Are Credit Repair Agencies Better than Self Help Credit Repair?

For the many people who are not happy with their credit report, the claims of credit repair agencies are tempting. The ads are in newspapers, on signs by the road, on the internet and elsewhere. "Erase bad credit -- fast and guaranteed." It seems so easy that calling up the advertised company and all of your credit problems are gone, quickly and legally.

If you are tempted by these claims, remember the saying, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Often times credit repair companies are scams. They want you to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for their services, and then they can't do anything to help your credit situation.

Many consumers fall for their ads without understanding that these companies can not deliver on their claims. The truth is no one can legally remove accurate negative information from your credit report. If there is incorrect information on your credit report, that can be fixed, and you do not need to pay a large fee to get this corrected.

The truth is there is no easy, quick fix for bad credit. You can improve your credit score, but you have to do it the right way, which involves time and a conscious effort. You can save the hundreds or thousands of dollars that credit repair companies charge and help yourself. Anything a credit repair business can legally do for you, you can do it yourself for free or very low cost.

First, you need to know your legal rights. You have the right to obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of the reporting agencies every year.

You also have the right to request an investigation if you find information on your credit report that is inaccurate. You are entitled to dispute any mistakes or inaccurate information on your credit report for free. The credit bureau and whoever provided them with the information on you are under a legal obligation to correct inaccurate information.

To dispute any information on your credit report, notify the credit reporting company in writing what you are disputing -- with copies of any paperwork you have to support your claims -- and request that the information be removed or corrected. Be sure to mail your request via certified mail and request a return receipt so you know that the company received your letter.

The credit bureau must investigate the information within 30 days and forward all the data you produced about the inaccuracy to the organization that provided the information. After the information provider receives notice of a dispute from the consumer reporting company, it must investigate, review the relevant information, and report the results back to the consumer reporting company. The credit reporting company must notify you of the results of the investigation in writing.

For the cost of certified mail with a return receipt, you can do exactly the same credit restoration that credit repair agencies claim they can do.

Read on to find more about do it yourself credit repair information, plus get some tips to choose good credit repair agencies, if you can't do credit repair yourself.