topic Re: Credit repair service in Rebuilding Your Credit

Credit repair service

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 12:14:55 GMT

Has anyone used a credit repair service like Lexington law? Do they work? Any recommendations for who worked? Thanks and have a nice Sunday!

Re: Credit repair service

satio — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 14:14:00 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Has anyone used a credit repair service like Lexington law? Do they work? Any recommendations for who worked? Thanks and have a nice Sunday!

While I do not know this company personally, I am not a fan of "Credit Repair" companies. There are certainly cases where depending on the amount of debt, type of debt, or similar may require the assistance of a professional.

In general though, these companies do nothing more for you than what you can accomplish for yourself.

For accounts that are already charged off or items that are in collection, you can tackle all of them yourself, directly, without having to pay someone to do it for you. The constituency of the members of this forum are living proof of that and the forum exists to share our experiences and provide suggestions and guidance for incoming membership to accomplish the same desired effect.

For accounts that are in arrears, with high balances of debt you struggle to pay, the typical approach of said companies is to instruct you not to pay them which will then put you in default, they will charge off, and then they will attempt to negotiate a settlement for you. This ends up damaging your credit more in the long run rather than negotiating with the lender directly, many of whom have hardship programs which allow reduced interest rates to help you recover.

In some situations, the amount of debt someone carries is of such magnitude that bankruptcy is the best approach. In those situations, one should certainly utilize a professional lawyer to facilitate the process on their behalf.

In summary, my opening statement remains.

If you share additional details regarding your personal situation, the membership here will be glad to offer additional advice on steps you can take to recover from where you are and rebuild.

Re: Credit repair service

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 14:25:17 GMT

^^^ this, completely.

Re: Credit repair service

OmarGB9 — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 15:19:42 GMT

No, they do not work and are not worth it. Period. Save your money.

Re: Credit repair service

Peazmom — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 15:28:46 GMT

This seems to be the questions of the day. I just posted the comments below in another thread based on unfortunate personal experience:

“Please don’t do this. I totally understand where you are coming from, as I was in your shoes two years ago....I had lots of stuff to clean up, was totally overwhelmed and had not idea where to start. You are one step ahead of me because I had no idea this board existed. I went the way you are thinking. They shotgunned disputes to everyone. While it appeared my credit approved, it was only temporary...as soon as items were verified those derogs came back with a vengence and some even worse. Some that had stopped updating suddenly started updating again, dropping my scores even more, and yes...they dragged the processes sending one letter per agency per month. I wasted a ridiculous amount of money and was worse for the experience. The last straw came when a letter they sent on my behalf was sent to a creditor at an incorrect address and returned to my home address. I was appalled when I opened the letter and read what was written. It was totally incoherent, as though the letter was composed by a kindergartener.

The folks here can help you step by step. It can keep that $500 bucks in your pocket and if you are like me, it will help to develop a deeper understanding of just what went wrong along the way.

Best of luck to you, what every you decide!

Re: Credit repair service

tricie17 — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 16:41:59 GMT

A credit repair service is good to use if you do not want the hassles of puting in the work yourself. Make sure it is a company you trust as they will have all of your information. I used Lexington Law and they are rather decent but be ready for the initial downgrade of your credit numbers and fluxuations. It will take about 3 to 4 months to see any difference. I can not see any reason not to use them if they can help your situation however, I must say that by paying your luggage down each month will put you in a better position to help yourself and you may not need them after all. This is all they will do and the letters that are sent out will all be in your name anyway. I hope this helps.

Re: Credit repair service

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 16:54:42 GMT

@tricie17 wrote:
A credit repair service is good to use if you do not want the hassles of puting in the work yourself. Make sure it is a company you trust as they will have all of your information. I used Lexington Law and they are rather decent but be ready for the initial downgrade of your credit numbers and fluxuations. It will take about 3 to 4 months to see any difference. I can not see any reason not to use them if they can help your situation however, I must say that by paying your luggage down each month will put you in a better position to help yourself and you may not need them after all. This is all they will do and the letters that are sent out will all be in your name anyway. I hope this helps.

The damage that gets done is that they require your accounts to go delinquent in order to arrange settlements. No one settles debts that are current and paid as agreed. That eviscerates your score. Then the dispute letters they send out against the derogs that appear in your file, often backfire to your detriment when a dispute is first removed during the validation process and then is restored once validated. To the scoring algorithm, this looks like a brand new derog and costs you more points. Then, those accounts that you allowed to go delinquent, but which did validate, get to sit and marinate on your reports for seven years unless you're lucky enough to convince them to goodwill remove them. This is very rare for an OC.

The only help I can see that they would provide is if you're already financially tanked and sunk, and it allows you to pay back settled-for-less amounts. Then again, you can do this yourself too, and put the money for their monthly fee toward those payments.

Re: Credit repair service

SarahJo — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 01:25:44 GMT

If you are willing to put in the research and time you have to ask yourself this...who cares about your credit and life goals more? You or them? Therein lies the answer to the question of who has your best interests at heart. :-)

Re: Credit repair service

Medic981 — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 04:25:25 GMT

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that a "credit repair company" can do that you can't do for yourself.

Perhaps you don't want to spend the time to improve your credit yourself. However, when you work on repairing your own credit report and learn the ins and outs of what makes credit work you be less likely to make the mistakes that got you where you are today.

This forum is full of individuals who have experienced what you are going through and are eager and willing to help you at no cost to you. Take advantage of the collective wisdom of this forum and you will be in a better position financially for it.

Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will repairing your credit. Any "credit repair company" promising you such isn't to be trusted in the first place.

Re: Credit repair service

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 01:53:49 GMT

You can learn a whole more on these boards from people who have experienced what you are going through. You may also find better results than any credit repair company.

Re: Credit repair service

KJinNC — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 18:47:24 GMT

The only allowed discussion of credit repair agencies on this board is that they don't work and you can do the same thing yourself. This board is owned and operated by the company behind FICO scoring. I would look elsewhere for any additional information. Good luck!

Re: Credit repair service

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 01:51:01 GMT

I don't know where they get their testimonials from or how they can remain in business this long. The reality is that this outfit know they are a new level of shady and make sure their disclosure documents cover everything.

Tried them once, long before joining this community and doing things myself. I received notifications that items - late payments - were deleted, but when I pulled my CRs, those lates were still being reported. Lexington Law would also count as their "wins" lates that I successfully removed on my own prior to retaining them. I found them to be dishonest and simply taking advantage of a segment of the population who may not know any better. I didn't.

Use the information on these boards and be patient. You'll reach your goals. Take the few hundred dollars you might have given to them and put it towards a credit card payment or collection item.

Never pay someone to rebuild.

Good luck!