Credit Repair

Of coarse. You need to provide proof where the report is in error. You'll need to provide documentations to prove your point. Always keep the original and send copies.

That seems so easy to do then, cicerone. Why do people need attorneys for that? There seems to be many firms catering to this kind of business.

I would assume that if there is a complicated problem, you mght need an attorney. For small inaccuracies, you can certainly fix them yourself.

cello, if someone has a lot of errors on their credit reports, then there is usually a bigger problem than what you would want to tackle yourself. I guess it depends on what your mean by 'a lot'.

Everyone is entitled to a free annual copy of their credit reports and should take advantage of that right. If errors are found, you need to contact the provider of the goods or service and try to have them remove the erroneous report. If they refuse, and you still believe that case to be an error, you are entitled to have your comment of dispute made a permanent part of the credit report. Any entity that does a credit check from that point forward will see the comment as well as the credit rap.

The term 'Credit Repair' doesn't usually mean fixing mistakes that the credit reporting agencies have made in your report.

If there is such a mistake, there are procedures that you can follow to fix them. You should get a copy of you credit report, then you contact the credit company (i.e. Experian) and get a form from them to report mistakes. Then you should fill out this form with the real facts and give the credit agency a chance to fix it.My understanding is that most of the time, the credit agency will fix errors on their own when evidence is presented.

I would get a consumer lawyer only after I had tried everything else. But, you would look for a lawyer specializing in consumer law-- not 'Credit repair'.

The term 'Credit Repair' refers to something completely different. Credit Repair companies allegedly will get bad marks off of your credit report that aren't mistakes, such as when you default on a loan because you didn't send in payments.

The 'credit repair' industry has a very bad reputation-- supposedly they don't help debtors (don't do anything that a debtor can't do on her own) and they charge a significan fee for doing basically nothing. There are also allegations of outright fraud.

If you are in debt legitimately, you probably need a bankruptcy lawyer. But, make sure you get a lawyer who really will work for your benefit, and from what I have heard, this means avoiding 'Credit Repair" companies.

I agree with ebrown's suggestion of trying to fix it yourself before contacting any attorney.

cello, Hi. I used to be a collector. There are laws that even collections and creditors have to abide by, and sometimes, they just don't. I'm not a lawyer, but, for example, I think there's a law that says that when the original creditor turns an item over for collections to a third-party collections company, they have to notify you in writing and name that company. Some creditors don't do that step. In that case, you might be able to get that debt off your report, legally. Although you still owe the debt. The laws are complicated.

Here's a law firm that specializes in it. They seem to know what they are doing and their rates are reasonable. They have some good information there and you can check w/ the Better Business Bureau in their city and even the Attorney General's ofc in their state to see if anything has been reported on them, if you are concerned about being scammed. They also have information about copycat services and other companies that do scam consumers, so you will know what to look out for.

Good Luck! I have dealt with my own credit situation, on my own. It can be done. And, I have paid back all debts, too. And my credit score has jumped 140 points!

http://www.lexingtonlaw.com/credit-repair-services/

Here's a link to the FDCPA, which will give you all the federal statutes regarding collections activities. Each state will also have its own statutes and codes, too. Which state are you in?
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm

Thank you everyone for all your info and explanations, and thank you very much for your concerns, but I actually don't have any credit problem, I only asked out of curiosity because I recently heard about it.

Yes, the credit repair I was referring to is exactly like the link posted by Dupre. I checked the info there, and could not see how they could remove things like liens or bankruptcies, that does not seem to be explained anywhere, or did I miss something?

That FDCPA link is fabulous, thanks Dupre. There is nothing like knowing the law. Btw, I live in Canada, not the US. We probably have similar regulations too somewhere, I am going to look for them.

The only thing I know about debt is that it can't be collected any more after a certain period of time, depending on the law where you live. That may be an item that could be deleted from the credit report. So apart from the laws that are mentioned already in the posts/links, I just wonder what other kinds of laws/statutes those attorneys have to deal with.

The Lexington law link is an example of a dishonest firm selling a 'service' that is costs far more to the client then it is worth.

They are charging $39 a month claiming that they can save tens of thousands of dollars on a 30 year mortgage (because good credit can get you a lower interest rate).

Of course this is fraud for two reasons... first bad credit only lasts 7 years. Second, if you put that $39 a month into a typical stock based fund (which over 30 years will very likely average 9%), you will make at least the tens of thousands of dollars they are offering you.

I am convinced that credit score is overhyped anyway.

If you save the money most Americans are wasting on interest rates to credit companies and use that for a large down payment... and take the time to shop around and negotiate a good rate, you are going to do OK even without prostituting yourself to the false gods of the credit industry.