No Such Thing as a Quick Fix for Credit Woes

• October 19th 2009

by Mark Wellborn

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If you find that the only thing preventing you from being able to buy a new home is a poor credit score, do not be tempted by internet and TV offers that claim to be able to help you remedy this problem. In his latest column, Kenneth Harney examines services that claim that they can eliminate the information in your credit history that harms your score.

Harney’s piece focuses on the misdeeds of two credit repair shops, and the punishments that were handed down by the Federal Trade Commission to each. One of those settlements involved a company called Successful Credit Service that claimed to be able to remove any negative information from an individual’s credit history. The company charged between $3,000 to $4,000 up front for their services (red flag #1) and recruited clients from seminars around the country (red flag #2). However, it is illegal for companies like this to collect money before services are completed and more importantly, they are not allowed to remove damaging information from a person’s credit file.

These two infractions are almost beside the point, as Successful Credit Service not only did not deliver on the promised services to most of its clients (i.e. their credit history and score remained unchanged), but, according to the article, it was extremely difficult for clients to reach anyone at the company with questions. Believe it or not, Bernie Madoff did not have a hand in this scheme. In the end, the Federal Trade Commission ruled that the firm had to pay $8.3 million (apparently they don’t have the assets to make this payment) and it can’t “engage in unlawful credit-repair practices” anymore.

For anyone who may be tempted to use a service like this, Harney’s column is a very worthwhile read. And, if you are interested in learning about ways to legally and efficiently improve your credit score, read our article on the subject here.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/no_such_thing_as_a_quick_fix_for_credit_woes/1421.