What is credit repair?
Credit repair is when a third party, often called a credit repair organization or credit services organization, attempts to get information removed from your credit reports. Their services are marketed as being able to help people improve their credit. Credit repair is legal at the federal level and in almost every state (in Georgia, credit repair is a misdemeanor).
Becoming a JFS customer, we will not only help you fix your credit score, we will also provide you with useful knowledge and tips to achieve the best credit score. So in the future, even if you no longer correct your credit score, you will still be able to maintain your credit score with confidence.
How do we remove negative items on your credit report?
We completely rely on the law to do that. According to FCRA – The law helps ensure the accuracy, fairness and privacy of the information in consumer credit bureau files. It regulates the way credit reporting agencies can collect, access, use and share the data they collect in your consumer reports.
What Do Credit Repair Companies Do?
Ultimately, credit repair companies communicate on your behalf either with the credit bureaus or with the companies that reported or “furnished” your credit information to the bureaus. These data furnishers are almost always debt collectors or financial services companies, like banks and credit card issuers.
The intent is to have the credit bureaus or furnishers either delete the credit information altogether or modify it in some way that’s more favorable to the consumer. Communications by credit repair companies can happen via the internet, phone or U.S. mail. The U.S. mail has historically been the method that’s preferred by credit repair companies for several reasons.
Mailing a few letters to the credit bureaus might sound unsophisticated, but it’s the approach that works with how credit repair companies tend to operate. Some credit repair companies employ a process called “jamming,” which involves sending repetitive and often frivolous letters to the credit bureaus and their data furnishers.
The theory is if a credit repair company can send a large volume of dispute letters challenging the same item over and over, that somewhere along the way either a credit bureau, lender or debt collector will fail to process the dispute within the 30-day period specified by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), resulting in the account being deleted.
What to avoid when dealing with credit repair companies?
Credit repair companies aren’t always trustworthy or honest. More than half of respondents who filed complaints about credit repair companies alleged “fraud or scam”.
If you choose to work with a credit repair organization, you’ll be protected under the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA), which governs how these businesses operate. The following are some essential points:
- Companies cannot guarantee that anything on your credit reports will be removed.
- Companies cannot counsel you to lie or change your identity in order to avoid credit bureaus from linking information with you.
- Consumers cannot be charged for services that have not yet been completed.
We launched the DIY Credit Repair Program – a program for those who want to fix their credit score on their own. You just need to send a letter, let us take care of the dispute. Additionally, when participating in the DIY Program, you can access to 6 video lessons on how to fix your own credit with step-by-step instructions on credit audit, credit strategies, tradelines, need-to-know laws and regulations, and more!
If repairing your own credit isn’t for you, feel free to schedule a consultation to get help from a professional.
