Are credit repair companies legit and do they really help?
September 28, 2010 by Credit Attack
Filed under credit repair companies
I am trying to raise my credit score quickly. Right now I am at 593-around 650 depending on agency. So, by paying off the 5 credit cards that I currently have(some with amounts ranging from 1,500-2,500), should that raise my credit score a great deal? If not, will a credit repair company help or are they just a scam?
read the real fine print most of them take their money first then they pay off the credit card companies
your better off calling each one of the credit companied thaty you make a deal with each one yourself..
most of them are a scam
There are a few legit credit repair companies but even the legit ones screw you in one way or another. Also they provide no real solid service.
You can in truth do alot yourself to fix your own credit score but it could take a couple years of work. First thing is pay off any odd debts (pizza man’s check bounced or such). Then assuming have credit cards and loans make every monthly payment paying at least $20 over minimum payment. If you have no credit cards or loans anymore then a secured credit card with a small amount paid off every month. Also a small loan of say $1k from a lender making a 1-2 year payment plan but plan it paid off in 6-12 months.
Those who really influence positively your credit score will be credit cards and major loan divisions (citi financial or student loan group).
Keep in mind if you have alot of credit card debt especially if your severely behind on payments these days you have a fair chunk of power. Many have been able to renegotiate how much they owe on old credit cards that haven’t been paid on. Banks and credit card companies more and more are willing to settle for a lessor amount to get it off their books. It won’t help your credit score/credit report other then to close it off as paid. I’ve known some who have settled $4500 in debt for less then 3k and similiar.
Paying those credit cards off will greatly improve your score. The majority of your credit score is determined by your debt to credit ratio.
If you have 5 credit cards each with a limit of $2000, and $8000 in total credit card debit then you have an 80% debt to credit ratio or you are using 80% of the total credit available to you.
If this ratio is over 50%, then that is a huge black spot on your credit. Getting this number under 30% will help and ultimately to get above 800 you will want to keep this ratio in the single digits (0-9%).
With that being said most credit repair companies you really don’t need. They have no way of changing your score quickly. What most will do is have you right one check each month to them and then they will then send payments to each of your creditors. (Something you can easily do yourself.) In addition they charge for this service.
Here is what I recommend to help you lift your score as quickly as possible.
Write out all of your bills and monthly expenses including the minimum payments of your credit cards. Then determine your income. Hopefully more is coming in then going out. Apply as much of the extra income each month to credit card debit as you can afford.
Paying credit cards down is the quickest way to increase your score. Once paid off do not close your accounts as this also lowers your debt to credit ratio.
Other factors can affect your score, such as late payments, bankruptcy, even credit counseling services. These factors can take longer to stop affecting your score, but a credit repair company cannot remove these (unless they are incorrect and should not be on your report.)
if you are looking for the best credit repair site, check out this site
http://best-credit-repair-service.com/
Here you can improve your credit score rating and reduce your debt with the help of an expert.