Beware of Credit Repair Scams

Having poor credit can be an incredibly painful and frustrating
experience. It is harder to get a loan, creditors may be hounding you and
you may be unable to pay your bills on time, which feeds the cycle. The
subsequent feelings of desperation may leave you vulnerable to
unscrupulous individuals or companies who promise to be able to quickly
or instantly fix your credit. Understanding that it will likely take you years
to fix your credit on your own, it is very tempting to give in and give
these companies a try. These scammers feed off of your desperation and
use it to trap you. But you don't have to be duped. Below, we will be
discussing some of the common credit repair warning signs.

1. Payment Required Before Your Credit is Fixed: Many times these
companies will promise to fix your credit and require that you pay them an
upfront fee. Well, you pay them the fee and you never hear from them
again. You won't know that you have been duped until either, they no
longer take your calls, their number is disconnected or your credit score
never changes.

2. A Company Doesn't Want You to Contact A Credit Reporting Agency
Yourself: A company that doesn't want you to directly contact a credit
reporting agency on your own may have something to hide. Avoid these
companies.

3. Companies Who Suggest That You Create a New Identity: Some
companies or internet guides may suggest that you create a new
identity and open up a new credit file. This is illegal and you could face
prosecution. Avoid this tactic like the plague.

4. Companies That Promise To Fix Your Credit In a Matter of Days: There
are no legal ways to fix your credit in a few days without doing
something illegal. Completely ignore these companies. Repairing your credit
will take time and discipline. There are no quick fixes. So don't
trust any company that promises you one.

5. Companies That Ask You to Lie: Some credit repair scammers will
advise you to refute everything on your credit report even if it is true.
The rational behind this "trick" is this. Credit agencies are big
and busy. This makes it difficult for them to check your claims of
refuting charges. Credit reporting companies only have so many days to
replyto your claim. If they don't reply within the given time frame, the
items in question must be taken off of your credit report. So you refute
everything and hope that they are too busy to reply to you in a timely
manner. This is something that you should never do. It is illegal and
you can be charged with fraud and could face prosecution if you are
found to be knowingly lying.

Repairing your credit will require discipline, time and commitment.
There are no shortcuts. Any company that promises you that there are
should be avoided. Most of the things these companies promise to do for
you, excluding the illegal, you can and should do for yourself. Therefore,
in most cases a credit repair agency is absolutely unnecessary.