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The most critical issue you need to look for when you want legal and effective credit repair services is the affiliations of the firm you chose for this purpose. Every trustworthy agency will be eager to share with you their references on request. Here are some pointers that you should keep in mind so you can avoid deceitful credit repair companies.

1. The company should belong to the Ethical Credit Repair Alliance (ECRA) or a similar regulatory organization. It’s often suggested to choose companies who are affiliated with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) When considering. those businesses that are members of the ECRA are always a good choice.

This body has its own stringent codes of conduct and the member companies will represent the best interests of their clients. All credit repair companies who are members of this professional alliance will be held to high ethical standards in dealing with their clients. This helps to protect you, the consumer from being “taken” by a predatory scammer.

2. Learn a bit about what credit repair is before looking for assistance. Most of those who end up being scammed when hiring help with their credit, do not understand just what credit repair is. You need to learn what these services can do for you and what they cannot do.

Only when you know clearly this difference, will you be able to distinguish those companies in which you can place your trust. For instance, negative entries on your credit report that are verified cannot be removed. Many credit repair companies claiming they can completely clean your credit report in as little as a month. Now take a close look; is this legally possible? If you answer “No” you would be well advice to run the other way.

3. Never accept unsolicited offers by e-mail. When you get an e-mail offer to repair your credit, at the very time when you most need help, don’t fall prey to the belief that divine intervention is somehow involved. These e-mails are sent by scammers who use shady methods to get your e-mail address, and send out e-mails by the millions in the hope that they will “catch” a person in dire need whom they can scam for all they’re worth!

Don’t be taken in by such tricks. Most of the time these are crooked agencies searching for unsuspecting victims. Proper credit repair agencies will contact you through newsletters or emails only when you have ask for them.

4. You cannot legally create a second credit report or a “new identity.” People are far too eager to believe in this fallacy, mainly because it would seem to solve all their problems. This idea is so widely accepted due to a general ignorance regarding credit repair. This illegal practice is called “File segregation” and will get you in deep trouble with the law!

A credit score is an aggregate of the history of your financial behavior from the day you became an adult until the present. Thus, it’s just not possible to get a “new” credit history. So if you were to attempt it, doesn’t it make sense that it can’t possibly be legal? So it’s glaringly obvious that the credit repair companies that propose to solve your problems by offering file segregation as a way out are operating outside the law.

5. Demanding complete payment upfront should raise a “red flag.” Under Federal Law the company provide you a written contract upfront and that payment be made only after services have been performed. You also have three days time to cancel the contract if you find it unsuitable.

There are companies who do charge an upfront fee for an initial consultation, and then charge a fee every month as they continue to follow up with the credit bureaus. But if a company demands their entire fee be paid in advance, the odds are they are doing this because they are keenly aware you will refuse to pay when it becomes obvious that they can’t perform as promised. Such companies are fraudulent and you would do well to avoid them!

6. Credit repair won’t happen overnight. As we discussed, no reputable company can improve your credit score overnight or remove negative information that the credit bureaus verify.

At best it takes two or three months to fix minor problems, by correcting errors in your report, and by improving the way you handle your finances and overall payment of bills and loans. More serious problems like leans and foreclosures remain on your report for 7 years (bankruptcies for 10), even with excellent financial management. Bankruptcies cannot be removed for ten years. Any company that guarantees quick removal of such items is not to be trusted.

7. No contract, no pay! To avoid being scammed, make certain you are given a written contract; this is your legal right. The ripoff artist are opposed to offering a contract, and if a contract is given, important information will be missing on various aspects of the services to be provided, the amount of the payments, and so on. You will acquire an insight into these agencies based on the nature of their contract. If they do not present you with a contract.

8. If a company makes any guarantees, do not trust them! Not even the best and most experienced agencies will guarantee anything as far as the results of their credit services. They can assure you – after they study your report – that they will improve your score by any available legal means. But to guarantee results is dishonest and unrealistic.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of human beings, people prefer to hire a organization when they are told what they want to hear, rather than hire a credit repair business who gives them an honest and truthful assessment of the situation. Avoid this all too common self deception! Even though you would prefer to hear about guaranteed results, credit repair companies that offer guaranteed results are fraudulent.

9. See if there are counseling services. Most reputable credit repair companies will offer free counseling services.

If the organization under consideration is not offering them, try looking a little deeper. It may be a less than trustworthy company. Reputable companies will educate their clients about repairing credit. The services they provide are for those matters that require professional expertise toward improving the credit scores.

10. Wrong advice means danger! Some organizations will dispute all the negative entries on your credit report declaring “this is not my account..” Although this may result in short-term improvement in your credit score, the creditors whose remarks are thus disputed may later counter it, and at a later time the credit bureaus will verify it.

Given the poor record keeping habits of the credit bureaus, it’s highly likely that the details of any one trade lines contain errors. But credit repair companies that have you proclaim “this is not my account” if you are certain that it is, must not be trusted.

As you can see, there are plenty of red flags along the way to warn you against scams. The first and most important thing you should do before you seek the services of credit repair companies is to do your “homework” and learn about credit repair, what it is, what to expect, and what to avoid. You also need to know the minimum applicable laws prior to seeking help with your credit. For starters visit the web sites of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Ethical Credit Repair Alliance.

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