While most of the time I encourage people to repair their own credit, there are times when hiring a credit repair specialist makes sense. Most often, this is when you have major issues on your credit report but lack the time to repair your own credit. This can happen for several reasons. Perhaps you are busy working two jobs to pay down your debts or maybe you have small children. Whatever the reason, hiring a credit repair specialist to work on your credit file is certainly a better option than doing nothing at all.
The key, of course, is choosing the right credit repair company to work with. One thing that you should understand is that the term “credit repair specialist” really doesn’t mean much. I could call myself a credit repair specialist, because I am someone who knows a lot about credit. Likewise, if you were hired by a credit repair firm they may give you the title of a credit repair specialist, regardless of your actual knowledge about credit. There is no professional designation or regulations as to who can be called a credit repair specialist.
When hiring credit repair companies, you want to make sure that you go with a firm that has been around a while. Older more established firms, like Lexington Law will give you consistent results and you don’t have to worry about being scammed. There are certain things that you need to be careful of when hiring a credit repair service.
You want to avoid working with credit repair specialists that ask you to pay large fees up front. I have known people who have paid $500 up front for a company to dispute information in their credit bureaus. Not only is this insane, it is also illegal! Under federal law, no credit repair company can charge fees before their services are rendered. You may have to pay small set up fees, but this should be NOWHERE near $500.
You also need to stay away from companies who make ridiculous claims. There are a lot of companies out there advertising that they can legally remove a bankruptcy or a foreclosure from your credit file. This just isn’t possible! (At least not legally) I am not saying that there aren’t people out there who have gotten lucky and had a bankruptcy removed due to some sort of technicality. But it was just luck and there is no LEGAL way that these companies can promise you that they can do the same for your credit file.
