Do Credit Repair Companies Actually Work

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Practise yous have bad credit?

Y'all're not alone. An estimated 53% of Americans have had some sort of application denied due to their credit score.

Bad credit can prevent you lot from accomplishing major life tasks — like taking out a mortgage or ownership your start auto. Or it can finish you from taking out student loans, vacationing with your family, or worse.

In the most farthermost cases, bad credit can make it hard for you to live a normal life.

It's no wonder people look for help when they're trying to get out from nether the specter of bad credit. Credit repair companies are agencies specifically designed to provide this assistance.

They tin can piece of work with you as you attempt to repair your credit and negotiate with credit bureaus on your behalf. While they tin't prepare your credit for you outright, they can help share the load and make the burden manageable as you lot take steps to recovery.

Allow's take a look at some elevation credit repair companies and explain why they might be a great fit for your fiscal needs.

Top Credit Repair Companies

The post-obit list is a effect of more than than 100 hours of research:

Credit Saint
All-time Overall
Heaven Blue
Best Value
CreditRepair.com
Easiest to Use
Lexington Law
Excellent Customer Service and Reputation
AMB Credit Consultants
Best for Married Couples
The Credit People
Most Affordable
The Credit Pros
Best for Hands-On Repair

Best Credit Repair Companies

In that location are plenty of companies out there that can legitimately rectify your credit. Here'southward our take on the summit credit repair companies bachelor.

ane. Credit Saint – Best Overall

Credit Saint provides best credit repair services overall.

Pros

Provides customized letters to credit bureaus
Multiple plans bachelor, tailored to different needs
Ane programme offers unlimited challenges
Provides plenty of online resources
Frequent progress reports
A+ BBB Rating

Cons

Prices can be a bit much if you don't need much help
Upselling

Credit Saint is i of the all-time credit repair agencies you can detect overall; they've really earned their proper name, as can be seen not just from our recommendation but from the A+ BBB rating they currently concord.

For starters, they're priced pretty competitively, offering monthly packages betwixt $79 and $120, although they practice have some initial fees ranging between $99 and $195.

However, they're worth the asking price because they write custom arguments for all their clients. They don't use pre-made templates when petitioning credit bureaus on your behalf; they'll look at your situation individually and effigy out a strategy that works all-time for your needs, then compose unique arguments to use on your creditors.

Even better, they offer a moneyback guarantee. You'll be eligible for a refund if they can't find any negative or questionable items to remove from your credit report within the first 90 days of your system.

The packages offered are as follows:

Smooth, which helps to repair medium levels of credit. It basically covers up to five items on your credit report every cycle, and so it's neat if you don't have super bad credit but still desire to brand significant improvements
Remodel, which costs a fiddling more and has the firm challenge upwardly to 10 items on your credit report. They'll as well tackle things like erroneous bankruptcies or repossessed items
Clean Slate is the most expensive, but information technology provides the most ambitious credit repair services. The credit repair firm will claiming an unlimited number of credit items in every wheel. Information technology can exist a dandy selection if y'all have lots of potentially negative items on your credit written report that you need to be taken intendance of

Yous'll besides notice lots of other things to similar, such as a personal advisory squad, several informative online resource you can use to brainwash yourself, and regular progress reports. Figuring out whether their repair services are worth your time is easy thanks to this transparency.

2. Sky Blue – All-time Value

The Sky Blue platform offers excellent services and great pricing.

Pros

Incredible value
Practiced discounts for married couples
Provides free credit reports
Excellent customer service
Unproblematic, straightforward process known to produce results
Comes with a 90-day satisfaction guarantee

Cons

Tin can't customize the service/number of challengeable items

Sky Blue is our runner-up for the top credit repair company. They simply offer a better value for money. They've been in the manufacture for a long time, and so they have a nifty track record and plenty of feel that they can bring to handle your credit report needs.

They offer a single package that'south pretty affordable at $79 per month, plus an initial $79 review/setup fee. The firm volition dispute upward to xv items on your report, or 5 items per credit reporting agency, every 35 days. The simplicity of this package — and numbers — put Sky Blue at the forepart of bachelor options when it comes to credit repair.

