Debt Kit -- Settle unsecured debts for less than half of amount owed Credit Kit -- Improve your credit rating and reduce monthly payments by $200+ |
Credit > Credit Repair Scams |
There is absolutely no need to hire anyone to improve your credit rating as you can easily do it yourself. However, if you are determined to hire a credit repair service, look out for these warning signs that it is a disreputable company. 1. "We guarantee results" Congress passed a law years ago that forbids credit repair companies from guaranteeing their results. This means that no credit repair service can guarantee you that they can remove a bankruptcy notation or any other negative information from your credit report. Therefore, any company that tries to convince you that they can positively get the results you want, watch out, because they're not only breaking federal law; they're also fibbing, since no one can guarantee specific results. 2. A large lump sum payment is due upfront Per federal law, a credit repair service cannot accept payment before work is done unless the company is a registered non-profit or operated by an attorney or CPA. Usually, the request for a large lump sum payment is a tip-off that you are being scammed. Odds are that the credit repair clinic will take your money and run off and you'll never see them again. A similar scam is the pay each month program where customers are asked to pay a specific amount each month "until your credit is improved". You can be sure the service is going to stretch out the process for as long as possible to collect as much as they possibly can from you -- you'll likely end up paying $800 or more for work you can easily do yourself as outlined in our credit kit. 3. Watch out for credit repair services or websites operate by attorneys and CPAs Some attorneys and accountants have realized that they can make some quick, easy money offering credit repair services on the side, raking in hundreds of dollars for very little work. Usually, their marketing literature will lead one to believe that they have specialized skills, training or knowledge to perform credit repair. This is not true. Of course, attorneys and CPAs would object to our characterization that they are operating a credit repair scam, but what they are doing is dishonest, since they know that their clients can easily dispute negative information on their credit reports themselves without having to pay anyone. In any event, be aware that if you pay an attorney or CPA to do your credit repair work, he or she will spend about five minutes filling out some paperwork (or an assistant will actually fill out the paperwork) and you will be billed hundreds of dollars for work you could easily and quickly do yourself. 4. "Our software can delete negative information from your credit report" This is one of our favorite scams and one it is hard to believe the public actually swallows. The three big credit bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and Trans Union -- do not allow the public to access their computer databases and alter or delete information. The idea that one can install software on their computer and it will remove all negative information from credit reports is ridiculous. 5. "You can establish a new credit identity / new credit file" You've probably received a few spam emails claiming that you can establish a new credit file. This is not true. If you ordered the information being sold to you in these spam emails, you would be told that you can establish a new credit identity by getting a nine-digit EIN (Employer Identification Number) from the IRS and using that in place of your social security number on loan applications and such. Or, you might be told to submit a false social security number, perhaps one belonging to someone else. The problem with doing this is that it is a felony to lie on a loan application and you would be committing bank fraud, which happens to be a felony. If you used an EIN on a loan application and the bank discovered this (and there is a good chance that they will since they are aware of this scam and use a system to verify social security numbers) they can turn your loan application over to your local district attorney for prosecution. You could go to jail for a few years for attempting to commit fraud. In any event, your name will be in the paper "arrested for bank fraud" and your boss will see it and you will have to spend thousands defending yourself. If you can improve your credit rating, you can do it yourself. Actually, if you just started paying down your debt, paying all your bills on time, and not accumulating anymore debt, your credit rating and credit score would improve over time. Eventually, you would achieve a good credit score. |
Credit Repair Scams |
Credit > Credit Repair Scams |
Debt Kit -- Settle unsecured debts for less than half of amount owed Credit Kit -- Improve your credit rating and reduce monthly payments by $200+ |
