Chances are that in times such as these there will be many of us that get into some type of financial trouble, once this happens it may be tempting to answer an advertisement from a credit repair company. They will tell you that they can set you up with a new credit identity, or remove bad credit marks from your credit report regardless if they are true or not.
You will find out quickly that you cannot cut corners when trying to build AAA credit ratings, it will take some time and a lot of motivation on your part to make this happen. When working with a credit repair company you need to be aware that there are traps to avoid, and scams to be on the lookout for. You do not want to fall victim to one of the few questionable credit repair companies that are out there. I have put some guidelines together to help make this process one that will be for the most part a good experience.
Keep in mind that no reliable company is going to tell you that they can remove the bad credit marks on your report if they are valid marks. Most of the time a credit repair scam artist will start out telling you that they will remove all of the bad credit marks on your profile no matter if they are true or not. They then begin to make inquiry after inquiry, and then hope that the credit reporting agency will fail to respond in the time allowed, or possibly just remove the remarks to stop the continuous inquiries. The truth is that even if they get lucky and a few of the bad credit marks are removed, these marks can always be added on to your credit score again if the lender can prove that the marks were true.
If a credit repair company offers to give you a new credit identity then immediately get up and RUN out of the office as quickly as you can. If you buy into this you very well may end up in jail, this advice usually is accompanied by a request that you apply for a tax identification number that will be used in place of your social security number on any applications for credit. It will have the same amount of digits that your social security number has, and will be used on your credit applications. Unlike your social security number this tax identification number will come up clean when there are any credit checks are made, then you will not have to be penalized for your past credit problems. Now there is the little problem of lying to the federal government about your intended use of the tax identification number, this is a federal offense and you will be the one that takes the fall for this, not your credit repair company. The law states that the person who actually fills out the forms is to be held liable for any laws or rules that are broken.
Another thing to be wary of is if the credit repair company you have chosen wants you to sign a contract, this contact will most likely have high up fronts fees and may also have other high pressure sales tactics that are used along with the fees. Understand that if a company actually is concerned about your situation then they will not use high pressure tactics, they will not try and trick you into signing a contract, and will be up front with you about your chances for success. It should also be revealed that if you decide you do not want to use their services that you have up to three days from the time of signing to change your mind, it is the law.
If you have made some credit errors in the past then no one can actually repair your credit, you can however begin to make your payments on time, not extend your credit limits, and do not apply for more than 1 or 2 credit lines you will be in position to improve your personal credit report.
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