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Lexington Law Review
Question: Hi Bill, I recently hired lexington law firm to help fix my credit. Are they good? I have 10 negative items on each report for experian, equafax, and transunion. I thought they would challenge all of my negative items on all reports all at once. However they told me that they intentionally limit the number of items to protect their clients. They said theFair Credit Reporting Act allows the bureaus to refuse to reinvestigate any challenges that they consider frivolous. One factor they use in determining frivolous challenge is when a consumer challenges too many things at one time. They also said they found that limiting the number of items they challenged will avoid their clients challenges from being labeled as frivolous.
Are they feeding me a bunch of bull or does this sound right to you? Thanks for any help you may lend, I really do appreciate it.
Answer: They are not feeding you a bunch of bull :) What they are doing actually sounds like a decent strategy, since they are correct that if a bureau gets what it (in its sole opinion) deems as a frivolous challenge, then that credit reporting bureau can just ignore the request.
Since credit reporting is so complex, and the bureaus are dealing with so much data, it can really be a mix of an art and a science to get credit report listings fixed or deleted. Lexington Law is generally considered to be a reputable firm, but of course each consumer needs to do their own homework. I have actually even been up to Salt Lake City and seen their operation in action and it is very impressive. They've been doing this for quite some time and they have good systems.
If you want more information in general on what a deletion letter does and how it works I can give you some free information below:
A letter of deletion is a request (which I have included a sample of below, and how to submit it online for free) to remove inaccurate marks from your credit report.
No one can legally remove accurate and timely negative information from a credit report. The law allows you to ask for an investigation of information in your file that you dispute as inaccurate or incomplete. There is no charge for doing this on your own. If you paid the accounts in full and as agreed, then you can try to get them removed.
Following up with the credit bureaus might be a time consuming proposition, depending on how many items you have that need to be removed. In order to get these items removed from your credit report you have two options:
1. Pay for the services of a credit repair firm. Lexington Law is this type of firm. There are many firms that specialize in the area of credit repair. Be careful about the firm that you choose and make sure that it is a reputable firm. You can check with the Better Business Bureau to learn about the performance of a particular company. You need to do proper research on the firm that you will eventually do business with. By law, credit repair organizations must give you a copy of the “Consumer
Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law” before you sign a contract. They also must give you a written contract that spells out your rights and obligations. Read these documents before you sign anything. The law contains specific protections for you. For example, a credit repair company cannot:
• Make false claims about their services • Charge you until they have completed the promised services • Perform any services until they have your signature on a written contract and have completed a three-day waiting period.
Your contract must specify:
• The payment terms for services, including their total cost
• A detailed description of the services to be performed • How long it will take to achieve the results • Any guarantees they offer • The company’s name and business address
2. Do it yourself. The Federal Trade Commission provides extensive information and self help resources that are available at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/repair.shtm You will first need to obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through annualcreditreport.com, 1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order your report from each of the companies one at a time.
Check your reports for the action items. Keep in mind all the bureaus now have provisions to dispute items online, but in most cases you will need a copy of the respective report and other information to do so. Once you are ready, you can contact each of the 3 bureaus at the contact information provided below:
Equifax
1-800-685-1111
Website - http://www.equifax.com
Link to file dispute online - http://www.equifax.com/online-credit-dispute/
Experian
1-888-397-3742
Website - http://www.experian.com
Link to file dispute online - http://www.experian.com/rd_personal/base/disputes/request_b.html
Trans Union
1-800-916-8800
Website - http://www.transunion.com
Link to file dispute online -
target="_blank">http://annualcreditreport.transunion.com/entry/disputeonline
Tell the consumer reporting company, in writing, what information you think is inaccurate. Include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly identify each item in your report you dispute, state the facts and explain why you dispute the information, and request that it be removed or corrected. You may want to enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled. Your letter may look something like:
Date
Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State, Zip Code
Complaint Department
Name of Company
Address
City, State, Zip Code
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing to dispute the following information in my file. The items I dispute also are encircled on the attached copy of the report I received.
