FTC Cracks Down on ‘Credit Repair’ Scams

Written by nickel - 4 Comments

According to a recent report, government regulators are cracking down on companies that promise to remove negative information from your credit report. The FTC, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and eight state law enforcement agencies have targeted 20 companies that offer to remove information from consumers’ credit reports in return for big bucks.

According to Eileen Harrington of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, “Credit repair promoters generally charge hundreds of dollars, but don’t deliver on their claims. The fact is, they can’t. No one can legally remove accurate and timely information from your credit report.”

This is great news, as there’s no reason to pay for the removal of erroneous information. Simply check your credit report and file a dispute if you see anything that doesn’t belong. If, on the other hand, you have legitimate black marks on your record, there’s little that you can do. And paying a fly-by-night company a few hundred bucks certainly won’t help the situation.

[Source: CNN/Money]

Published on February 3rd, 2006 - 4 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards
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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

I’ve read that the technique these companies use is simply to flood the credit reporting agencies with so many disputes that they have a difficult time proving them all within the allotted thirty-day window. When they can’t, they’re forced to remove the information.

Of course, most of the time they’re able to address all the disputes, so it seldom works.
Comment by MoneyDummy — Feb 3rd 2006 @ 8:25 am
Happy to find out that the government is protecting consumers.

Time and good behavior is the only thing that fixes credit.
Comment by Jose Anes — Feb 16th 2006 @ 12:47 pm