Credit Repair - Watch Out!

Many companies and individuals claim they can clean your credit.  When I see these advertisements - my skin crawls!  If you see one of these offers, do yourself a favor (and save yourself some money) - don’t believe the statement.  If you have had a repo, foreclosure, bankruptcy or been behind on your bills in the last several years, you cannot legally remove this information from your credit report. 

No one can legally remove accurate and timely negative information from a credit report.  But the law does allow you to request a reinvestigation of information in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete.  Accurate negative information generally can be reported for seven years, but there are exceptions:

    1.    Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 years;

    2.    Information reported because of an application for a job with a salary of more than $75,000.00 has no time             limitation;

    3.    Information reported because of an application for more than $150,000.00 worth of credit or life insurance             has no time limitation;

    4.    Information concerning a lawsuit or a judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the             statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer; and

    5.    Default information concerning U.S. Government insured or guaranteed student loans can be reported for             seven years after certain guarantor actions.

There is no charge for you to dispute information on your own credit report.  You can dispute mistakes or outdated items for free. 

If you decide to use a credit repair company, beware of companies that: (a) want you to pay for credit repair services before any services are provided; (b) do not tell you your legal rights and what you can do- yourself-for free; (c)recommend that you not contact a credit bureau directly; (d) suggest thay you try to invent a ‘new’ credit report by applying for an Employer Idenntification Number to use instead of your Social Security Number; or (e) advise you to dispute all information in your credit report or take any action that seems illegal, such as creating a new credit identity.  If you follow illegal advice and commit fraud, you may be subject to prosecution.