Should I hire a credit repair company or do it myself?

[kiwi70]

I want to rebuild my credit. Currently my score is 533. I owe $2400 in collections and have no other debts. A credit repair company I talked to wants to try removing the negatives from my report and charge $99 per month for that and other services. My question is, is this something I should do myself or is it worth it to hire them? Also, is it better to pay off my collections or should I just let them fall off over time. Thanks so much for any suggestions!

[diveforfun97]

I would never suggest the use of a "credit repair company".

First, they dint have a magic wand to magically erase anything form your report.  All they do is things that you can do on your own.

I reccomend that you spend some time researching your problems on this forum and learn what to do. In fact if you were going to spend $99/ mo that is $99 more each month that you can put towards fixing your credit on your own, and probably faster and more effective.

Lastly,  you will learn that everyone here is to help and noone will pass judgement (or I should say shouldnt pass judgement)

My final reccomendation is to list all of your negatives on here and the veterans will give you advice on how to tackle them.....FREE.

Good luck, and I would be happy to help with anything that I can,

[Anonymous]

DO IT YOURSELF !!!! ..... You can do it, you can use that $99/mo & apply it towards opening a secured card if need be

[Anonymous]

I agree! I've taken my score up in 6 months just from spending hours reading on this site and others, and applying that knowledge to correct issues myself. I have spent that $99 a month on getting secured credit cards and have a total of $2200 in secured Credit now with $1100 non-secured. Just got my first non-secured store card. Whoo Hoo - you can do it!

[Anonymous]

Do NOT pay anyone for something you can do yourself. I started fixing my credit last year in July and my scores have improved tremendously. This site is a Godsend! You will learn so much by reading and asking questions. Ppl here will not steer you wrong. Keep your money and spend where you need to the most.

[Anonymous]

You can dispute what's on your credit report for free. I made the mistake of paying Lexington Law for a short time and they did nothing but take my money. When I learned I could dispute for free they were history. It's pretty simple to do too. I've had some things deleted and some remained the same but I have made a huge progress on my report. Still got a few more and still working on my hubby's .

[Anonymous]

They can absolutely be of service, worked out flawlessly in my case and in a rather short period of time - however the truth is as others have posted that you can literally do everything a company would do for you.

If you want to go that route, I would do some research about credit repair methods, laws, etc because if you have the time to invest why not educate yourself and save a little bit of money at the same time.

[Anonymous]

who did you use, if you dont mind me asking. I'd love to do on my own but working 50 hours a week as a pharmacist and juggling 2 infants it's extremly hard to sit and research topics.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

who did you use, if you dont mind me asking. I'd love to do on my own but working 50 hours a week as a pharmacist and juggling 2 infants it's extremly hard to sit and research topics.

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PharmD I sent you a private message

[Anonymous]

As others have suggested, post your info in this thread to get feedback from other users.  You may find that with a few simple tips, and maybe the cost of postage, you can improve your situation and save $99.  Additionally, if you get community feedback and still decide to hire a firm, you'll at least have an idea of what actions are reasonable for your situation.  The community here is fantastic, so I encourage you to take them up on the offer.