People with credit card debt may have seen ads for credit repair companies, promising to help them rebuild their credit score. For someone whose credit score has been ravaged by miss payments, defaults, or a bankruptcy, this sounds very appealing. Consumers should be wary, however, about promises that sound too good to be true. As a bankruptcy lawyer, it is not uncommon for people to get receive these ads after filing when their credit is at their absolute worst. Before spending hard-earned money on these services, consumers should do their research.
In general, rebuilding credit takes time and on-time payments. There really aren’t any shortcuts to improving your credit score, so there’s not much a credit repair company can do. The best bet for a person looking to rebuild credit is to get a credit card, use it responsibly, and pay off the balance every month on time. The further a person gets away from a bankruptcy filing and the more on-time payments they have in their history, the more willing creditors will be to issue lines of credit.
If you do choose to go through a credit repair agency, there are some red flags a person should look out. First, if they make guarantees that they can immediately improve your credit score, they are almost certainly lying. Unless a person has serious errors on their credit report that is dragging down a particular score, there isn’t anything a person can do to “immediately” repair their credit.
Second, if they charge a hefty up-front fee to use their services, the consumer should be extremely wary. In fact, it’s actually a crime to charge you up-front for credit repair services. Before you give them any money, they should explain your rights under the law, explain exactly what they intend to do for you, and should inform you of your right to cancel services or get your money back.
Consumers need to be extremely careful when working with a credit repair agency, lest they find themselves scammed out of money. Before signing any agreements or handing over any money, do a substantial amount of research on a particular company. If you can’t find information online about a particular company, that is almost certainly a problem.
At Westbrook Law Group, we know how desperate people can be to rebuild their credit. But there are no shortcuts to improving credit, it can only be done through hard work. The first step, however, is getting your debt under control. To learn how a bankruptcy attorney can help with this, contact our St. Charles or Troy, MO offices right away for a free consultation.
