Are There Legal Credit Repair Services?
- By Stuart Hunter
- Published 15/01/2010
- Finances
- Unrated
Stuart Hunter
Providing credit repair services since 1991, Lexington Law has helped over 500,000 clients legally take on their credit. Last year alone, Lexington Law helped clients remove over 600,000 negative items from their credit reports.
View all articles by Stuart HunterBut What If I Need Legal Credit Repair Services?
The credit repair world can be a frightening place. With the number of news articles, TV segments, and opinion pieces warning of credit repair scams that get published by well regarded media outlets, it can appear as if the best option is to avoid credit repair companies altogether - a course of action the news outlets seem to support.
A quick search turns up dozens of articles detailing how to avoid a credit repair scam. Most talk about warning signs such as companies charging large upfront fees, advocate creating a clean credit history, don't keep you informed of your rights, and otherwise make misleading or inaccurate claims. At this point, however, very few articles concede that there are credit repair companies who do not participate in the practices that typify a credit repair scam. In fact, some articles from premier news agencies such as CNN end by suggesting people "get legitimate help" from consumer credit counseling services.
Not only is this advice incomplete, but it is also completely useless to people who truly could benefit from the assistance of a legal credit repair service. Credit counseling programs may be able to help people
who are unable to make payments on their debts, but it will do nothing to repair your credit reports. Some credit counseling programs even have the potential to make your credit score worse.
Unlike consumer credit counseling services that work to bring your finances under control, credit repair services are designed to help you raise your credit score. They are not mutually exclusive offerings and in many cases, a person who has used a credit counseling service to help manage their debts becomes a good candidate for credit repair.
Legal credit repair services like those provided by Lexington Law have a purpose and it is a disservice to say otherwise. Hopefully as consumers and news columnists alike become more familiar with credit repair and the services credit repair organizations provide, we'll start seeing more of a balance between news stories warning of credit repair scams and news stories detailing qualities to look for in a legitimate credit repair service.
A quick search turns up dozens of articles detailing how to avoid a credit repair scam. Most talk about warning signs such as companies charging large upfront fees, advocate creating a clean credit history, don't keep you informed of your rights, and otherwise make misleading or inaccurate claims. At this point, however, very few articles concede that there are credit repair companies who do not participate in the practices that typify a credit repair scam. In fact, some articles from premier news agencies such as CNN end by suggesting people "get legitimate help" from consumer credit counseling services.
Not only is this advice incomplete, but it is also completely useless to people who truly could benefit from the assistance of a legal credit repair service. Credit counseling programs may be able to help people
Unlike consumer credit counseling services that work to bring your finances under control, credit repair services are designed to help you raise your credit score. They are not mutually exclusive offerings and in many cases, a person who has used a credit counseling service to help manage their debts becomes a good candidate for credit repair.
Legal credit repair services like those provided by Lexington Law have a purpose and it is a disservice to say otherwise. Hopefully as consumers and news columnists alike become more familiar with credit repair and the services credit repair organizations provide, we'll start seeing more of a balance between news stories warning of credit repair scams and news stories detailing qualities to look for in a legitimate credit repair service.