What You Should Know Before Paying For Credit Repair

By Joseph Ducat

Are you worried about a bad credit score? Do you want to fix up your credit report so that you do not get turned down for loans when you need them? Well, there are services that claim to be able to repair your credit. However, before you even think of signing up for one, there are several important things you should know.

First of all, you must know that if you choose, you can actually do your own credit repair. It is not as difficult as it may seem, merely inconvenient and time-consuming. You also need to acquaint yourself with the laws and statutes that deal with credit repair and fair credit reporting. But if you take the trouble, you can fix your own credit report without having to pay anyone to do it for you.

Another thing you should know is that there are several circumstances under which you are entitled to get a free credit report from a lending institution or a consumer reporting agency. You need a copy of your credit report so that you can track the discrepancies in your record that need to be fixed. If you have been turned down for credit, employment, or insurance, within 60 days of receiving a notice of denial you can request and be given your credit report for free from whoever denied your application. You are also entitled to a free report once every 12 months from each of the major credit reporting agencies--Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can request your credit report from them through a central website at annualcreditreport.com, or order your report from a toll-free phone number or a mailing address.

You have the right to dispute items on your credit report for free with the consumer reporting agency that compiled it. The law places responsibility for the accuracy of a person’s report on the consumer reporting agencies and the information providers, that is, the creditors who send information on you to the agencies. Therefore these entities must investigate any disputes on your credit information. If a correction is made, you are entitled to receive one free copy of the changed report. Be sure to read up on the laws relating to consumer credit information, which are the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Also get a copy of the Credit Repair Organizations Act. It tells you more rights and offers you protection relating to the use of professional credit repair services. It requires credit repair firms to tell you of your rights and obligations before you sign any contracts. It makes it illegal for credit repair groups to make false service claims or extract their fee before providing their full services. The Act also protects you by specifying a five day waiting period after a contract signing, during which you are allowed to get out of your contract without having to pay any fee.

In essence, it is important for you to know that you do have the ability to do your own credit repair. Do not believe credit repair services that claim to be able to fix your credit in ways you cannot do. The best they can do is to put the inconvenience of credit repair out of your hands.

Learn how to protect yourself from credit repair scams. Get information and tips about credit repair from http://creditrepairinsider.info