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Credit Repair: Self Help May Be Best BUT...
If you don't know what you are doing
it could mean disaster! The Federal Trade Commission: How To Look For A Scam!
Credit Scam In PDF To read this exactly as published please go to the FTC WEBSITE Credit Repair: Self Help May Be Best - Copied from the Federal Trade Commission Website: You see the advertisements in newspapers, on TV, and on the Internet. You hear them on the radio. You get fliers in the mail. You may even get calls from telemarketers offering credit repair services. They all make the same claims:
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Credit Clean's Take On This beneath each item. Section 1:
Do yourself a favor and save some money, too. Don’t believe these statements. Only time, a conscious effort, and a personal debt repayment plan will improve your credit report.
This brochure explains how you can improve your creditworthiness and gives legitimate resources for low or no-cost help.
The Scam Everyday, companies nationwide appeal to consumers with poor credit histories. They promise, for a fee, to clean up your credit report so you can get a car loan, a home mortgage, insurance, or even a job. The truth is, they can’t deliver. After you pay them hundreds or thousands of dollars in fees, these companies do nothing to improve your credit report; most simply vanish with your money.
Section 2: The Warning Signs If you decide to respond to a credit repair offer, look for these tell-tale signs of a scam:
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More By Credit Clean beneath each item. - companies that want you to pay for credit repair services before they provide any services. Credit Clean's Take On This
- companies that do not tell you your legal rights and what you can do for yourself for free. Credit Clean's Take On This
- companies that recommend that you not contact a credit reporting company directly.
Credit Clean's Take On This - companies that suggest that you try to invent a “new” credit identity — and then, a new credit report — by applying for an Employer Identification Number to use instead of your Social Security number. Credit Clean's Take On This
- companies that advise you to dispute all information in your credit report or take any action that seems illegal, like creating a new credit identity. If you follow illegal advice and commit fraud, you may be subject to prosecution. Credit Clean's Take On This
You could be charged and prosecuted for mail or wire fraud if you use the mail or telephone to apply for credit and provide false information. It’s a federal crime to lie on a loan or credit application, to misrepresent your Social Security number, and to obtain an Employer Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Service under false pretenses.
Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act, credit repair companies cannot require you to pay until they have completed the services they have promised. ---------------------------------------- end copied ftc information Credit Clean's Take Section 1 - The information below is in response to the items listed above in section 1 of the FTC information. Credit Problems are a problem and it is a big deal to help someone get reports back in shape. It is time consuming, frustrating and hard work to clean up and restore a credit report. Credit Problems should never be used in the same context as NO PROBLEM. It doesn't matter if you are doing the work yourself or you have hired someone to do the work for you ... it is a problem to get things back in shape on your credit reports. It doesn't matter if the problem is absolutely a lie and misreporting erroneously on your credit reports ... it is still a problem. Problems have solutions ... we look for those solutions in every legal way we can. Erasing bad credit is a term that does not fit the job. You can't erase a bad debt literally, you can get rid of it though if you can find a rule that the debt does not follow. No one can guarantee anything as a credit help company either. There is no way to tell the outcome of a challenged item on your credit report. The credit repair service is not the one pushing the delete key on the computer that your credit report is stored in, the credit bureaus have full control of that function. In a perfect world things can be guaranteed, our world is not perfect. No credit help service can guarantee that a bad debt will never come back again. Although this is normally not something you would have to worry about there are instances where a bad debt has come back on a credit report after being deleted or removed. For instance... if the debt was sold to a collection agency, it could reappear when the new collection agency takes over. This can happen several times if your debt is sold to several companies HOWEVER, there are rules against reporting bad debts over and over again. Knowing what these rules are is the edge you have over everyone else. Even if an account belongs to you there are rules that must be followed by the creditors and credit bureaus so to say that accounts can't be removed that are in fact true is not completely true in itself. For instance, if the debt is over 7 years old from the last date of activity it is called obsolete and therefore must be removed from your credit reports. This is one instance of the bad debt being true but also fitting a guideline which is the statute of limitations. There are many of these types of rules. Do Not ever try and create a new credit identity there is absolutely nothing this will help you do but maybe go to jail. Your credit is your credit for life, if it's bad just find a way to fix it. There is always a solution that is legal ... you will also have a little more peace of mind knowing that you fixed your credit the right way. Bankruptcy, judgments, liens, collections, late pays and other negative items on your credit reports can be removed, however; you need to do this or have it done the right way. Even though it would be nice to have the Fairy Dust to magically make bad credit disappear ... Fairy Dust is just a Fairy Tale ... hard work, knowledge and determination is the only magic there is.