They provide fantastic customer service that's lauded by both customers on websites like the BBB, where Sky Blue has an A+ Rating. They provide all new subscribers with basic evaluations to show those new customers where they might be able to fix their credit written report themselves without paying an extra cost.

They also provide a 90-day satisfaction guarantee, without extra conditions or fine impress. If yous want to find a credit repair service as a couple, yous become a $39 per calendar month discount, too (but only if you're married). They likewise don't require yous to pay for credit reports, and then you go free credit reports as an added bonus.

Information technology's easy to see why Sky Blue has such high marks because its ease-of-employ, simplistic pricing scheme, and splendid value-forward initiatives.

iii. CreditRepair.com – Easiest to Apply

CreditRepair.com comes with one of the most comprehensive platforms on the marketplace.

Pros

Very easy to runway progress and sign up
Provides complimentary access to your credit report
Has like shooting fish in a barrel to follow three-footstep programme for challenging credit report items
Free consultation available

Cons

Tends to throw effectually potentially misleading average point gains for customers
Don't provide as much in-depth info as some other companies

CreditRepair.com is an ideal credit repair agency if y'all don't want to bargain with complex websites or difficult-to-follow credit repair procedures. This visitor provides a straightforward service and user-friendly guidelines that make it easy to see their value, fifty-fifty if you aren't very technically or financially inclined. You lot can see what they offer past signing upward for a gratis consultation that requires no upfront fee on your part.

Signing up for the service will have you follow three major steps. The company starting time looks over your credit reports from all iii bureaus, then begins to send letters challenging those disputes over the following week.

CreditRepair.com regularly follows up on those letters and will repeatedly claiming the aforementioned items over and over if needed. This can make them a corking choice if you know that there are improper negative items on your credit report that bureaus may be unwilling to change because of bureaucratic legwork. Sometimes insistence is key, and this visitor provides it in spades.

The visitor likewise provides you with a way to easily follow their progress online through your account portal. Furthermore, their pricing is pretty decent at about $100 a calendar month. They also requite y'all complimentary admission to your credit report summary, which is a nice bonus in any credit repair agency.

Signing upwardly for the service is easier than with many other companies, equally you can make full out a mobile application on your phone or tablet. You tin can too use these devices to track your progress fifty-fifty while on the go.

4. Lexington Constabulary – All-time Customer Reputation and Experience

Lexington Law provides superb credit repair services and a variety of discounts.

Pros

Several discounts available for military or spouses
Provides yous with a personalized credit repair practiced
Lots of financial tools to take advantage of
Has a long history of getting results for their customers

Cons

Pricing can be a bit high for some

Sometimes, the all-time credit repair agencies are those who take lots of experience. Lexington Police is one of those companies. They've been in business since 1991 but take focused on credit repair exclusively ever since 2004.

Supposedly, they've removed 10 million negative items from their customers' credit reports just in 2022 – these are good predictions for further success.

All customers get to pick between three packages: bones, moderate, and advanced. Pricing ranges between $89.95 to $129.95. They likewise include a first work fee of the aforementioned price of whatever package yous determine to selection.

A gratuitous consultation is provided, however, which is nice since things can get pretty pricy with both charges added together. Fifty-fifty better, they provide a l% off discount if you are a veteran or active military. Furthermore, spouses get a sometime 50% discount when their partner signs up for their service.

Lexington Law provides a mobile app and so y'all can check your progress reports on the go and go along in touch on with the company every bit they stand for your interests. They attach you to a personalized representative, so you can give them details virtually your situation and so they can figure out the best negative items to work on for your credit report.

Their staff is extensively knowledgeable, and if you pay for ane of the college-priced plans, you'll get several personal-finance tools to assist you tackle your debts and stay on top of how the credit repair company is performing.

All told, it'due south a well-synthetic and comprehensive credit repair service. They've got a expert track tape and enough of expertise under their roof in substitution for relatively high prices.

5. AMB Credit Consultants – All-time for Married Couples

AMB Credit Consultants provides all-time offers for married couples.

