Best Credit Repair Services

There is no such thing as best credit repair services, if you have credit reporting issues concerns you need to either hire an attorney or you can fix it yourself. There is no point to hire a credit repair company because they are relatively useless. In fact, hiring a credit repair agency could actually hurt your credit. These companies take your hard-earned money to write poor boilerplate disputes that have little to no effect. If this is the route you wish to go then you can write the dispute letters to the credit bureaus and mail them off yourself. The standard though to get an item modified or deleted is that it has to be objectively inaccurate. Usually this means an account is paid and shows a balance or the account does not belong to you. If you feel that you do not owe an account and it is showing then you need to gather proof of the inaccuracy. This will be explained later in the article. Credit reporting is regulated by a federal law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). This governs all credit furnishers (ie collection agencies, banks, lenders) and credit bureaus (usually Experian, Equifax and Trans Union). The companies who say they are the best credit repair services use this law to write dispute letters on your behalf to the credit bureaus. As stated prior if you need assistance in understanding credit repair or filing disputes then you should contact Cook Law, LLC. They have experience with FCRA and in litigating against the credit bureaus and furnishers to get inaccurate and derogatory information fixed.

Why Can Only Inaccurate Items Be Removed?

The simple answer is because that is what the law states. Technically you can dispute any account on your report, even if it is accurate, but the odds of something accurate getting deleted are slim to none. If your goal is to get accurate items removed then you are wasting your time and you do not need to call a company who says they are the best credit repair services company. You would be better served to resolve your old debts and get more positive information reporting. However, if you have errors on your credit reports then writing a detailed dispute to the credit bureaus can help this get resolved. Companies, or credit furnishers, do not always report accurate information and just because they have a balance showing does not mean you automatically owe it. If there is a negative account that you believe is wrong then you can certainly challenge it. You need to get proof of the inaccuracy. You do not need to hire the best credit repair services company to do this. Either you can go through your records, have Cook Law help you or see if the furnisher will mail you any thing. Often times people do not have the records because it would be several years old. That is why hiring a competent FCRA attorney can help you get the information needed.

How to Write a Credit Dispute Letter?

The most difficult thing to do is getting proof of the inaccuracy, once you have this you just need to incorporate the proof of inaccuracy into your dispute letter. The dispute letter needs to be mailed via tracking to the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union). To mail something via tracking you need to mail it at the post office and tell them you want to mail it via tracking. This will tell you when the items arrive to the credit bureaus, that way you can track that it is received. Any company who says they are the best credit repair services agency around should know this, but often times they mail off the disputes regular mail. The dispute letter just needs to be a narrative of what account(s) are inaccurate, why and how it should reflect. An example would be “I am disputing account with Chase because it was paid and is showing a balance. Here is the proof of payment attached, have it show a 0 balance.” This is for an account that is showing a balance that was paid. There are many different types of disputes you could have for a credit inaccuracy but you would just need to write out a detailed dispute. The best credit repair services companies would not do this for you, but you can call Cook Law for a free consultation to help explain this or review any dispute letters that you may have written. Just make sure to keep records of your disputes and tracking. In 30 days the credit bureaus will respond and you need to save copies of this. This letter will tell you if they modified, deleted or kept your account the same.

What to Do if the Dispute Letters Do Not Work?

