Can questionable, bad credit be deleted or corrected?

Can credit repair companies be trusted?

How much does bad credit cost?

Does paying off past-due accounts neutralize their negative status?

Can deleted items reappear on my credit report?

Are items such as bankruptcies and foreclosures impossible to remove or correct?

Should consumers try credit repair on their own?

Does bankruptcy wipe the slate clean for a second chance?

Do creditors bother to read the 100-word statement?

Can changing one's SSN or EIN tax number help credit matters?

Does enough good credit offset bad credit?

Does the CCCS help consumers restore credit?

Do negative items have to remain listed for 7 years?

What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)?

Should consumers try credit repair on their own?

This really depends on you and the amount of time you're willing to allocate toward repairing your credit. While disputing items on your credit reports should be easy, getting results can often be time consuming, difficult, complex and infuriating.

Many consumers are not able to dedicate the proper amount of time to study effective credit repair methods and apply principles learned. In fact, according to a 2004 survey of 2,106 clients, 38.6% of Lexington clients attempted to repair their own credit before retaining the firm.

Also, credit repair is often much more than simply sending dispute letters to the credit bureaus. Sometimes it becomes necessary to do more than simply ask the credit bureaus to perform an investigation. Dealing with creditors, collections agencies and the courts may be required to repair your credit reports. It is important to know how to deal with these individual entities.

Restoring your own credit is like repairing your own transmission or representing yourself in court; you can certainly do it (and you have the legal right), but you must decide if you are willing to take the time and endure the possible frustration of doing it yourself. In the same way, you have the legal right to represent yourself in court, but it isn't always the best idea.