How to Spot Credit Repair Scams And Correct Your Credit History Yourself

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 8th, 2010

Millions of Americans are suffering from huge mortgage payment delinquencies and credit card debt. The two go hand in hand and are mainly the result of mortgage lenders loaning money to people that had no business getting a loan.

Many of these people are thousands of dollars in debt and looking at foreclosures and bankruptcy. This is when the scammers will jump in and try to prey on these victims.

You will start to see an increase in ads like these:

"Credit Problems? No Problem!"

"Erase Bad Credit! 100% Guaranteed!"

"Remove Bankruptcy and Liens From Your Credit File!

If you're looking for a way out of your credit problems, don't believe promises like these! All this will do is get you much deeper in debt. Don?t believe the quick-fixes advertised by these guys.

There's a brisk business among so-called "credit repair" companies that charge from $50 to more than $1,000 to "fix" your credit report. In many cases, these outfits take your money and do little or nothing to improve your credit report. Often, they just vanish.

There are no quick or easy cures for a poor credit history. If a credit repair company promises you it can clean up your credit report, remember the following:

- your credit history is maintained by private companies called credit bureaus that collect information reported to them by banks, mortgage companies, department stores, and other creditors;

- these credit bureaus can legally report accurate negative credit information for seven years and bankruptcy information for ten years;

- accurate items that are within the seven (or ten) year reporting period cannot be erased from your credit record by companies advertising "credit repair" services;

- if you have a poor credit history - even if your past problems were due to illness or unemployment - time is the only thing that will heal your credit report;

- the only information in your credit report that can be changed are items that are actually wrong or beyond the seven (or ten) year reporting period;

- if there are genuine mistakes or outdated items in your report, you can fix them yourself.

In fact, you can do anything a credit repair company can do for free or for only a few dollars.

You can do this yourself by getting your credit report, creating a budget and sticking to it, and maybe even seeking some credit counseling. If you do a little searching, I am sure that you can find counseling for free.

Getting out of debt won't happen overnight. It will take time and perseverance. Hang in there and you will be able to dig yourself out of the foreclosure and bankruptcy hole.