Pros

Skillful prices overall, just specially for couples
Has a unmarried but comprehensive package with unlimited disputes
Provides some credit educational materials
Has a moneyback guarantee

Cons

Free cancellation simply lasts for three days, then there's a fee

AMB Credit Consultants are another skillful pick if you lot want an agency with experience – they have thirteen years of it. They've as well got an splendid A rating with the BBB, and but 6 complaints as of 2022.

The company offers simply ii packages AMB Credit Empowerment Individual and AMB Credit Empowerment Couple packages, making it simple to employ for their service. Sometimes it can be irritating to take to pick between several services when yous just want someone to help you with your negative credit report items.

The individual credit empowerment parcel can be purchased for a one-fourth dimension fee of $149 and an additional $99 fee for every month you desire to subscribe. If you want to pick upwards articulation accounts, then you can apply for the Couple empowerment package for $198 (one fourth dimension and monthly), which is pretty affordable compared to other credit repair agencies on the market place. Every bit a event, it's affordable for married couples or any joint account; you lot don't take to be legally intertwined to accept advantage.

The service provides unlimited and advanced disputes for all the major credit bureaus, plus a secured account direction portal so y'all can track your credit repair service progress. Credit educational materials, stop-and-desist letters and templates, and inquiry disputes are all included with this comprehensive package.

We too like that they offer a moneyback guarantee upwardly to six months if they can't notice or ready any items after that time frame. Y'all'll also exist able to abolish without whatsoever penalty within three days of signing on to the package. All in all, it's a peachy credit repair company for but most everybody, but an peculiarly good choice for couples or joint account holders due to its affordable prices.

half dozen. The Credit People – Best Cost

THe Credit People provides the all-time price-to-quality ratio.

Pros

Very affordable overall
Offers a pricing model for indefinite help
Has a corking moneyback guarantee
Skillful monthly rate equally well

Cons

Not as many new features equally other companies

Need a credit repair bureau but tin't afford to vanquish out lots of cash? The Credit People might be the perfect selection. They're a bit newer than other agencies on the marketplace, but they have a lot to like.

For starters, you lot can try out their parcel for $19 over seven days. This is a pretty reasonable fee for what essentially amounts to a trial period. The only downside, of course, is that credit improvements are unlikely within this timeframe for any credit repair company.

However, if you determine to stick with them, you can opt to pay a one-fourth dimension flat charge per unit of $420 to get everything they offer indefinitely. You read that right.

You'll never need to pay another dime for their credit repair services. You lot can also cull a month past calendar month payment plan of $79 a month, which is pretty affordable and at the lower rate for average charges in this industry.

You'll likewise get a moneyback guarantee – this comes in the plate if you lot don't come across any positive results within threescore days, which is a generous menstruum compared to other moneyback guarantees.

There are a few downsides to all this affordability. They only provide client care during central time zone business organisation hours, and they likewise don't offer additional features like identity theft protection that more established companies tin can boast.

Still, they provide solid credit repair services for all the major credit bureaus and can help you find and repair negative items on your credit report for affordable prices. They might exist a bang-up option for you if your budget is tight, but yous need to get-go fixing things before long.

seven. The Credit Pros – Best for Hands-On Credit Repair

The Credit Pros offers great i-on-one advisory services.

Pros

Provides several packages ranging from basic to comprehensive services
Decent prices across the board
Provides yous with a FICO expert
Lots of educational resource and bonus features

Cons

A bit more hands-on than other credit repair companies
May require a bit more than time investment on your part

Those looking for a credit repair company that they can piece of work with more than as a partner will appreciate The Credit Pros. This agency gives you a ane-to-one relationship with a certified FICO professional person who acts like your personal credit repair proficient. They'll work with you to create a plan to repair your credit over time and they can be an invaluable resources for pointing out where y'all can avoid going wrong in the future.

Only yous'll also get budgeting tools, prescription discounts, store lines of credit, payment reminders, and plenty of other bonus goodies to make them worth your while.

They too accept lots of innovative benefits like identity theft restoration, end-and-desist alphabetic character templates, and will fifty-fifty go above and beyond past writing goodwill messages to diverse creditors. They're extremely piece of cake to sign up with, requiring only nigh ninety seconds to register. Once in the site, you'll do good from a detailed web log that has plenty of credit education resources to help you maintain good credit over the long booty.

