How To Choose The Right Credit Repair Company

By: Jon Ochs   June 5th, 2008

If you are out there on the internet looking for the right company to repair your credit, you face a rather large challenge. As you may have noticed, not all credit repair companies are alike. I have written this article to assist you by providing you with the knowledge you will need to make the right decision in choosing the company with a credit repair program that’s best suited for you, and that will provide you with the results you are looking for.

If you have looked at a few companies, you have probably seen many different costs and payment plans. Do you want to pay a $99 setup fee and $69 per month, $179 setup fee and $49 per month, or $29.95 per month with no setup fee? What about just a simple $200 per credit report, or a onetime fee of $5,000? Is your head spinning yet? There are many more combinations and variations of these programs out there, but they are really just variations of 3 different service models:

• Monthly Service Fee
This is the model that most credit repair companies have resorted to. It provides a low monthly payment that most can afford, and the fee is easily justified when the company does just a little work for you each month. The seemingly low cost of service deceptively makes it easy to sign up and does not allow for a company to do their best work for you. In fact, it forces a credit repair company to work slowly and only do a little bit each month so as to only keep up with your monthly fee. On average, with a monthly service fee program, you will end up paying the same or more money, and see fewer improvements to your credit than you would have with a flat-fee program.

Many companies that operate under this model also seem to have more of a do-it-yourself approach to credit repair. Many of them will prepare dispute letters, but mail them to you to send out. Most of these companies also seem to have reputations for poor customer service, and the most common complaint registered is that when you cancel, they fail to stop the fee from drafting monthly from your credit card.

• Flat-Rate
This model requires a onetime fee, or installment payments for services. This method of payment is usually used by companies that work aggressively on behalf of their clients. Since the service is paid for up front, they are usually eager to earn the fee by providing services and working on their client’s behalf. However, you need to be careful of those companies that just take your money and don’t provide services as promised. You need to make sure you understand the terms of the program before you sign up, because many of these companies have very limited time-periods (sometimes 6 months or less) in which they will work for you.

Another important factor when signing up for a flat-rate service is a solid and simple to understand guarantee. When it comes to guarantees, credit repair companies are all over the map. You should know that no credit repair company is able to lawfully guarantee deletions or corrections on your credit reports. However, they can guarantee your satisfaction and provide a simple, plain-language guarantee. A reputable company that has a proven track record will have no problem standing behind their guarantee.

• Pay Only for Deletions/Corrections
Although this sounds like the best way to hire a credit repair company, the problem is that the added work taken on by the company in tracking and billing for every item individually, causes the program to have a much higher cost for the average client. At one time, we only did business in this fashion; however, due to overwhelming client request, we now offer the same great service for a flat-rate cost that saves our average client over 40 percent.

Putting it all together…

Now let’s summarize and explain some of the above so that you can approach this with the knowledge you need to make an informed decision.

When it comes to credit repair, the process is the same for every company out there. You have to start with current credit reports for every client. Then the disputing process begins. Once the disputes are sent to the credit bureaus, the bureaus have 30 days to process and investigate the dispute. Once the items have been processed, each bureau is required to mail an updated credit report to the client directly. When the client receives these, they must be mailed immediately back to the credit repair company so that the process can continue.

There are times when you will not receive an updated credit report, and a new one must be obtained and mailed into the credit repair company to continue. This process will continue for a varied length of time depending on how aggressive the credit repair company is, how many items are being disputed, etc. That is the basic process of credit repair for every company out there.

Now that you know this, you have to evaluate your credit repair goals. Are you serious about repairing your credit overall, or do you only want just one specific item worked on? Are you trying to qualify for a home loan and really want your credit cleaned up as quickly as possible, or do you want to find the cheapest company and hope for the best over the next couple of years? When it comes to choosing a credit repair company, your goals are an important thing to consider.

Customer Service is the key to success in any credit repair program!
Customer service is a huge deal when it comes to credit repair. The process has long time-frames, 30-45 days during dispute investigation, and it can often seem that nothing is happening. It is important to be able to check in periodically to see where you are in the process, and feel confident that your case progress is being tracked. A good credit repair company should be able to tell you when your last disputes were sent to the credit bureaus and when you should expect to see the dispute results. They should also be able to tell you what has been improved and what is still being worked on at any time in the process. Your calls should be welcomed and, if it is one of those times where a new credit report is required, you should never be without assistance to get one. Obtaining credit reports from the credit bureaus is getting harder and harder all the time and who better to help you get yours, than the experts you have hired. Another thing you can get from a good credit repair company is advice about your credit in general. There are many things you can do to improve your scores outside of credit repair that, if done while you are in the credit repair process, will help you maximize your results overall.

The different payment and cost plans, outlined above, each come with different levels of service. Let me be very clear, when it comes to the services provided, not all credit repair companies are the same. Once you sign up, what happens then? What happens with most companies is that you are sent an email or directed to a webpage that says that you must now obtain all 3 of your credit reports (one from each of the three major credit bureaus) and send them in. This may sound simple, but as we have seen, most clients have difficulty in getting their credit reports due to identity verification issues.

Once you do get your credit reports and send them in, are you going to be mailed dispute letters with instructions on sending them out yourself, or will that all be taken care of for you? Are you going to get consultation whenever you need it to assist you in maximizing your credit during the program and will someone be checking in with you regularly to make sure you received updated credit reports in the mail to send in? Are you going to be left hanging after you have paid your fee not knowing what is expected of you, or what is the process? What will happen when you call into customer service wanting to know where you are in the process? Will anyone answer the phone or call you back? Will they be able to tell you the current status of your credit repair process? These are all very good and important questions.

It is up to you to do your due diligence by asking important questions, and checking to see that the company you choose has a clean record of business. Here are a couple resources you can check for complaints against any company. www.bbb.org or www.ripoffreport.com. The results here will give you some insight into the experience other customers are having with a company.

Another good qualifier is to only choose a company that has been in business more than 5 years. Statistics show that 80% of businesses fail within the first 5 years, so it stands to reason that if they are still operating after 5 years, there is a good chance they will continue. Over the last couple of years, due to the downturn in the real estate markets, credit repair has become very popular and hundreds of companies have sprouted up to take advantage of the need in the marketplace. Most of these companies will not be around in the coming years. Ultimately, if you don’t feel confident in a particular company or their services, don’t enroll.

If you are truly serious about repairing and improving your credit and attaining the highest credit scores possible in the shortest amount of time, then what you are looking for is a credit repair company with a program that is structured to do just that.

Now that you are armed with this knowledge, you can use it along with your common sense to choose the best credit repair company for you. Ultimately, I want you to choose the company and program that makes the best sense for your situation, but if you want to take a look at a company and program that meets all the above criteria, here is our plug:

NCA Credit Repair ( www.ncaCreditRepair.com ) has been in business since 1998 and is a licensed and bonded credit services organization. We are located in the state of Oregon and service clients nationwide. We charge a sensible flat-rate for credit repair services and allow clients to budget that into payments over the beginning of the program if they wish. We provide unlimited credit consultation, and we assist our clients in getting their credit reports at any time during the process. We work aggressively for every client to repair their credit as quickly as possible and have a simple satisfaction guarantee. We do not charge monthly service fees, and if a client is due a refund, we send it to them. We are easy to work with, and our clients leave happy, and with better credit. We would be happy to talk to anyone about their credit, or to simply help them choose a program that is right for them. You can call us toll-free at 1.888.282.1011.

Jon Ochs is the founder and CEO of NCA Credit Repair Inc. NCA Credit Repair is a licensed & bonded credit repair organization that prides itself on its high-level of customer satisfaction.

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