Joe Pye is Debt.com’s managing editor and a PFE-certified debt management professional. We’re the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution.

When it comes to fixing errors on your credit report, working with a credit repair company can make the process easier. The Credit People was originally founded in 2001, so they have had more than 20 years to fine-tune their credit repair services. With plenty of experience under their belts, this company promises meaningful results with your credit within the first 60 days. This company offers assistance from attorneys that concentrate on credit repair.

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We apply educational approach, invaluable resources, and customized plan not only to help you repair your bad credit history but also to help you maintain a healthy credit score in the long run. Our credit repair services are not pointed towards temporary solutions. Rather, creditrepair are aimed towards achieving lasting positive results. This is why we strive to create a strong and healthy relationship with our customers.

While you can certainly tackle credit repair on your own, enlisting the help of a credit repair company can simplify the process considerably. These companies handle negotiations with creditors and credit bureaus for you, saving you countless hours on the phone or drafting letters. If you find errors on your credit reports, you must dispute these inaccuracies directly with the issuing credit bureau. If the same error appears on multiple reports, you must file a separate dispute with each bureau concerned.

Over the course of six months, Mike sees significant improvements in his creditworthiness, opening doors to better loan terms and financial opportunities. The Credit Pros offers affordable plans to help you increase your credit score so you pay less for the essentials (and the extras) in life. If you are struggling to pay off debt and would like some help with credit, credit repair companies promising they can provide a “quick fix” for your credit may sound tempting.

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Our first goal is always to have the debt fully removed from your credit report. In cases where that’s not possible, we may recommend negotiating a payoff as a final option—and we’ll negotiate directly with the creditor on your behalf. Take full ownership of your credit improvement journey with CreditDIY.

As a result of the CFPB’s enforcement action, the companies were ordered to pay $2.7 billion in consumer redress and civil penalties and were banned from telemarketing credit repair services for 10 years. This will help you maintain a longer average credit history, which is another factor that positively influences your credit score. Just be sure to pay off any balances in full each month to avoid accruing interest or fees.

Newer versions of the FICO® Score and VantageScore credit scoring systems ignore paid collections, so if a lender uses a score based on one of them, paying the collections account could improve your credit picture. With patience and discipline, meaningful credit improvement is possible without expensive services. Credit repair companies, also known as credit services organizations, are for-profit businesses that charge consumers to dispute credit report items on their behalf. In addition to filing disputes, many of these firms also market services such as credit monitoring, identity theft protection, debt validation, and educational resources. Credit bureaus sell the information in your report to businesses that use it to decide whether to loan you money, give you credit, offer you insurance, or rent or sell you a home. Some employers use credit reports to decide whether to hire you.

But remember, negative actions could hurt the credit of both users. Many credit repair professionals offer personalized credit score improvement plans. These plans are tailored to the client’s specific situation and provide guidance on actions they can take to boost their credit strength and achieve their financial goals.

High credit utilization—using more than roughly 30% of the borrowing limit on one or all of your credit cards or other credit lines—can lower your credit scores. If your credit utilization is elevated, paying down those balances could be one of the quickest ways to bring about credit score improvement. These are not just bad ideas, they’re also scams — and they’ll hurt your credit if you buy into the scam. If a company promises to create a new credit identity or hide your bad credit history or bankruptcy, that’s also a scam.

We meticulously assess your credit profile and create a customized plan to tackle any existing issues and enhance your credit. Credit repair is when consumers work with companies that specialize in removing errors from credit reports with the intent to increase their credit score. Statements such as “fastest” or “most aggressive” describe our approach and past performance in lawful dispute escalation—not guaranteed results for every consumer. We do not claim to remove accurate, timely, and verifiable information. Outcomes and timelines vary by individual case, creditor, bureau response times, and the availability of supporting documentation. Any references to timeframes (e.g., “15–45 days”) describe typical dispute response windows or past results and are not a promise or guarantee of outcome.

We also considered any additional features these credit repair companies provide, such as credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. However, you can get cheaper, higher-quality services elsewhere. Check out our guides to the best credit monitoring and best identity theft protection services. It can be worth paying for credit repair companies if you have significant inaccuracies on your credit report and need professional help to resolve them.

If you’ve already disputed an account online without success, disputing an account again with physical letters using CreditRehab Pro does not create any problems. When you switch to physical letters with CreditRehab Pro, be sure to not dispute your accounts online again. CreditRehab Pro links with your existing or new SmartCredit 3 bureau credit report. Credit repair service costs vary by service and by company, typically ranging from $50 to $150 a month, depending on the level of service and features offered. You are only billed for the time and services you’ve received. We believe in flexibility, fairness, and building trust—not locking you into something you don’t need.

A credit counselor can help you manage your debt, offer educational tools, and help you repair your credit. A one-time consultation with a credit counseling agency is typically free. However, your credit counselor may suggest that you take on a debt management plan and offer ongoing services at a small fee.

Choose from business checking, business credit cards, merchant services or visit our business resource center. You should feel empowered to take the steps you need in order to turn your credit score around. Whether you’re working with a credit repair company, lender, financial advisor or doing it on your own, you have the tools and resources available to help you improve your financial standing. You can create a credit score improvement goal in which you’ll receive a personalized action plan provided by Experian™ to improve your credit score over time.