderful things to say about them. She worked with them for 8 months and her score raised about 40 points. Well I've been doing this (very very part time) for myself for 3-4 months and my score has raised 45pts.

Lastly and not to be harsh, but it took me hearing this to really put it in perspective...It will be 10x's easier to mess my credit back up again if I just sit back and watch someone else fix what I caused. While this company was working on my credit I was sitting back not learning a thing really. Just going about my day knowing that I can go out screw up again and pay someone else to fix it. I think the main cause of this forum is for people to not only repair credit, but learn good credit behavior. I have to say my entire attitude about credit has changed while going through this process.

[moonwife]

a couple of things

1) it still doesn't make sense to me how some of these places stay in business. I'm a pretty smart consumer, I've been looking up several of these places and they seem legit.

2) I'm not looking to do anything illegal or for an easy way out. I just need help walking through it. It's way too daunting and way too labor intensive for me to do. I'm just being honest.

Thanks.

[willingtocope]

Understood. Its a tough pill to swallow that blantant dishonestly would be allowed to continue. Okibodi Foot Pads? Free Amish Fireplaces? Bob's little green pills? Lots of people make lots of money selling smoke and mirrors.

There are lots of "stickies" at the start of each forum here that will help you learn what you need to know.

[moonwife]

I've been reading the stickys. And lots of other sites. There is just too much info, too much to do. I have a full time job, kids, A LIFE. I can't dedicate my life to this and thats what all those stickies and other websites make it look like.

[swirlgirl]

On Saturday, when the kids are out playing their friends, do you have 30 minutes to take a form letter, change a few words to match your situation, print it out, sign it and mail it?

It really DOESN'T take a lot of time.

[moonwife]

On Saturday, when the kids are out playing their friends, do you have 30 minutes to take a form letter, change a few words to match your situation, print it out, sign it and mail it?

It really DOESN'T take a lot of time.

Thats not what I'm reading. Sure, if I could write one letter, send it off to a bunch of folks, and be done with it, sure. That is NOT what this site or other sites say is involved. (And, FWIW, one of my kids is a clingy 4 month old......never rid of him. )

[swirlgirl]

I was speaking of the first dispute letters sent to the CRAs. By doing this letter first, you most likely will get a reasonable number of deletes. Then after that, you can decide on how much more time in the future you want to dedicate to your CR.

[cap1kid]

There is just too much info, too much to do. I have a full time job, kids, A LIFE. I can't dedicate my life to this and thats what all those stickies and other websites make it look like.

Credit repair has two phases- repairing the bad and building the new. It's like someone who is obesely overweight and wants to look good by summer- Sure you can go to a surgeon and get all the fat off--- But if you don't change your lifestyle you will never fix the problem- If you diet you must exercise- they go hand in hand-If you don't build good credit- why fix bad credit- and if you thing there is a magic way to get it done- you have no vested interest in the results and you are bound for failure

[moonwife]

Credit repair has two phases- repairing the bad and building the new. It's like someone who is obesely overweight and wants to look good by summer- Sure you can go to a surgeon and get all the fat off--- But if you don't change your lifestyle you will never fix the problem- If you diet you must exercise- they go hand in hand-If you don't build good credit- why fix bad credit- and if you thing there is a magic way to get it done- you have no vested interest in the results and you are bound for failure

No offense, but I'm not really here for life lessons. I'm aware of what you're saying and it's kind of insulting you assume that I am not.

We have completely changed our life. That's why we have no new debt. We have a car payment, a credit card, and other things. We live within our means and pay our bills. We both have changed how we view all this stuff. The bulk of *my* stuff is over a decade old.

That doesnt' really change the fact that it's an incredibly daunting task, cleaning up the past, and I'm just not sure we'll be able to do it alone.

But yeah thanks for answering my questions.

[ManWithANewPlan]

You're not ready to do this yet. Seven lifetime posts on this board and they are all looking for easy ways out. There aren't any.

[moonwife]

I was speaking of the first dispute letters sent to the CRAs. By doing this letter first, you most likely will get a reasonable number of deletes. Then after that, you can decide on how much more time in the future you want to dedicate to your CR.

I was looking up that alone and it's, like, fifty bucks worth of supplies at Office Max and it's just not as easy as writing a letter and sending it off, you know?

I don't mean to sound like a slacker, and this is an area I didn't really want to get into. I know we won't do it if we have to do it alone. Plain and simple and honest. That's why I DIDNT ask about that. There IS LOADS of info here for people who want to go that route and who are capable of doing so. It is very helpful. I just don't know how effective it will be for me.

I guess we're just screwed.

[sunset]

Moonwife, I know you say you have a fulltime job and children and A LIFE (you stated it). I'm not being harsh in any way, but when you stated you wanted a car, and eventually a home... doing your own credit repair now is working toward your future life and the future lives of your children.

I, too, am busy. Though my full time job is a housewife right now, I took some time out while the little one was napping. You can type out a couple letters while your children are napping/sleeping. Do one or two at a time.

We paid Lex Law $75/mo to do it for us, because we, too, felt overwhelmed at first. After 5 mos, and no results from Lex Law, we 'fired' them and have had extremely better results doing this ourselves. In about a year, all baddies are off except one, which we are waiting a reply for our PFD.

A friend of mine has a 'debt consolidation' company working for her. She is always late on her 'payments' and her credit is completely trashed now. But, she won't leave them because she has her own business and feels she doesn't have the time. But know what, she still gets calls from her creditors, still gets 'late pmt' notices from them each month, and she's out $1000's which she could have saved and paid her bills on her own.

If you have the time to research on the computer, make that research time into letter time. Baby steps. You'll save alot of $ and will be able to see which letter went where and what was in that letter. Is your 'life' and future lives of your children worth at least a couple hrs a week or so? Think about it.

[moonwife]

You're not ready to do this yet. Seven lifetime posts on this board and they are all looking for easy ways out. There aren't any.

I'm NOT looking for an easy way. I know it will be work and a long time. I'm ok with this. I'm being realistic in saying I know we need some hand holding to follow through. That's all.

Thanks for being so supportive.

[sunset]

I've had my hand held here as well. I also bought the book, 'Good Credit is Sexy' which I studied when I went to bed. That book helped alot because it wasn't just sitting at a computer trying to remember, it was in black and white and I could refer to it at anytime. It's not expensive and worth the $. Maybe that would help you out as well.

If some of your stuff is 10 yrs old on your CR, type out a letter stating it's past it's 7 yr mark and should be deleted and send it out to the CRA that has it listed. Boom! They're gone. It's a start.