Honest answers about credit repair.

Yes. Credit repair is governed by the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Both laws give every consumer the right to dispute inaccurate, unverifiable, or outdated negative items on their credit report. A credit repair company simply does that work on your behalf.

Some companies are. Legitimate ones follow CROA, written contract, three-day right to cancel, no upfront fees before services are performed, only honest claims. If a company guarantees a specific score, claims to remove accurate items, or asks for full payment up front, walk away. Those are textbook signs of an illegal credit repair operation.

Yes. Every consumer has the right to dispute their own credit report at no cost. The reason most people hire help: writing effective dispute letters, citing the right federal statute, escalating to method-of-verification challenges, and following up across four rounds takes 20-40 hours and specialized knowledge most people don't have.

Most clients see their first deletions in round 1 (days 30-45). Full results typically land between days 60 and 120 across up to four rounds. Average client gets 5-9 deletions per bureau. See the full 4-round process →

If it shows up as a negative we can and will dispute it. That covers collections, late payments, charge-offs, repossessions, judgments, tax liens, hard inquiries you didn't authorize, identity theft remnants, and bureau errors like mixed files or wrong addresses. Bankruptcies are also disputable but harder, they typically take 3 to 4 rounds.

Accurate, verifiable, current negative items. If a creditor can prove the debt is yours, the dates are right, and the balance is correct, the item stays. Anyone who claims they can remove accurate items is either lying or operating illegally.

Paying collections does not improve your score, it just shows up as a $0 balance, and the collection may still appear on your report after you've paid it. Disputes also don't work if you're actively paying, they only work if you've stopped paying or never started.

A collection agency might agree to pay-for-delete, removing the item once you pay, but they're not legally required to follow through, so the account may still show on your credit even after you've paid it off. When a debt is sold to a collection company, the money is no longer owed to the creditor, only the collector.

What most of our clients do: don't pay the collection, let the credit repair process get it removed.

Many bureaus apply a credit freeze when they suspect identity theft. The freeze stops new inquiries and prevents new accounts from being opened in your name, that's why your score may show as zero or "not available" until it's lifted. A credit freeze can also be used as a tactical strategy to push lenders to pull from a different bureau where your file looks more favorable.

Scores often fluctuate before they stabilize. Most clients wait 2-3 more rounds and the score climbs back. The bureaus need time to recalculate after each deletion, so updates aren't always immediate.

While you wait: don't add new credit, keep card balances under 30% of the limit, and avoid late payments. If you've added new accounts recently, those will need to be evaluated separately, new negative items have to be disputed too, which can stretch the timeline.

Most clients see their score climb as negative items are deleted. Average gain is around 100-150 points across the 120-day process. We cannot guarantee a specific score outcome, your final number depends on your overall credit profile, payment history, utilization, and what positive credit you build. CROA prohibits any credit repair company from guaranteeing a specific score.

Filing a dispute does not directly hurt your score. The bureaus may temporarily mark a disputed item with a notation, but lenders' scoring models ignore it. Scores can dip temporarily before improving, that's a normal part of the process and they typically recover within 2-3 rounds.

Bankruptcy is one of the hardest items to dispute. It typically takes 3 to 4 rounds of constant disputes. We're persistent, but we're upfront with clients: it doesn't always come off, and when it does, it's often the last item to fall.

Three things matter most:

Keep making your payments on time. A single late payment can undo two months of dispute progress.
Don't add anything new to your credit. New inquiries and new accounts both temporarily lower your score.
Keep credit card utilization below 30% of each limit. The lower the better, under 10% is ideal.

If across four rounds (days 30-120) you don't see a single deletion or update on any of your three bureau reports, every dollar you've paid us is refunded. No forms, no fight. After day 120, if there's still a specific item you want gone, we'll keep disputing it free or at a significantly discounted rate until it's removed.

Yes. There's no long-term contract. You can cancel from your portal or by contacting your dedicated agent at any time. You're paid through the end of your current 30-day cycle and your card will not be charged again.

$47 your first month, then $100/month for as long as you stay. No setup fees, no cancellation fees, no contract. Most clients stay 3 to 4 months until their score is mortgage-ready, then cancel. See full pricing →

Almost nothing. After each round of disputes you'll get a Progress Report 30 days later in your portal's document center, showing exactly what we disputed and what was removed.

You'll also receive response letters in the mail from the three bureaus, take a picture of each and upload them to your portal. The dispute team uses those response letters to decide which strategies to use next round. That's it. Most clients invest under one hour total across 120 days.

Phone or text during business hours, 8am to 6pm EST, Monday through Friday. Our email system is outbound-only, so the fastest way to get a response is to text your agent directly or message through your portal. We don't recommend using personal email since replies won't reach us.

When you dispute an item, the bureau has 30 days under FCRA to verify it. Verifying means contacting the data furnisher (collection agency, bank, etc.) and getting written confirmation the item is accurate. Many furnishers don't respond in time, can't produce documentation, or have stopped servicing the debt. When that happens, the bureau must remove the item. We use this strategically across multiple rounds, attacking the same item from different angles each time.

Often yes. Minimum FICO for a conventional mortgage is typically 620, and 580 for FHA. If you're below those thresholds because of disputable items on your report, removing them frequently brings the score over the line. We work with mortgage loan officers nationwide who refer clients to us specifically because they need 30-90 more points to close.

A CMS gives us live read-only access to your three bureau reports so we can verify deletions as they happen and adjust strategy in real time. We support MyFreeScoreNow, SmartCredit, MyScoreIQ, IdentityIQ, and PrivacyGuard. If you don't have one, we'll send sign-up links after enrollment.

No, we do credit repair only, disputing items on your credit report. For lawsuits, garnishments, or other legal matters you should hire an attorney. Most clients in legal situations work with both a credit repair company and a consumer-protection attorney at the same time.

Yes, we serve clients in all 50 US states. Some states have additional registration or surety-bond requirements for credit repair organizations; we comply with all of them. State-specific disclosures are provided during enrollment where required.

Credit counseling helps you manage existing debt, usually through a debt management plan. Credit repair disputes inaccurate items on your report. They serve different needs. If your problem is high balances or unaffordable payments, you want counseling. If your problem is errors and unverifiable items dragging your score down, you want repair.