Your client portal provides y'all with live updates on your credit scores and any progress that your FICO proficient is making at the moment. They offering several comprehensive packages that range between $69 a month all the fashion upwards to $149 a month. But they also have a basic credit monitoring package for $xix a month if you lot only want to keep an eye on your credit score and don't need extra help.

A Buying Guide to the All-time Credit Repair Companies

How practice yous know whether a credit repair company is legitimate? What purpose do these companies really serve? Allow's dive into credit repair companies in more particular.

How Practise Credit Repair Companies Work?

In a nutshell, credit report companies work for you past getting negative items from your credit report taken off in commutation for fees. Negative items are any incidents on your credit report that lower your overall credit score.

In this way, credit repair companies don't deliberately add more points to your credit score. They just remove negative influences so your whole score goes up.

💡 Helpful tip: The best manner to proceed your credit from dropping even farther is by carefully watching information technology. While this is quite labor intensive to practice yourself, at that place are a number of top credit monitoring services that will do this for you — automatically.

What Do Credit Repair Companies Actually Do?

Credit repair companies do this past ordering credit reports and reviewing them for various errors or negative items they think they can contest. In lots of cases, minor negative events on your credit report can be contested with the credit bureaus and they'll remove them but to avoid the hassle of a fight. In other incidences, in that location really are negative items on your credit reports that were improperly placed and tin be removed after a review.

Some of the negative items credit repair companies can become removed include:

charge-offs
bankruptcies
late payments
tax liens
and more

Credit repair companies will ship directly communications to various creditors to competition these charges or get the items removed. This may involve sending messages to dispute the information, sending end-and-desist letters to debt collectors personally, and requesting validation for certain items on your credit study.

They'll too normally begin their services to you by asking for your personal information, peculiarly so they can compare it against items on your credit report.

What credit repair companies can't do is arguably but as extensive. Knowing what they can and can't do is one way yous can spot a credit repair scam earlier y'all fall for their tricks. Credit repair companies cannot:

replace your credit file with a new one
accuse fees if yous abolish
charge upfront fees before they perform a service
promise specific results, especially within a certain timeframe
force credit bureaus to go rid of negative items – they tin simply enquire or point out incorrect information
advise yous to make false statements, like claiming that an authentic negative item on your credit study is inaccurate for the purposes of boosting your score

Furthermore, credit repair companies tin can't do anything y'all can't do by yourself. Their value comes from other factors, non from unique skills that only they possess.

Why Use Credit Repair Companies?

Credit repair companies can be worthwhile in the long run because, even though they don't do anything yous can't handle yourself, they provide expertise and more than human-hours to work on your credit score. Think of information technology as hiring specialists to assistance y'all ameliorate your credit score over time instead of a fix-all arroyo.

Credit repair companies are staffed by fiscal or crediting experts. They spent every day negotiating with various creditors and credit bureaus, and so they know exactly who to contact and what channels to utilize if you want to dispute an item on your credit report. They likewise know exactly what to expect for.

For instance, you might exist boggled at the number of items on your credit report. A credit repair agency can scan that listing and find areas where at that place might exist incorrect information or places where you tin quickly improve.

Another good analogy is to liken them to a tax specialist. You can file your taxes yourself. But tax specialists have college degrees qualifying them to look at tax forms and find you tax breaks that you would otherwise miss.

So many people use revenue enhancement specialists to cyberspace a greater return at the end of the year. You lot should expect at using a credit repair agency the same way.

In fact, i in ten Americans don't have a credit history at all. This can have the same repercussions as a poor credit score, which frequently requires the assistance of a leading credit repair company.

Are Some Credit Repair Companies Illegitimate?

