If you've recently had an application turned down because of bad credit, you know the importance of good credit as well as anyone. Having bad credit can make life a little inconvenient. You might find yourself paying high security deposits or getting turned down for credit cards, loans, and even jobs.
Credit repair services look very attractive when your credit is damaged. Many consumers who've used these companies have found themselves out of hundreds, even thousands of dollars, with no better credit than when they started. Credit repair scams are rampant and it's up to you to recognize them. Read 7 Ways to Spot a Credit Repair Scam.
Take these steps if you become a victim of a credit repair scam.
Have you hired a credit repair company to repair your credit? Write a review and let others know about your experience.
You might also be interested in:
I wish I had found your blog earlier!
I signed up with a company here in Minneapolis in the middle of 2007 called Credit Restoration, LTD to fix my credit. Several months later I feel like I pretty much gave Kara Jackson, the owner of Credit Restoration LTD, $495.00 for NOTHING! Kara Jackson promised me she could not only remove wrongly reported information but could also remove my BK and mortgage lates. Of you 7 things to know you are being scamed Kara violated 1, 4 and 5.
My question now… What do I do?
We lost over $1000 to Kara and she did nothing for us and our credit. When we pushed her on the issue, she was rude and extremely unprofessional.
Just do your research first, that’s all I have to say.
Kara Jackson never fixed my credit after I paid her either. Once she got my check she never even returned my calls. Credit Repair is a SCAM!
I had credit restoration fix my credit and had nothing but success. Kara was so helpful and nice. She also told us there were no guarentees. we love her and credit restoration.
I am thankful for Kara. She is super and does a great job. I paid 4 different lawyers to fix my credit and they did nothing. Kara had me fixed in 30 days. She is great!!!
Not ALL credit repair companies are scams! It’s like any other profession – some are honest, some are not. The reason credit repair attracts a lot of scammers is because they can prey on those when in their most vulnerable condition.
You should not hesitate to seek help with your credit, but MUST do your homework first! Ask lots of questions, check references and also check with the Credit Repair Watchdog the ECRA (Ethical Credit Repair Alliance)
If you DO get scammed, submit a complaint at the ECRA complaint submission form
It’s easy to fall for a large fee for things you can do yourself.
Here is what I would Recommend if you feel like you have been scammed:
1. File a complaint with the attorney general for your state
2. File a complaint with the better business bureau
3. File a complaint with the FTC
4. File on ripoffreport.com
5. post everywhere you can about that company and what they have done
6. Clean your credit up yourself (I have been saying for 15 years don’t pay others for something you can do for free)
You may not think it is doing a whole lot, but it will pile up on those bogus companies. I have seen and know of many credit repair companies and collection agencies shut down due to massive complaints against them. If they are a bad seed, they will continue to be a bad seed. It is only a matter of time before all the negative karma catches up with them.
With regard to the good credit repair companies? I haven’t seen any of them. In my honest opinion they are all bad, they make you promises they cannot uphold.
There are plenty of resources out there, included information that comes from directly from the bureaus themselves for you to learn credit repair and fix it yourself.
In these situations its imperative to remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If these companies could indeed do what they claimed, that payment amount would seem like a pretty good deal. Based on the improved interest rate you can get with a good credit score, consumer’s could certainly save that amount right off the bat. Making the service more than worthwhile.However, what they promise just isn’t possible.
What people need to realize and take from this is that there are no quick fixes for your credit score if the information is accurate. That’s not to say that the entire credit repair industry is a scam. Credit repair done the right way gets rid of information on there that might be wrongly attributed to you or simply reported inaccurately. There certainly is a whole lot of that going on. People of course can attempt to clean up wrong information themselves, but as with any service its a whole lot easier if you hire a professional. Making sure all the information on your credit report is really you AND reported accurately is the service that legitimate credit repair organizations offer. Anyone offering you anything more than that, and wanting payment upfront to do it, is simply looking to take your money.
Check out my blog on credit repair scams at…. http://www.thedebtgazette.com/2009/10/ftc-going-after-credit-repair-firms/
I guess some people it worked for and some it did not. I had great success with Kara and her staff. I am sorry that it did not work out for some folks. I have sent her 4 of my employees all of which also had great luck! If anyone want a refrence call me See is great! 612-236-7474
I love Kara she helped me out so much. She told me like she does everyone else. There is no guarantee in credit repair, it is either the best money you ever spent or the worst. Any one who does guarantee it is the one lying to you. My score went up in 30days. I am completly happy with the service.
