Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act, credit repair companies cannot request or receive payments until they have completed the services they promised. Some companies, Page 2, will structure monthly payment plans to avoid this requirement, and you should know that no form of advance payment is legal. Repairing your credit costs nothing if you do it yourself. However, if you hire a credit repair company to help you, you will have to pay fees, which can vary widely.
The FTC says BMS promised that people's credit scores would increase from 100 to 120 points in two to six weeks, a result they couldn't guarantee or deliver reliably. The FTC also says that BMS charged upfront fees for the credit repair services they offered, which is illegal. The Credit Repair Organization Act (CROA) makes it illegal for credit repair companies to lie about what they can do for you and to charge you before they have provided their services. Their primary role is to advise you on the credit repair process and provide ongoing support as you dispute inaccurate information.
In this situation, it's probably best for you to learn about the responsible use of credit and work to get better credit on your own. Make sure you understand how to distinguish a reputable credit repair company from its ethically undesirable counterparts before signing any contracts or spending your hard-earned money. But we also recognize that you may not be swimming in your spare time, so it might seem easier to set aside some money to invest in credit repair services. Credit repair itself is a legitimate service to sell, but that doesn't mean there aren't companies that rely on suspicious practices.
While there's no set time frame for credit repair, credit reporting laws give you a good idea of how long you'll have to wait to see results. Experienced credit repair companies often know which creditors are accessible and under what conditions. It shouldn't cost you anything unless you have to pay off your debts, which you'll eventually have to do even if you use a credit repair service. Even though it's illegal for a credit repair company in Iowa to charge you an upfront fee, many of them do and will.
In most cases, thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), credit bureaus must investigate disputes to determine if the information in question is legitimate within 30 days. Ulezheimer further explains that “in order to comply with the CROA's prepayment provision, the credit repair company must first inform its customer in writing what it receives for the monthly payment and, second, be able to demonstrate that the services were provided in full during the previous month. They can also help you spot less obvious credit report errors that you would have missed on your own, such as negative accounts that have been on your credit reports longer than allowed by law. In some cases, a credit repair company may even connect you with lawyers who can take legal action against creditors or debt collectors whose reporting or collection practices violate the law.
It seems to be a somewhat common belief that credit repair companies will help you defend yourself against debt collectors or negotiate payments with lenders. If you've been duped through a credit repair scam or advance payment fraud, contact Brady Preston Gronlund today at (31 866-9277) and learn how to protect yourself against fraudulent companies. .
