Credit Repair – The Land of Opportunity, or should I say Opportunists?
Posted on August 22nd, 2007 by Marc Chase Posted in Credit Repair | 13 CommentsWe’ve been in this business a long time now and we’ve seen our share of fly by night operations come and go over the years.
I can honestly say this is the worst shape I’ve ever seen the credit repair industry in. It makes sense the subprime market has collapsed, debt is at an all time high and consumers are defaulting on credit cards more then ever.
This is the perfect environment for get rich quick experts to set up “credit repair companies” and take advantage of the millions of Americans in need of help. To make matters worse, now they are praying on the Loan Officers desperate to help their clients qualify for a decent loan.
If you believe anything I have ever written, believe me when I say be very careful if you hire to fix your credit.
Most of our clients come from banks, brokers or Loan officers and we have very good relationships. They tell us about the 4,5 or 6 credit repair companies that walk through their doors everyday claiming to be the best, The nations largest, The most trusted or whatever cute little title they want to give themselves.
Frankly, it makes me sick. Here are the latest I’ve seen come on the scene.
YouCan2Credit.Com
I’ve actually had the pleasure of being pitched by this company. Obviously he had no idea who he was pitching and I had no intention of telling him. The sales pitch was very reminiscent of Amway. There was no focus or display of credit repair knowledge, but the guy sure knew the commission structures.
He didn’t know if they were bonded per federal regulation and he didn’t know what the statute of Limitations was for his own state on debts. He did know however how much money I would make if I signed up 50 clients or sales reps under me. (after I pay for the $299 pro training package)
CreditDefrag
Who the hell knows what this one is about, but they do not remove derogatory information or dispute anything. If I had to take a guess based on the information on their site, I would bet they are opting you out. It has all the same characteristics as they describe.
Do yourself a favor…..DO IT YOURSELF. 888-5-OPTOUT
Thebestever.net (the famous fix your credit in less then 24 hour guy)
I actually wrote about this guy a few months back. From what I can tell its rapid re-scoring (again not credit repair). Of course he has the usual Equifax, Experian and Transunion Employees have told him how to repair credit and he’s revealing he secrets in his new download. These Credit bureau employees sure cant keep secrets can they?
The Bottom Line!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Credit Repair truly can work IF DONE BY A LEGITIMATE COMPANY. If it’s not a real company that actually does specialize in credit repair, you’re going to waste your money.
Even some of the largest credit repair companies farm their dispute templates overseas. There’s no research, no creditor investigations – just generic dispute templates being cranked out by the thousands in places like Malaysia, India, Nicaragua and Russia.
So how do you tell who may actually do a good job? Sadly, instinct and common sense might be your best judge. Don’t pay attention to affiliations and weak testimonials, look for 3rd party endorsements.
For example, we were utilized by the Department of Defense for the Military and were honored by the Chamber of Commerce for Excellence in Customer Service. We’re Dunn and Bradstreet Listed and have an impeccable track record with the BBB.
Any monkey can write a check to be a member of some organization and anybody can write their own testimonial signed by Sally Smith out of anytown USA.
Look, the above mentioned companies might be the best credit repair companies in the history of the world who knows, but you have to be responsible as consumers and use your best judgment.
There is filth all over this industry by both big and small companies. The little guys will eventually go away and the big ones (who know exactly who Im talking about cause they cant keep from copying us) will eventually stop farming their work overseas and actually do a good job, or they will join the little guys in the unemployment line.
In the meantime, you as a loan officer or consumer can only use your best judgment and remember, if its sounds too good to be true….it probably is.
Great article. Its time for persons to become responsible for their own situations. Looking for the next quick fix that isn’t there is a waste of time and effort. Most persons in the US have a quite poor credit score relative to their income. Their efforts to keep up with the neighbors has created an environment of buy now with 0 down, and worry about the rest later.
If you must rely on a credit repair service, make sure you do your homework. Find one that is REAL - and not some bogus deal thats just going to scam you out of money.
Speaking of the subprime collapse, I live in Colorado and I’m sure we had something to do with that!
Dude,
You know I’ve been hanging around the credit repair industry for a couple years now.
Why dont these credit repair companies get their acts together?
If you look at the BBB records of both of them its pretty pathetic.
I have been looking around at different companies to use. How do you check the records of each?
Thank you
http://www.bbb.org
You are correct that people need to take responsibility and research any company that they are considering doing business with. However, I propose that people use ‘no one’ to repair or improve their credit rating.
More to the point, it is always best to inform yourself as to how you can improve your own credit. By reading the Fair Credit Reporting Act, all of your answers are there.
If you insist on using a credit service, look for one that will do nothing without your approval. One that will keep you in the loop every step of the way.
As we move forward in time, everyone will be judged by your credit score. Start NOW to getting it as high as you can and do all that you can to keep it as high as it can be.
God Bless.
I appreciate the response Carlos but that’s just not entirely correct. The FCRA is just scratching the surface.
I would say that 30% TOPS of the negative items we remove from credit reports is done so by calling on the FCRA guidelines.
It doesn’t cover bonding and licensing requirements for collectors. Nor does it cover negotiating for deletions after statutes have passed, Civil Service Relief act,fcba, legal interest rates per state and the list goes on and on.
Companies that rely solely on the FCRA typically tend to be chop shops and the very reason the industry has such a bad name.
The BBB is asking me for addresses of them all to see the rating.
A couple of them dont have it, how do I see it then?
The ones Im looking at are
Ovation Law
Veracity Credit
Lexington Law
And My Credit Group
Thank you in advance
have you tried checking their hoovers report? i can’t remember what the site is, but maybe try googling it. you can find out business addresses and revenue of most major businesses.
Here you go. IN the future, just scroll down on the BBB website and you can search by their Website URL
Ovation Law 9 Complaints
http://www.jacksonville.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compid=28000847
Veracity 17 Complaints http://data.denver.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=59025082
LexingtonLaw 270 Complaints
http://www.saltlakecity.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=2000829
My Credit Group 0 Complaints
http://www.sandiego.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compid=29007454
Wow that helps me a lot thank you.
I didnt see the url field until now. Guess that narrows down my choices.
I wouldnt use any of the first three losers, here’s why. Every company has an opportunity to make things right with the consumer before it gets to the BBB.
Obviously, those companies chose not to keep their reputations intact over a hundred or so dollars.
I am a business owner myself and while the customer is not always right, my belief is that our reputation is sometimes worth more then the couple dollars I’d have to refund.
Customer service has gone to shit these days and its people like Veracity, Lexinton and Ovation who are the ones slinging the shit
Thanks for the heads-up with these companies… hopefully my credit will never get to the point where I will have to use any sort of credit repair company! Thanks again