NON-DISCLOSURE OF METHODS: One of the most troubling issues with 95% of large credit repair firms (especially law firms) is their non-disclosure of dispute tactics and methods. As a consumer it is vital that you are made aware of the methods they are using in dealing with your creditors, collections and the credit bureaus. If the organization or law firm violates laws or makes errors (I have witnessed both) you could be held liable for their negligence. In addition, this can actually make your credit worse and create problems which are very difficult to clean up. Anyone doing credit restoration for you should disclose "what" they are doing since you are paying for a service. If they won't, you better run the other way as they could be pouring gas on a blazing camp fire.
LOCATED IN HOME STATE: This is one of the most overlooked keys to successful third party credit restoration which consumers miss. It is absolutely vital when having someone else do your credit restoration work for you that they operate within your home state. Here's why: if a credit repair company or law firm mails dispute letters or correspondence on your behalf from another state, that mail will be postmarked from that state. If the credit bureau catches this they can (and in many cases will) mark the dispute as frivolous and flag your credit file.
It is known that many Credit Repair Companies and Law Firms will resort to or create a method to avoid and out of state postmark in order to get disputes postmarked from the consumers' home state (potentially violating postal regulations). For example. If they are in NY and you are in CA they will first have to mail your dispute letters inside an envelope from NY to CA. Once in CA someone opens the envelope and then mails your dispute letters from CA so they postmarked from your home state. I am not an expert on postal regulations but had one postal employee tell me the concept sounded extremely shady at best.
CUSTOMIZATION: It's for this reason that some of the most advanced forms of credit restoration are done completely customized for the client and even (in many cases) by hand. The best credit restoration companies I've seen are usually run by one person or a small number of people and are extremely customized for each client. The is the most effective but with effectiveness comes cost. Every one of these services I have seen charges a very large upfront fee and works entirely off of referrals. This type of service is simply impossible to perform for $39 or even $49 a month.
Unfortunately, if you are unable to find someone in your area (preferably an individual) by way of referral through a friend, relative or professional contact, then I recommend you take matters into your own hands and do it yourself. I realize most consumers do not want to hear this but the good news is that it will almost always turn out to be the highest paid work you will ever do in your life. How high? How does $500 to $2500 an hour sound? I understand that's a bold claim but not one I am unable to back up.
If you're ever going to finance a first or second home (which everyone eventually should for the tax breaks) the difference between good credit and poor credit will affect your interest rate. If you secure a $200,000 mortgage on a 30 year term and your interest rate is only 2% lower because of a high credit score, that 2% will save you $96,934.11 over the course of the loan (just because you had better credit). Take that $96,934.11 and divide it by the 30 to 50 hours you may spend working on your credit situation and you'll quickly realize credit restoration when done properly does not cost - it pays!
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The "CREDIT SECRETS BIBLE" has been in print since 1994 and is published by Consumer Publishing Group. For more information on the "CREDIT SECRETS BIBLE" you may visit:
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