Credit Repair Companies – Don’t Do it! – Episode #76

Credit Repair

Many…scratch that… most of the credit repair websites you will visit are scam artists promising all kinds of falsehoods. So, the FTC is cracking down, and starting by taking on 33 companies for their nefarious practices.

“Companies that promise they are able to scrub your credit reports of accurate, negative information for a fee are lying – plain and simple,” said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

According to the FTC, if you see a credit repair offer, here’s how to tell if the company behind it is up to no good:

• The company wants you to pay for credit repair services before they provide any services.  Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act, credit repair companies cannot require you to pay until they have completed the services they have promised.
• The company doesn’t tell you your rights and what you can do for yourself for free.
• The company recommends that you do not contact any of the three major national credit reporting companies directly.
• The company tells you they can get rid of most or all the negative credit information in your credit report, even if that information is accurate and current.

Here’s my list of other signs you are looking at a bad guy credit repair shop

• The website looks cheap, like it was made in 1 day
• Website appears to be less than 10 pages in content
• Website offer a free ebook and than say, give me your personal info including your email

“you pay a fee and in a couple of months, that bankruptcy, that late payment, the charge-offs, the judgments, the liens, even a foreclosure will be gone….Well, no way” said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Here is a list of many of the companies listed in the FTC press release… i.e. avoid these companies and check the FTC website for their status!

• Clean Credit Report Services, Inc.; Ricardo A. Miranda; Daniel R. Miranda; and Ruthy Villabona
• Successful Credit Service Corporation, dba Success Credit Services; and Tracy Ballard, aka Tracy
  Ballard-Straughn
• Nationwide Credit Services, Inc.; and James R. Dooley
• Advantage Credit Repair, LLC; and Mark D. Solomon
• Successful Credit Service Organization
• ACE Group, Inc., also dba American Credit Experts, Inc., The ACE Group, Inc., The ACE Group, and ACE; Legal Credit Repair Center, Inc., also dba LCRC; Michael Singer; Melvin Kessler; and Gerald Roth
• Latrese & Kevin Enterprises Inc., also dba Hargrave & Associates Financial Solutions; Latrese Hargrave, aka Latrese V. Williams; and Kevin Hargrave, Sr.
• Home Buyers Consulting Network, also dba Home Buyers Network, Good Credit Company, Goodcredit.com, and 0downhomebuyers.com; and Douglas Andersen Moore, aka Douglas A. Moore
• Payneless Credit Repair, LLC, and Lesley L. Payne
• Rudolph Joseph Strobel, aka Lee Harrison, dba Lee Harrison Credit Restoration, Credit Restoration, and Lee Harrison Associates Credit Restoration; and Leanna Ruth Harrison
• RCA Credit Services, LLC; Rick Lee Crosby, Jr.; and Brady Wellington

Similar Posts:

• Credit Repair Companies – Don’t Do it! – Episode #76
• Is “Credit Repair” a Dirty Phrase? – Episode #31
• How Can I Find a Credit Counselor I Can Trust? – Episode #34
• Credit Bureau vs. Credit Reporting Agency – Episode #77
• Why are there 3 Credit Reporting Agencies? – Episode #98
• Apartment Evictions Impacting Credit Scores – Episode #108