Yes. Some credit repair agencies are really scams or may not be legitimate business entities. There are some ways in which you tin spot these scams, however, including:

if the bureau doesn't inform you of your rights – specifically, they should provide you with a written disclosure called "Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Police force"
if they don't put your agreement in writing. Never trust whatever financial system that relies on give-and-take-of-mouth for their agreements
if they demand payment before doing any piece of work – this is explicitly illegal
if they tin can remove whatever legitimate or accurate information from your credit report
if they swear or "guarantee" that they can increase your credit score by a set amount. No credit repair company can provide guaranteed results; they just increase the odds of you improving your credit score over time and tin possibly provide some benefits

Bated from all these bad signs, you can besides cheque out the customer reputation or history of a credit repair company through resource like the Improve Business concern Bureau or our guide. Run across what other people have to say before forking over some cash.

All in All, is Credit Repair Worth the Money?

Overall, credit repair companies can be worth your time and money. Merely you shouldn't expect them to magically repair your credit score lonely. In fact, we'd recommend working on your credit score through DIY measures in conjunction with the services a credit repair agency can provide.

This volition put actress pressure on your credit score and help you lot maximize the improvement you tin can make in a short menstruum of time. Credit repair companies tin also sometimes salve you time that you might otherwise accept to spend investigating your own credit report or negotiating with creditors and credit bureaus yourself.

However, if y'all're strapped for greenbacks, in that location'due south no reason why you can't amend your credit score by yourself. Again, everything credit repair agencies do, you can exercise yourself, and nearly always for free. Consider your budget and any debts you might need to pay off before paying for a credit repair company.

What Other Measures Improve Credit?

There are lots of means you tin "DIY" your credit repair efforts and observe debt relief.

The almost obvious of these is paying off your debts and making payments to your credit cards and other debt obligations on time. This will slowly simply surely drag your credit score back up into the positive numbers. However, this takes a lot of time and yous may need to eliminate negative items earlier you tin can see existent growth.

To that stop, it could be helpful to look into credit repair software. These software solutions can cost several hundred dollars, only they let you look into your own credit reports and provide you with several of the aforementioned tools, alphabetic character templates, and lists of things to wait out for that credit repair companies already utilise in a professional context.

It'southward essentially an automatic assistant to help yous exercise the credit repair company's job, but on your own fourth dimension. Y'all notwithstanding have to negotiate with the creditors yourself, of course.

You can also wait into credit counseling, which may fifty-fifty be gratis if you find someone to help you from a nonprofit organization. You take to exist careful nearly scams but similar with credit repair agencies, though.

Credit counselors are essentially financial specialists that tin can review your free credit reports and help you lot figure out a credit repair program. They don't negotiate with creditors for you only give you insight into your problems and possible DIY solutions.

When it comes to managing your debts, you can consolidate lots of your high-interest debt into a low-interest loan through debt consolidation. Our guide on debt consolidation can tell yous more than; it'south a keen way to increase your credit score and brand lots of debt significantly easier to manage.

Debt settlements are an option, also. Settlements relieve yous of existing debt by deleting charges like tardily fees and the like. Just be conscientious when using these, equally they may show upwardly as charge-offs or otherwise hurt your credit score in the long run.

Does Paying Off Collections Improve Credit?

Debt collection accounts are credit report entries that show that you defaulted on a previous debt or loan. Your creditor eventually sold the loan to a collection agency or a debt buyer, who is now more than likely trying to collect your debt with frustrating persistence.

Naturally, collections debts and their associated accounts are extremely bad for your credit score. All the same, paying off collections doesn't directly increase your credit score; information technology just stops more negative items from accruing over time.

How Can You lot Raise Your Credit Score Past 100 or 200 Points?

Remember that edifice credit takes a lot of fourth dimension. Credit bureaus ordinarily simply collect the payment information that they use to build their scores in one case a month. This means that your score will simply update once a month, and not past very much.

Raising your score by 100 or 200 points (or fifty-fifty more than) is likely to take yous several months, even with more aggressive credit repair efforts. Yet, the best ways to raise your credit score significantly include:

paying all recurring payments on time
paying off debts procedurally and aggressively
non taking on additional debt
not opening new credit cards
closing credit cards or credit accounts you lot don't use
eliminating negative items on your credit report

Doing all these things, with or without the help of a credit repair company, will go a long way toward progressively raising your credit score over a couple of months.

How Long Do Closed Accounts Remain on Your Credit Study?