This item (identify item(s) disputed by name of source, such as creditors or tax court, and identify type of item, such as credit account, judgment, etc.) is (inaccurate or incomplete) because (describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why). I am requesting that the item be deleted (or request another specific change) to correct the information.
Enclosed are copies of (use this sentence if applicable and describe any enclosed documentation, such as payment records, court documents) supporting my position. Please investigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Your name
Enclosures: (List what you are enclosing)
Once you resolve the issue with the credit bureaus, tell the creditor or other information provider, in writing, that you dispute an item. Be sure to include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. Many providers specify an address for disputes. If the provider reports the item to a consumer reporting company, it must include a notice of your dispute. And if you are correct – that is, if the information is found to be inaccurate – the information provider may not report it again.
There are also certain websites that provide kits for as little as $13.95, these kits have letter templates and tips to help you repair your credit all by yourself. You learn more about, credit, credit scoring and credit repair on Bills.com by following this link: http://www.bills.com/credit/
I hope the information provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.
Best,
Bill
www.bills.com
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1. Posted by alliedtrustdiamond on Wednesday 3rd June 2009 22:29
There are literally hundreds of credit repair websites and a lot of them try to guarantee success but the reality is most of them are just a waste of money. They use methods of repairing your credit you can do yourself if you simply google credit repair templates. Their process is very lengthy and requires months and even years to get a lot of things removed and sometimes the bad marks can come back as some companies are very persistent, especially if you still owe them money. The only guaranteed method to repair your credit is to pay off the old bills and get your derogatory balances to $0. "Well that isn't very helpful" is probably what you are saying. Since none of us just have cash laying around to do that there are other things you can do that are guaranteed to increase your FICO score practically overnight and start rebuilding your credit. It's actually very simple. Sign up for Millennium Secured Credit Card and send them $300. Buy $90 worth of groceries on it and make the payments. Keep the balance under $90. Then sign up for www.alliedtrustdiamond.com and get a $10,000 unsecured credit card, buy something and make the payments. Do a google search for USA Shopping Club and sign up with them for $12,500 unsecured credit card buy something and make the payments, Eclub USA and get your $3,500 credit card and finally Horizon Gold and get your $500 credit card. Once all of these companies report to the credit bureaus you are going to see an immediate increase in your FICO score. Guaranteed. Then you can work on getting the bad marks paid off and removed. It's much easier to get them permanently deleted if you don't owe them any more money.
2. Posted by Dan on Tuesday 23rd June 2009 05:52
I am a 100% disabled AF Veteran. I accumulated some bills before I became 100%. The only income I have now or will ever have is disability income, which I know can not be touched by creditors. I started disputing my reports about a year ago, and paid aboput 5 off. My Equifax and Experian are both about 650, but my Trans Union is only 480. Why the difference? I also have Lexinton Law working on my credit file. I have a Midland Funding on my report and they brought "judgement" against me. I have sent them a "debt verification" and "30 Days With No Response" letters. I have never dealt with Midland Funding so I'm sure this isn't mine. They have refused to present me with proof of this debt and it has been about 75 days. I read that if they can not show proof or not show this to be a valid debt, within 60 days then they must remove it from your file. Whats wrong with this picture? Creditors or the Bureaus have no rules to abide by? Dan
3. Posted by Bill on Tuesday 23rd June 2009 10:14
Dan, sounds like you are taking all of the correct steps to remove the inaccurate information from your credit records. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the reporting agencies must update and keep accurate data in their credit files. If there is erroneous information (like your collection account, that you believe is inaccurate), you must notify them (typically through a certified letter) and then wait one reporting cycle (90 days) for the errors to be removed. Save all of the documentation of your work. If TransUnion refuses to remove the inaccurate information, then you may have the basis of a lawsuit.