Credit repair scams and legitimate credit repair services
http://www.articlesdirectory.us/articles/124170/1/Credit-repair-scams-and-legitimate-credit-repair-services/Page1.html
Stuart Hunter
Providing credit repair services since 1991, Lexington Law has helped over 500,000 clients legally take on their credit. Last year alone, Lexington Law helped clients remove over 600,000 negative items from their credit reports.
By Stuart Hunter
Published on January 15, 2010
The credit repair industry can be a scary place. Given the abundance of news articles, television stories, and "expert" pieces warning of credit repair scams that get pushed out by well regarded media outlets, it can look like the only logical choice is to steer clear of credit repair companies altogether - a course of action many news outlets seem to advocate.
Credit repair scams and legitimate credit repair services
The credit repair industry can be a frightening place. Given the number of news articles, television segments, and "expert" pieces warning of credit repair scams that get pushed out by well regarded media outlets, it can look like the only logical course of action is to avoid credit repair companies entirely - a course of action the news outlets seem to advocate.
A quick search turns up dozens of articles detailing how to avoid a credit repair scammer. Most itemize a list of warning signs such as companies charging large upfront fees, advocate creating a new credit report, don't advise you of your rights, and generally make misleading or untruthful statements. At this point, however, a very small portion of articles mention that there are credit repair services who do not engage in the practices that are common to a credit repair scam. In fact, many articles from established news agencies such as CNN end by suggesting people "get legitimate help" from consumer credit counseling services.
Not only is this advice incomplete, but it is also 100 percent useless to people who truly could benefit from the assistance of a legal credit repair service. Credit counseling may be able to help people who are unable to pay off their debts, but it will do nothing to improve your credit score. Some credit counseling programs may even make your credit score worse.
Unlike consumer credit counseling services that aim to bring your finances under control, credit repair services are designed to help you increase your credit score. They are not mutually exclusive services and in many cases, a person who has used a credit counseling service to help manage their debts becomes a great candidate for credit repair.
Legal credit repair services like those provided by Lexington Law have a purpose and it is a disservice to imply otherwise. Hopefully as consumers and news columnists alike become more familiar with credit repair and the services credit repair organizations provide, we will start seeing more of a balance between news stories warning of credit repair scams and news stories detailing qualities to look for in a good credit repair service.
A quick search turns up dozens of articles detailing how to avoid a credit repair scammer. Most itemize a list of warning signs such as companies charging large upfront fees, advocate creating a new credit report, don't advise you of your rights, and generally make misleading or untruthful statements. At this point, however, a very small portion of articles mention that there are credit repair services who do not engage in the practices that are common to a credit repair scam. In fact, many articles from established news agencies such as CNN end by suggesting people "get legitimate help" from consumer credit counseling services.
Not only is this advice incomplete, but it is also 100 percent useless to people who truly could benefit from the assistance of a legal credit repair service. Credit counseling may be able to help people who are unable to pay off their debts, but it will do nothing to improve your credit score. Some credit counseling programs may even make your credit score worse.
Unlike consumer credit counseling services that aim to bring your finances under control, credit repair services are designed to help you increase your credit score. They are not mutually exclusive services and in many cases, a person who has used a credit counseling service to help manage their debts becomes a great candidate for credit repair.
Legal credit repair services like those provided by Lexington Law have a purpose and it is a disservice to imply otherwise. Hopefully as consumers and news columnists alike become more familiar with credit repair and the services credit repair organizations provide, we will start seeing more of a balance between news stories warning of credit repair scams and news stories detailing qualities to look for in a good credit repair service.