As a commercial truck financing company that specializes in working with people with bad credit we hear all kinds of stories about a person’s credit history. One of the common things we hear is that they are in the process of or will be hiring a credit repair company. They claim that the bad credit items on the report are erroneous and they are working with a service to get these items removed. Some of these people are honest and claim that these items on the report are real and that they are just paying a company to get them removed or they claim that these items are not really theirs and they are working with the company to get them off the report. We get enough of these in here every week that I thought it would be a good idea to explain how these services work and what they can and can’t do.
First we will separate this into two groups. The first group are credit repair companies that claim they can get any negative item off your credit report whether real or not. Surprisingly a lot of people use these companies. But as you may imagine these companies don’t live up to their claims. If you have a negative item on your credit report it is meant to stay there and not a mistake. There are only two things that will help a negative item on your credit report. One is time and the other is establishing new credit going forward.
The second group of credit repair companies work to get erroneous items off your credit report. The person may be a victim of identity theft, incorrect Social Security numbers, or a number of other reasons something negative appearing on a credit report that doesn’t belong there. These credit repair companies are legitimate and provide a good service for those in need. Be sure to check out these companies to be sure you’re working with a company that has been around for a while and has good reviews. Also be sure they promise to remove the derogatory items permanently as many of these items will reappear on the credit report in the future. I have heard of derogatory items being removed from a credit report and then reappearing five or six times after that until it is permanently removed.
These companies can be very valuable if you’re a true victim of incorrect credit information on your report. But keep in mind there are a lot of scams out there promising a perfect credit report regardless of the situation. Let your conscience be your guide and use common sense. If the bad stuff on your credit report is really yours then suck it up and reestablish your credit and pay on time and wait. Your credit will improve over time. If you have incorrect data on your credit report you might look into one of these companies. They can be indispensable and can put you on the fast track for getting the credit profile you really deserve.