If you have been curious about how to improve your credit for the future, there’s a good chance that this is why you’ve started to search credit repair.
A 2013 study from the Federal Trade Commission identified that at least five percent of consumers have one or more errors on their current credit report.
Unfortunately, these credit reports are used by lenders all the time in order to determine whether or not to give someone new credit opportunities.
If you are not aware of the problems on your credit report or have not engaged in credit repair in the past, you may not even realize what you need to do to have these problems removed.
You might not even know that this information has been used against you. Read on to learn more about the credit repair process.
Defining Credit Repair
Credit repair is an official process that is used to challenge any negative entries that are incorrect or should no longer be listed on your account when you review your credit report.
Information may be unverifiable, inaccurate, flawed or misleading. Your score can drop significantly depending on the inaccuracy included on your credit report.
For example, one 2014 study found that a 30-day card delinquency on a person’s credit report could lead to a three-digit decrease in their credit score even if this is not accurate.
The overall goal of improving your score through credit repair will help you to clear up your report and to address these issues head on so that your credit rating doesn’t take a hit.
Do I Really Need to Hire a Credit Repair Attorney?
It may be complicated to engage in the process of credit repair on your own, which is why many people choose to use an experienced attorney.
A credit repair attorney will have advanced knowledge about these types of issues and be able to perform numerous different services to repair your credit, including:
- Representing you in court in the event that a creditor comes after you for debts that they are not legally entitled to pursue
- Negotiating a settlement amount with creditors pursuing you
- Negotiating credit reporting agencies to take negative items off of your credit report like foreclosures, charge-off or late payments
- Using your credit reports to improve your scores and remove potential errors.
While you may be able to participate in many of the same processes that an attorney might do, it may be very challenging and mistakes made could compromise your ability to get the overall results you are looking for.
The impact on your credit report can be significant and when there is so much to consider it is valuable to be aware of credit repair laws and how an attorney can help.
A primary subject of discussion for your credit repair lawyer is what your rights may be under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
This federal law has many different specifications and rules that can cover how a credit bureau is able to use personal information.
This limits who can view your credit report and in what situations your credit reports can be viewed.
Additionally, your state may have additional consumer protection laws and it is well worth discussing these directly with an experienced attorney so that you can learn more about the benefits associated with your individual needs.
Schedule a free consultation today with the experienced attorneys at McDonald Worley.