Can a credit repair company erase bad credit history?

Bad credit harms your financial situation in many ways. A low credit score can mean getting credit cards and other lines of credit with exorbitant interest rates and low limits.

If your score is really low, your credit applications may not be approved at all. Additionally, landlords may deny your rental application or request higher security deposits.

Simply put, the negative effects of bad credit are so profound that many people will do anything to get a better score. To this end, you will find services that offer to remove negative items from your reports.

So, do these fixes work? If not, how do you go about fixing bad credit?

Let's find out:

Can a bad credit history be erased?

Yes and no. If the right measures are taken to remove errors In Yesour report, bad history can then be cleared, allowing your rating to be improved.

On the other hand, a service that promises to erase correct, but negative information on your report is a scam. Companies that engage in such fraud may even go further by promising you a completely new, flawless identity.

Are credit repair companies legal?

Credit Repair is a legal service guided by the Credit Recovery Organizations Act (CROA). Under this law, businesses operate within a framework that protects consumers from unscrupulous practices.

This consumer protection law has been in force since 1996 and prohibits:

• Changing a customer's identity to hide it from lenders and credit reporting bureaus.
• Assuring consumers that they can delete items from a credit report.
• Getting paid for incomplete repair services.
• Advising you to make misleading statements to information providers or credit agencies.

Credit repair companies are also required to inform consumers that they can report their problems directly to credit reporting agencies.

Additionally, offices are required to ensure that their reports are error-free and to investigate any issues with the reports they generate.

It should also be noted that you have the right to sue any company that violates the CROA.

How Do Credit Repair Companies Remove Bad History?

Companies in this field act on your behalf to access your financial reports and dispute errors. Successful servicing ensures that damaging information is removed from your credit report. The service involves:

Checking credit reports

The company requests your reports from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. With all three reports, credit repairers can get a complete picture of your finances, since creditors are not required to subscribe to all credit agencies.

Reviewing and Disputing Errors

Credit repair professionals review the various entries on your reports, confirming the details contained in supporting documentation from primary sources.

For example, to know if a credit limit is accurate, the entry is checked against a statement from the issuer of the specific credit line. These errors are marked and the correct documents are prepared to initiate litigation.

Disputes are raised both with credit reporting agencies and with the authors of misleading information. Errors can range from a misspelled name to a duplication of debt.

If the disputes are founded, the offices are required to delete the affected entries. This is usually done about a month after initiating the process by mail or online.

What cannot be erased from a credit report?

Regardless of the cost of a credit repair service, there are certain entries that cannot be removed from a credit report. In a word, all correct information stays on your report, no matter how much it hurts your credit score.

At the same time, bureaus are required to keep certain vital entries in your reports, long after you have settled the debt. These entries include:

• Payments from the last 24 months, whether they were made on time or not.
• Bankruptcies listed on your report may persist for up to 10 years, even after a change in status before the term expires.
• Apply for loans, credit cards, business loans and other forms of credit. The entries are known as hard inquiries and remain on your credit report for 2 years.

Takeaways

One approach to improving your creditworthiness is to find and dispute erroneous information in your credit report. Common errors include incorrect accounts, inaccurate personal information, and data management errors.

With your permission, credit repair services can help rectify errors and erase errors that lower your credit score. However, these companies are governed by laws that prescribe limits on what can or cannot be erased from a credit report.

Ultimately, however, you need to build your credit by paying your balances in a timely manner and not maxing out your credit limits.