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I've just recently starting to repair my credit score. I've had a couple delinquencies but they've all been paid off and closed. I have a student loan that I'm still paying off monthly and 2 credit cards, I've just paid off my auto loan last month.
I've looked at my credit report and see that I have missed a couple payments on some of the closed accounts, they're listed as negative items. I've submit disputes on those accounts but I doubt it will be successful.
I guess my questions is, should I employ the services of a credit repair professional like Lexington Law or CreditRepair.com? It seems that they may have better chances at removing the negativities on my credit report instead of me doing it all by myself without the knowledge and connections. Has anyone here ever tried those credit repair services? If so how well do they work?
All the knowledge you need is on this board. Just read the sticky's and ask questions. You will also be told not to dispute negative items that are accurate and valid. If they are reporting inaccurate then you will find the help you need here.
I would not advise using a credit repair service, especially in your case with just a few negatives. These repair companies have been known to dispute positive accounts and make things worse than they already are.
The only way I would "maybe" ever suggest even using one is if you have many negative items and your current schedule will not allow you any free time to work on your repairing journey.
If I learned one thing about credit repair it is; Credit repair is a marathon not a race and when you get to the end of that marathon it is just that much more sweeter.
Do you have information in your credit report that you consider inaccurate, and thus may require disputes to resolve?
In my opinion, one should use the direct dispute process to dispute inaccuracies whenever possible.
The FCRA permits any dispute filed by a credit repair organizaton, or even with indication that it was filed on forms provided by a credit repair organization, to be dismissed by any furnisher without the need to investigate the dispute.
Unless you either do not wish to use the direct dispute process, or wish to separately address any such disputes yourself, you may be giving up the benefits of that process if you leave disputes to a credit repair organization. They could represent you by disputing via the CRAs.
Thank you all for the suggestions!!
I've gone through my TransUnion and Equifax reports couple times, and honestly, I don't think there's anything inaccurate on it. There are 7 negatives and all of them are accurate.
The report shows I have 11+ years of credit history, I have just turned 31. Most of the negativities were commited when I was in my early to mid twenties and didn't know better about keeping a good record on my credit. I used to max out my cards, then apply for more cards and max them out too, only paying minimum or even just disregard the payments altogether.
I have cleaned up all of the derogatory accounts and delinquencies within this past 12 months, I could say I wish I had known better but what's done is done and I have to move forward, unfortunately the tool provided by myFICO shows that I will be back in the credit game if I'm on my best actions for 2 years. I only wish I could somehow remove the negatives on the reports. I have disputed some of them for the TU reports using the reason that I had "never received the statement", I'm not so sure this one's going to convince them though.
What year was the date of first delinquincy? Are these collection accounts paid off?
Have you been working on to build up positive items?
I'm not sure about your habits but I just recently found out that keeping your revolving credit balance under 3-7% makes wonders with your credit score.
@Mondavi wrote:All the knowledge you need is on this board. Just read the sticky's and ask questions. You will also be told not to dispute negative items that are accurate and valid. If they are reporting inaccurate then you will find the help you need here.
I would not advise using a credit repair service, especially in your case with just a few negatives. These repair companies have been known to dispute positive accounts and make things worse than they already are.
The only way I would "maybe" ever suggest even using one is if you have many negative items and your current schedule will not allow you any free time to work on your repairing journey.
If I learned one thing about credit repair it is; Credit repair is a marathon not a race and when you get to the end of that marathon it is just that much more sweeter.
I absulutely agree with the advice offerd above. There is nothing that needs to be done that you could not do for yourself. There are wonderful, knowlegeable people on this forume willing and able to provide guidance and moral support so get on with the journey ... you can do it!