Credit Repair Company

My mom used "Freedom From Debt" or Freedom something, I can't remember. From what she's told me, she had to stop paying on everything first (that obviously screwed her credit) THEN they made arrangements with SOME of her credit card companies. Some of them would not accept a settlement. So I think she pays about $400 per month for her "bills". She didn't tell me how much she had to pay the Freedom place. And she let it slip that was was paying the "lawyer" separately and "didn't know how long" she had to pay him and I don't know what all that is about. So she is paying the $400, plus the lawyer, and the 2 credit card companies that would not accept payment from Freedom. I think people say its a "scam" because these places CHARGE people to basically do what the people could do on their own. I don't know if this helps or not. Good luck.

I guess this is what I was warned about in cattiness? Sorry - you are being rude to people who are taking the time to answer a question you posted.

The only way to repair your credit is paying your debt on time and time itself. Depending upon the loan or debt, it will stay on your credit report for 5, 7 or 13 years.

A credit repair company will send out letters to the credit agencies in the hopes that in all the paper-mess things will change on your report. If you want to pay someone else to do this, great. In reality? You can do it yourself.

My brother tried this. He ended up spending $1,000 (which he could've and SHOULD HAVE used to pay his debt) paying a company to write letters to get things changed. I told him to listen to his big brother, but he couldn't. Now he's out $1,000 and working on his credit himself by paying his bills on time and reviewing his reports for errors and disputing them.

Two of my cousins did this. It was a huge scam. They both had large up front payments to the credit repair companies, then they were told to stop paying their bills, and the credit repair company "negotiated" with the bill collectors for them. Unfortunately, for one of my cousins, the companies she owed the most money to would not negotiate (they don't have to). So she got no benefit for the money she spent. My other cousin was able to get two companies to lower the amount she owed, but then found out several months later that it's called a charge off and it actually lowers your credit score. So - she paid less in bills, but her credit score went down.

I understand you don't want advice from anyone on how to repair your credit -- but if you decide to stop being snippy and take advice from people who are trying to help, go back and read Cheryl and Katrina's posts.

Cheryl O has hit the nail on the head.

A friend of mine worked for one of these companies. He says exactly what Cheryl said; that you can do all of this yourself and save a lot of money.

There are also some companies out there which use your personal information with slight changes to create a "new" credit score and account through the credit reporting agencies. This is beyond illegal, or course.

No one can repair your credit except yourself. There are a few companies that will prepare the documents so you can sign them and send them out. They can also give you advice of what choices you can make to raise your rating the quickest.

Still everything they will provide is out there if you google so figure the fee is like hiring a secretary to do your paper work.

In the end the only things anyone can remove are errors so if these were real missed payments and the like no one can raise your credit score, only time can.

If you are talking about settlement companies, credit counselors does a good job here. Thing is they reduce your payments but trash your credit score. It is better than bankruptcy but not by much.

NEW ANSWER: T. - I don't think you're being snippy. Oddly the only people that thought you were....want to give you unsolicited advice. LOL.

ORIGINAL ANSWER: I have heard from several people who did this. Most seem to operate the same way:
1) large upfront payment of a few thousand dollars
2) the company calls your creditors and attempts to negotiate a settlement

That's it. Unfortunately when you "settle" debt, it does the opposite of repairing your credit - it actually lowers your score because it reads as a charge off (i.e. the company had to write your account off as a loss).

Cheryl O said everything I would have. Only I want to add that you can get your reports for free from https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
This site is put out by the government. You are entitled to one copy a year from each of the 3 credit reporting companies by law.
I would get all 3 to begin with and read them carefully and look for anything that is not right. It tells you how to appeal anything on your report. After the first year plan to pull up one company every four months throughout the year to make sure they are kept accurate.
Anything that isn't correct the companies have to fix by law. Anything that is correct can only go away with time, there is nothing credit repair companies can do about that. If you made the mistake you have to live with the consequences until the time has past and they no longer have to be reported.

The only people I would get help from is the nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service: http://www.cccs.net/
I worked for them in Houston and they will help you communicate with creditors to get bills paid off, as well as create a budget that will help you accomplish your financial goals. Good luck!