Some people swear by Lexington Law but I think CollectionShield360 was pretty awesome in what they did. For a free service, I was impressed with the outcome and thought I would share my experience. I signed up this account for myself and my uncle. I had 3 COs on TU (none now) and 4 on EQ (being disputed because EQ is just a horrible agency to deal with corrections). My uncle had 17 on TU (4 removed, others in dispute) and 14 on EQ (3 removed, others in dispute).
The basics:
They only deal with collections. No other baddies can be uploaded to their system. However, you can upload other collection letters that may not be on your report. They call these "cases" and they go after the agencies to delete the account from their records as well as demand they cease contact.
They pull your Credit Karma report to work from, thus leaving EX out so if you have collection on EX that aren't on the others, you may be vulnerable. Check to see and maybe start sending letters yourself for those on the EX report that aren't included in the other two.
The service states that you won't see results for about 50 days. I saw them in about 2 weeks, 1 or 2 falling off here and there. The downside of this is that your account won't reflect much until about the 45th day so you are playing the waiting game. You don't get notifications like with LL.
Results:
It's no frils, takes a while, and you don't get cool notifs but it's effect for a free service. They are still working on my file so I expect my EQ to clean up in the next month or so. EQ has been a challenge to deal with on my own as they don't seem to want to correct anything but it's all coming together. Rebuilding is a marathon, not a sprint.
Gardening since 12/15/2019. Goal 12/15/2021
I didn't know you could fax the Experian. I didn't bother because all my collections were the same. From what I can tell they aren't filing disputes. They are contacting the credit reporting agencies directly with FCRA discrepancies and they are a law firm so, from my knowledge, if the agency is alerted that you are dealing with a law firm, they have to deal with the firm and cease contacting you. That's my understanding of it. With them being no frills, I can't say I know exactly what they are doing because they don't really provide much detail. All I know is, it's working and I didn't spend a dime.
I never saw any disputes filed with the CRA. Here is what is listed on the website:
What is Collection Shield 360?
Collection Shield 360 is a service that provides its members with the most comprehensive protection available against unfair and illegal debt collection activity.
The three primary methods that Debt Collectors employ to collect your debt are:
- Calling you or someone you know on the phone;
- Sending you letters in the mail; or
- Reporting your collection account to the three Credit Bureaus (Experian, Transunion, and Equifax).
It does not matter if you actually owe the debt.
Upon your enrollment in Collection Shield 360, every aspect of debt collection activity conducted against you is relentlessly challenged and reviewed by an attorney for any violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) committed by the Debt Collectors. Whenever an FDCPA violation is found, an expert FDCPA attorney will represent you and sue the Debt Collectors on your behalf.
Collection Shield 360 Benefits
The Collection Shield 360 service offers its members complete peace of mind with legal protection against Debt Collection Harassment. Members receive benefits valued at thousands of dollars. Benefits include:
- Credit reporting protection: On average, we remove 8 out of 10 collection accounts from our client credit reports.
- Credit score repair: Our clients typically see a credit score increase of between 50 to 120 points.
- Statutory damages: We will seek up to $1,000 compensation from every Debt Collector in violation of FDCPA regulations.
- Cessation of harassment: We will stop harassing Debt Collector phone calls and mail
