Credit Restoration

About Credit

Customer Service

Credit Repair Frequently Asked Questions

• - Are Credit Repair companies legal?
• - How much I will have to pay for your service?
• - What do I get?
• - How will I know if you can help me?
• - What if we think that credit repair is not right for you at this time?
• - Can you remove information from my credit reports even if it belongs to me?
• - Can I repair my own credit?
• - When should I hire a Credit Repair company?
• - How long does Credit Repair take?
• - Does paying off my delinquent accounts repair my credit?

 

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Are credit repair companies legal?

 

The credit reporting agencies work very hard to convince the general public that all credit repair companies are illegal, scams and in the best possible case they can’t do anything more than you can do on your own.

This is so untrue. It’s no different than hiring a tax professional to prepare your taxes for you…or a lawyer to represent you in court if you are sued…or a mechanic to fix your car, would you do yourself any of this things if you can afford to pay a professional with many years of experience to do it for you?

Sure, you can do those things yourself for free, some people don't have a choice. But is it really free if you get audited, lose the lawsuit, or screw up your car beyond repair?

The bottom line is: As long as the company follows the rules set forth in CROA…the credit restoration service they provide to you is ethical, legal, responsible, valuable, and time saving.

So again, credit restoration is not illegal. It’s only illegal if the company that is offering the service is not following the guidelines that Congress has set up.

The credit reporting agencies will try to make you think differently. They do a good job convincing the public, lenders, their business partners, and many others that all credit repair organizations are illegal.

The only reason the legitimate companies as ours exist is because most of the credit reporting agencies make it impossible to easily talk to someone over the telephone to dispute incorrect information on your credit reports.

If the credit reporting agencies made it easy to correct errors on your reports or have unverifiable information deleted as mandated by the FCRA, then credit repair firms couldn't be in business representing people who have been run through the credit reporting agency ringer.

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How much will I have to pay for your service?

 

We charge a one time fee of $99.00 after you receive our initial assessment. There is no charge for the first two derogatory items we get removed for you. Then, during the credit report repair process we will charge you $35.00 ($75.00 for removing Public Record items such as Bankruptcies, Tax Liens, Judgments, Foreclosures & Child Support) for every deletion or correction we made in any of your credit reports. We will bill you periodically, each time upon confirmation of successful results. 

The total amount necessary to clean up your credit will depend on how bad it is and how many questionable items you have in all three reports

For instance, if you have a collection account and three charge-offs listed on all three reports, the total charge for our services if we are 100% successful, would be:

4 deletions from each of three reports ---> 12 deletions

+$99.00 (Assessment)
$350.00 (12 items deleted x $35.00 a piece minus the first two items deleted)
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$449.00 Your total cost

You will pay this amount over maybe a 6 month or less period. We were the first credit repair company in the market that allowed its clients to pay only after we obtain deletions.  You will tell us how fast you want us to work according to your budget.

Our credit repair may not appear to be the cheapest. In fact, some of our actual clients are people who had chosen to settle for a cheaper monthly fee based Credit Repair Company in order to save a couple bucks. Of course, it did not work that way after paying an average of $700 to these other companies with little to no results, they hired us.

If you are looking to save a couple bucks in the short run, there are companies in the market charging less than $25 a month for their automated dispute process. Do not expect miracles. If you receive any results at all, you will probably only get the easy ones removed.

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Advantages you have with us:

• A free and completely customized plan built around your personal needs.

• Unlimited Debt Dispute and Debt validation with credit bureaus, banks and debt collectors.

• Free help establishing new credit.

• Monthly Progress Reports. We will keep you updated about what we are doing for you.

• Risk Free, you pay only for good results.

• A written contract with all terms and no fine print.

• A written lifetime warranty against reinsertion of any item removed by BCR Consulting.

• Cancel anytime.

Before you even sign our contract we want to talk to you. We don't believe in taking everybody's money as fast as we can in the hopes we will eventually get some results. We know you have unique circumstances and before you spend your hard earned money and your time we need to see if we can help.

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How will I know if you can help me?

 

The only possible answer is you will not and neither will we until we have a consultation with you. For instance: Are you a victim of identity theft? Were you deployed overseas? Do you want to settle for less that you own with your creditors? Are you trying to purchase a new home? What’s the statute of limitations in your state?

So how do we do it?

First step before we get started, either by phone, in person or by email you will meet your credit counselor, this same person will stay with you through the entire restoration process. Together, after review of your credit reports you will learn everything about the bad credit you have and the likelihood of it being removed. You are going to have a clear understanding of what we think the laws will allow us to do and how long it will take. You will be provided with realistic expectations and a good plan.

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What if we think that credit repair is not right for you at this time?