It depends on whether the account was in proficient or bad standing with the credit bureau in question. Most credit bureaus remove any airtight accounts after 10 years if the accounts were in practiced continuing. They remove accounts that were in bad standing (i.east. with a history of late payments) seven years from the date of the account's closure. All this is to say that your closed accounts can still touch on your credit score positively or negatively for a long time, so treat every business relationship y'all open carefully.

What Credit Score is Acceptable for Buying a Firm?

Technically, you tin buy a house with any credit score. Your credit score just affects the types of loans you might be approved for. Lower scores usually lead to lenders giving you lot loans with loftier-interest rates and extra fees. The reverse is true if yous have high credit.

In most cases, those with credit scores of 700 or above will enjoy excellent loan options. If you have a credit score in the 600s, yous'll likely have to deal with subpar loans. Annihilation below 600 and you may not be approved for a home loan at all – beware of scammers or bad mortgage deals if someone claims otherwise.

But even if your score is below 600, you still accept options. There are specific ways you can increment your credit score for home buying—specific tips and tricks for those with less than perfect credit, who are willing to put in the work.

Is Information technology Better to Use a Credit Repair Visitor or DIY Methods?

Ultimately, neither option is specifically better than the other. Credit repair companies have significant advantages that include:

the expertise of individuals who know what they're doing
relieving yous of the time and effort needed to fight for a ameliorate credit score
the communication of professionals who tin can tell you what to work on first
and so on

However, your credit score is your own responsibility and you shouldn't shy away from taking some DIY steps to build your credit support to a high score. We'd recommend using a credit repair company to some extent if yous can beget it while as well working proactively on your own credit repair efforts.

Credit Repair FAQs

How Much Does Credit Repair Price?

This can vary dramatically from visitor to company. Virtually credit repair agencies will charge y'all around $70-$150 every calendar month depending on how many deportment they take. Remember that any legitimate credit repair visitor won't charge you an upfront fee unless they fully onboard you into their services or make some progress with your report. If they ask for money before doing anything , like if they approach you lot unprovoked, they're likely a scam.
How Long Does it Take to Repair Credit?

With or without the assist of a credit repair company, information technology'll take you lot between 3 to 6 months to repair your credit from a low (400-500) score to a middling to high (600-700) score, if you lot're aggressive with paying your debts and use the help of a credit repair company. Of course, this timeframe can vary based on how many negative items you need to handle. Those with only a few errors might exist able to repair their credit in equally lilliputian as one month.
Tin Credit Repair Companies Guarantee Credit Comeback?

No. If they practice, they're likely trying to scam yous. Remember, a credit repair visitor could expect at your credit report and discover no item they tin directly affect or contest, meaning they'd be no aid to you at all.
Does Paying Off All Debt Immediately Fix Your Credit?

Not entirely. Paying off all your debts every bit fast as possible (or immediately if yous become a sudden lump sum) will have a positive issue on your credit score. Merely some negative items, like bankruptcies or loan defaults, stay on your credit report for quite some time. Information technology doesn't immediately heave your score into the 700s if you eliminate all your debt.

Summary

All in all, credit repair companies can be valuable tools in your kit when you need to repair your credit and overcome your debts. If you accept bad credit and don't attempt to responsibly prepare information technology, further problems could arise.

If you lot need to borrow, for case, you could be stuck with a bad credit loan. While there are some bad credit loans with guaranteed approval, their interest rates are far from platonic.

At the same fourth dimension, credit repair companies aren't magical phenomenon workers. Keep your expectations in check, expect for and use credit repair companies wisely, and be prepared to practice some legwork yourself. Y'all'll be well on your way to repairing your credit score.

All reviews, research, news and assessments of any kind on The Tokenist are compiled using a strict editorial review procedure by our editorial team. Neither our writers nor our editors receive straight bounty of any kind to publish information on tokenist.com. Our company, Tokenist Media LLC, is community supported and may receive a small commission when yous purchase products or services through links on our website. Click here for a full listing of our partners and an in-depth explanation on how we get paid.

About the author

Tim Fries

Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the Academy of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served every bit a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird'south Us Individual Disinterestedness division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and command solutions.