The short answer is you need to hire an attorney and file a lawsuit. A good rule of thumb is to send about two to three dispute letters to the credit bureaus. The credit bureaus may not always respond to one of the letters or it could get lost in the mail. That is why it is important to send a few dispute letters. A company that says they are the best credit repair services company will want to mail as many letters as possible for you because they get to keep billing you. This is another reason to not hire a credit repair agency and do it yourself. Once you have sent off a few dispute letters and gotten the credit bureau responses you most likely will need to file a lawsuit. At this point, it would be the only way to get the negative and inaccurate deleted. If the credit bureaus or furnishers think an account is accurate they will leave it reporting. It does not matter if you write 50 letters, at some point they are going to determine if your account is going to stay or if they will change it. The purpose of the dispute letters is because the laws requires you to put the credit bureaus on notice of their mistake and to give them an opportunity to fix it. If the credit bureaus verify even one time that the inaccurate information is accurate then they have violated the law. You would now have a case against the credit bureaus for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Once you know the credit bureaus will not fix the inaccurate account you need to hire a lawyer. Filing a lawsuit will help get the results you need. The best credit repair services companies will not be able to do this for you. They are not licensed, non-attorneys who have little to no idea how the laws and FCRA work. At Cook Law we file FCRA suits against the credit bureaus and furnishers and have experience in this type of litigation.

How to File a Lawsuit Against the Credit Bureaus

You would not this a FCRA attorney would file a lawsuit on your behalf. The lawyer would do all the heavy lifting, while you would just need to be responsive. A lawsuit is the logical and necessary next step after your credit dispute letters did not work. As stated, any best credit repair services company would be unable to do this, as they are not lawyers. Although the court room and lawsuit can be daunting you do not be to worried. A competent attorney will help guide you through this process and answer any questions or concerns you will have. The cost of the lawsuit is always a concern for clients as the best credit repair services often charge at least a few hundred dollars. A FCRA attorney will not charge you any out of pocket expenses if they will take your case contingent. Most competent FCRA lawyers will do this. Contingent means that the lawyer does not get paid unless the other side pays out via a settlement or judgment. If you happen to lose then the lawyer will not send you a bill for their services. So it could be a win-win for the parties if you have a case. The negative items would be modified or removed, the lawyer does not cost you any direct expenses and you could end up being financially compensated for your time as well as get clean credit. How many best credit repair services companies can say that? Of course, every case is different and this is a broad overview. You can call Cook Law for a free consultation now and ask any questions you may have.

Who are the Best Credit Repair Services Companies?

As explained above, there are none. Any one who is claiming this is not an attorney and is using puffery in their marketing. Credit repair companies take your money and either do nothing or do what you can easily do on your own. There is no point to hire a debt settlement or credit repair company. The best credit repair services companies do not exist but they are all unlicensed, non-practicing attorneys. If you are serious on fixing your credit then either read up and do it yourself or if you have a credit error then contact a lawyer to help you. A FCRA lawyer, such as Cook Law, can help guide you through this stressful time. It is not difficult to maintain good credit and to fix credit errors. Some of the credit derogatory marks can not be fixed (if they are accurate) despite what a best credit repair services company tells you. To recap, if you notice a credit error then you need to gather proof of the inaccuracy. If you need assistance tracking down some of the records, then you can contact Cook Law for help. Only credit inaccuracies can be disputed. To write the dispute just type a narrative of what happened and provide the proof of inaccuracy. Mail it off via tracking to the credit bureaus. In 30 days you will either have the results you need or will have a case against the credit bureaus and should hire a lawyer.

How Long Does Credit Repair Take?

The short answer is it varies. At a minimum it would take 30 days from the initial dispute letter to the credit bureaus response. The quote on quote best credit repair services companies would want the process to take as long as possible so they can keep billing you every month. If a lawsuit is necessary, on the long end it could take a year or two. There are many factors that come into play including how responsive you are in mailing off the dispute letters and providing the bureaus response letters to your lawyer. Law, unfortunately, is a slow moving vehicle but it is an effective tool to getting clean credit and inaccurate items removed so you can move on with your life. It is important to understand that correcting a credit error takes time, that is what it is imperative to check your credit once every few months. The reality is most people only check their credit once they are denied financing because of some type of credit inaccuracy. The best credit repair services companies in the world would be of no help, so either do the disputes yourself or hire a FCRA lawyer. It can help make the process less stressful. Again, if you have any credit reporting and/or credit repair issues or concerns then contact Cook Law for a free consultation!