 

It’s possible. If that happens we will tell you that we do not think we can help at all. Frequently, if the default is recent and the statute of limitation has not expired, disputes can trigger a lawsuit from your creditors. If that is the case, depending on your state laws and your financial situation we will advise you to wait or try to settle. Do not worry even if you are unable to dispute or settle. This only means that you will have to wait slightly longer, but you will have received a wealth of professional advice absolutely free.

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Can you remove information from my credit reports even if it belongs to me?

 

Probably yes, we can. It depends on the creditor.

Anything on a credit report can be removed if it is in violation of the FCRA or some other consumer protection laws. There are many laws passed to protect the consumer, so anything that violates these laws will cause the removal of any accounts including judgments, liens, collections, charge-offs, bankruptcies and late payments that are obsolete, inaccurate or cannot be verified.

However, the most common violation we find is the lack of documentation to back-up/verify the reporting. Many furnishers report all kind of derogatory information about our clients but when asked they don't have a single piece of paper to prove what they are saying about you. After our inquiry, if they keep reporting would be a willful violation of the FCRA.

Sometimes we find some creditor in complete compliance with the laws, in those cases if the debt belongs to you and it is reported accurately, there is nothing that we can do to help you, fortunately for us and for you, this doesn't happen very often, they could put us out of business just by obeying the laws.

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Can I repair my own credit?

 

Yes, you can. all consumers have the legal right to dispute any information on their credit reports with the credit agencies and credit grantors. With some experience and study, you could do as much as our staff does. It is similar to your right as a citizen to represent yourself in court, you'll need to know the credit laws, they are posted on our web site, here.

Many people, however, choose to ask BCR Consulting to represent them because our experience and extensive knowledge.

In our experience, an average consumer simply does not have the time to research and experiment with credit disputing methods in order to find the best course of action for a given credit situation. BCR Consulting has the knowledge accumulated over the years from helping our clients to successfully remove questionable negative items from their credit reports.

However, if you choose to do it yourself we will be glad if we can help. We are willing to give you professional (Not legal) advice at no cost. Please see our page Do your own credit repair

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When should I hire a Credit Repair Company?

 

Whenever you do not feel like dealing with it, or you do not have the time to learn everything you need to do it right, before you attempt to clear your credit. Some mistakes are hard to fix later on. Some mistakes are impossible to fix at all. If you choose to hire somebody to make sure it is done right from the very beginning, then we are your choice and it is a good one. Just make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.

We are specialists in credit, and we can help you avoid all of the common mistakes most people make when they attempt to do it themselves. We do this every day and of course we know all the "Tricks of the trade". Make no mistake, this is not rocket science. You can probably learn all you need to get started in a couple of months and of course there are no “secret letters” - Experience is what will make a difference.

A final thought on this subject, should you choose to try this on your own, do not fall for these form dispute letters found on the internet. There is no such a thing as secret dispute letters. They are a waste of your time and will certainly make your job harder. Write your own personal letters.

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How long does it take?

 

This is a tough question to answer. We can not give you an accurate answer without seeing the facts, hearing your goals and looking at your state’s laws..

We can give you a best and worse case scenario.

Client A: Is trying to buy a home, has a decent score ...something like FICO 680 and needs some improvement in order to get a better interest rate on the mortgage.

Expectations: We will have to make some minor adjustments and could be as soon as 15 to 45 days.

Client B: Worst of the worst. Inaccuracies, Charge-offs, Repossessions, BK’s, late payments, ID theft.... you name it.

Expectations: We will have probably accomplished all that is possible within 6 months. Anything we had been disputing for 6 months and do not have it deleted by then, it is probably going to stay until the end of the 7 years reporting period even if you hire some other company or a consumer attorney.

We do everything that is legally possible to remove every negative note in your reports. Other than that, what remains are only the shady/illegal methods. We will not touch them with a 15 ft pole. Of course, we do not recommend those methods under any circumstances. Some of them might constitute fraud, a criminal activity..

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Does paying off my delinquent accounts repair my credit?

 

It seems that would be true, common sense. But sadly, the credit reporting system does not work that way.

IMPORTANT - Read this prior to paying off collection accounts

When you pay an old delinquent debt , the derogatory credit listing does not disappear. In fact, it is updated and the negative effect on your credit some times increases. I've seen FICO score drops of up to 30 points after payment of a 4 year old credit card charge off. You actually need to delete the charge off and any other derogatory information in order to improve your score.

The most ironic thing is that a paid collection or charge off, in the best possible scenario is not much better than an unpaid negative listing. Your best option is to negotiate a pay for removal in writing with your creditor(s) prior to payment.

Also, a partial payment will restart the statute of limitations in most states. This is why collectors are always asking for a small payment on old debts, anything to show your good faith, you send your little payment and then they can file a lawsuit against you for the full amount plus attorney and collection fees.