Tuesday 15 May 2007

Credit Repair Services: Do You Really Need It?

Repairing credit can be compared to losing weight, there is no quick-fix! Just as it takes time to get rid of your fat, the same goes for the negative items on your credit report. Any attempt to repair your credit quickly is more likely to backfire, than to produce any positive result. The best thing that you can do in order to rebuild your credit is to be responsible in managing it over a period of six months at the least.

You need to be responsible in managing your credit, but what if there are errors and inaccuracies in your credit report that render it negative? The worst thing about such inaccuracies is that you are at a serious disadvantage, usually through no fault of yours. Unfortunately, a study by U.S Public Interest Research revealed that 70 percent of all credit reports contain serious errors.

Fixing these errors involves a detailed legal process which consists of sending dispute letters to creditors and credit bureaus, sending reminders, studying the documentary evidence provided by creditors and bureaus, and more. Like most people, you might not have the required time and expertise to follow through on all of these processes efficiently. This is where credit repair services can help you out. Now it's important to understand that it will not be possible to improve your credit score in a few weeks. As previously stated, this is not possible even if the negative items in your credit report are due to error.

Time taken for Credit Repair 
Creditors and credit bureaus are required by law to produce original documentation in order to prove the negative items that are present on your credit report. They cannot take more than 30-45 days to do so. However, drafting and sending dispute letters may take some time as well. Some people think that it is possible for any consumer to get his or her credit score corrected without any professional help, which is true but hardly practicable.

Anyone whose credit report contains errors can try to draft their own dispute letters and send them to the concerned parties, but it is time-consuming and it takes a lot of mental effort. Unless you are ready to take this duty as seriously as you take any other professional commitment, do not even try! Hiring a reliable provider for credit repair services, which would be a company that has more than a decade of experience helping thousands of customers with unfairly negative credit reports, can help you correct your credit score without too much fuss.

Credit report repair services are particularly useful when:

— The negative items on your credit report are due to accounting, reporting or any other error committed by creditors, credit bureaus or collection agencies. Genuine errors can be struck off from the reports smoothly when you go through the proper procedures.

— The credit repair service providers are good at identifying errors that cannot be verified. By law, if any item in the report cannot be backed up by documentary evidence, it needs to be removed. This loophole can be used by credit repair companies to improve your score.

— Some lenders are willing to negotiate with credit repair representatives of their consumers. If your lender allows it, this can help you raise your credit score.

A credit repair company is an effective alternative for you if you have a lower credit score. They will take the necessary steps at removing any inaccurate information from your credit report which will eventually improve your credit score.