Credit Clean's Take Section 2 - The information below is in response to the items listed above in the section 2 of the FTC information. Paying for service upfront in it's entirety is a risk, however; there are very few services that don't ask for a retainer of some type when you open an account. Most people know that it costs money to do a job and a retainer of start up fee is something that gives both the company and the client protection. If the company is bonded you have a measure of protection ... you should look at the quality and honesty of each company in order to determine if this is a credit company you will feel comfortable working with. Look for things such as licenses, bonding, client comments, listing with web watchdog companies, length of time in business and so forth. An honest credit help service should list a phone, website and physical address clearly on their web pages. Credit Clean has been in business since 1995, we are licensed and bonded, listed with EPublic Eye, listed with Dun & Bradstreet and have helped thousands of clients with almost every kind of credit problem there is. We feel the single feat of being in business for over ten years is one of our biggest assets. We also know that to help people with credit problems in not something that can be done quickly. We are not looking for clients as a volume type of business like some credit services, we are looking for clients who really want to do the work properly who in the end will get back all the money invested by having better credit and better credit scores. Your consumer rights are part of our forms which we direct you to make a copy of. The form that is most important is the one that the Federal Trade Commission requires a credit repair company to give to a client. You can read this form on our website at:
FTC CREDIT RIGHTS We believe you should have the option of helping yourself with credit report problems or having the ability to hire a company to do it for you. Sometimes it is hard to tell an honest company so knowing what to look for is the best way to prevent choosing the wrong one.
We do not ask that you refrain from contacting a credit reporting agency directly, however; most of our clients have never made it past the point of a machine when they have taken the initiative to contact a credit bureau and this is why they end up asking us for help. Contacting a credit reporting agency or more commonly called a credit bureau is like trying to get through to the president of the United States. If you are allowing a company to help you let them do the work that is what you are paying them to do. Credit Clean does not ask or even attempt to have you change your identity. Not only is it illegal as stated above it isn't going to do you much good to have NO credit. In fact no credit is about as bad as having bad credit. Most creditors will also know there is something wrong if they pull your credit files and you are 25, 30, 40 or more years old and you have no credit file. It's just a little to obvious when there is nothing in your credit file in this day and age. Even utility companies check your credit now. This is called a ghost file and you will be denied credit the same as if you had bad credit. Bad credit shows you as a risk, no credit shows you as nothing. You must have credit in order to get credit which sounds a lot like a catch 22 but in reality credit reports are suppose to show your risk factor, if there is no credit there is a big risk built in. Your credit follows you throughout your life you can't just ditch it and start over. You can clean it up though and move forward in the right direction with the help of a good credit help service and this should be the direction you take. Credit Clean agrees with this, however; in order to verify that an account is yours and/or verify that it is verifiable we are not sure how else you can get around challenging everything on your credit file. There are several rules and regulations that your creditors and credit bureaus must follow in doing so they must be asked to verify certain information in your credit reports which is how the work of credit restoration and repair is done. What we assume is being said here is "don't just challenge things in your reports simple to be challenging them". You should challenge anything that you feel is incomplete, misleading, inaccurate, unverifiable etc. Since we have never seen an accurate credit report most items on a credit report is able to be challenged in some way or other.
What ever it is that has caused problems with your credit it needs to be remedied. If you don't do anything about the credit problems more than likely they will remain a problem for a long time. Everyone deserves a second chance. As long as you want to change your life there is always a way to do it. Learn from the past and make it all worth while. Being educated about credit is your best defense. Just remember you must be determined, educated, have time and a low frustration level to get this job done ... if you don't want to take on those tasks then it is your right to get a company to help you with the work. Return To Previous Page Page Last Updated
Friday June 29, 2007 | |