She told me you can do it yourself, but you get faster and better responses when you do it her way. And she was right, my friend did it herself and is still doing it. I am on my way of getting a house!!
I had great success with Kara. I am wondering how clients know who is and isin’t her boyriend? It makes me wonder what posts are valid.
I am satisfied with Kara and her staff and would recommend her to anyone.
Hello!
Well, clearly I have made LOTS of folks upset. I don’t ever recall getting a phone call from any of these folks but Cindi. This makes me wonder who is leaving all these posts! If you have a problem with our service please call me directly @ 952-334-6901 or continue to leave posts. It just makes my name come up higher when you google it…and that helps!!
Actually I just checked BBB and there was only 8. Yeah BBB doesn’t lie, just you! Wow, Kara was right, this makes me wonder which comments are real and fake.
Hello All…I also was taken by Kara Jackson. She promised to repair my credit so I would be able to purchase a townhouse in St.Paul. I gave her 595.00 and signed a contract. That was it NEVER heard from her again. And never received any help.
Keep up the good work Kara! With persistence we will succeed. Referrals coming your way. Bankers look out.
I just had my credit repaired with Kara and she was up front and honest and told me there was no guarantees. Not all of it was removed but enough to make a difference. I can see why people think she may be rude, becuase she does not BS and blow sunshine up your behind. If you have screwed your credit up to the point that she can not fix it, then that is your fault! But she will do all she can to fix what CAN be fixed. She is great and honest and I had good success. It is easy for screw ups to blame someone else for their downfalls and she is an easy target. I am lucky that I was not such a screwup that my credit had some hope that KARA found!
Bickering aside…I hired Fresh Start 700 and not all of the things Kara “expected”, not “promised”, to be removed were removed. However, she also informed me that there is no gaurantee ahead of time and she can not control what the creditors do, she can only do everything she legally can to “scrub” my credit clean. It took about 90 days and I saw results and was happy. Lisa….just because people have bad credit, does not mean they are screw ups but I glad she could help us both non the less.
I feel really bad there are so many people on here saying things but not calling me. FYI we sign up between 60-75 clients every month and have been for 8 years. 8 BBB complaints is not so bad. If someone is upset my cell number is 952-334-6901.
99.9 percent of credit repair companys are scam artist. I own a credit consulting firm and we charge a flat fee of 149 and we only do in person consulting, we do have our clients sign a copy of our policy statement, that is iaw the credit repair organizations act. We never call no one and 99 percent of our biz is from referrels, And we have had 0 complaints, and no we are NOT a credit repair service. Everything a “Credit Repair Service” can do you can do better and we show you how.
I just finished reading all of the comments above and am extremely saddened if they are all true. There are many, many people who say they can clean up your credit but it has been my personal experience that about 50-75% of those companies are scams. I hired several credit repair organizations to repair mine and my husband’s credit back in 2003 (inaccurate information, out of date information, and illegally reported information). None of them were able to get anything removed.
So, I self-educated myself through online research and repair our own credit. It wasn’t easy, and it was extremely time consuming, but I did it. This is the whole reason why I started my blog. I had so many people asking me how I did it; that I wanted one central location to be able to share my information with everyone else.
I have just recently started offering my ’services’ to the general public and will be checking out some of the links posted above. I didn’t even realize there was an “ECRA”…
I have been usin Kera’S service for two months now. she did tell me up front that I will not hear from her that often.She was tellin the truth. I have paid 300 so far and only received one phone call and 2sets of dispute letters that I could have written myself. Not totally impressed.
This office is not a good credit restore company at all very rude take your money, may do one thing to make it seem their going to do the job but wont never return calls,always excuses for return calls,emails i dont recommend this place at All by all mean!!!!! If you show up without calling she will call the police! She very unprofessional. You call she say ill call back and never will!
Didnt want to here all about complaints about just Kara, I was asking to see more of the whole picture. how are we to decide who is the best when this is a bash fest on just one person. this link sucks if i have a problem i’ll ask someone else.