However, thorough research is essential to ensure the legitimacy and reputation of any debt relief service. The time required to improve your credit varies based on the severity of the credit issues you’re working on and whether you’re working on them yourself or using a repair company. In general, it can take a few months to several years to rebuild your credit score.

Can Credit Repair Services Dispute Errors For You?

Debt relief service scams target consumers with significant credit card debt by falsely promising to negotiate with their creditors to settle or otherwise reduce consumers’ repayment obligations. These operations often charge cash-strapped consumers a large up-front fee, but then fail to help them settle or lower their debts – if they provide any service at all. Some debt relief scams even tout their services using automated “robocalls” to consumers on the Do-Not-Call List. Even if you’ve been checking your score online, there can be things on your report that you don’t know about. For example, if you’ve had a debt change hands between collectors more than once, it’s possible there can be duplicates of that account on your report. Our credit repair service includes a deep dive into your report to make sure there aren’t any errors that bring your score down.

Online lending platform SoFi offers loans from $5,000 to $100,000, making it a great option if you need to consolidate high credit card balances. Repayment terms range from two to seven years, making SoFi a flexible option if you meet the lender’s credit score requirement (minimum 650); notably, there’s no income requirement. SoFi’s APRs include a 0% to 7% origination fee and are higher than those available through some lenders.

Credit Saint’s direct integration with Experian and TransUnion streamlines and simplifies the process of accessing your credit reports and disputing errors. While The Credit Pros’ services are robust, but can come with a higher price tag.. There’s a one-time setup fee—ranging from $119 for the basic plan to $149—which could deter those on a tighter budget.

Credit Score

If you’ve already tried reaching out to the company and still have an issue, you can submit a complaint to the Bureau. Tell us about your issue—we’ll forward it to the company and work to get you a response, generally within 15 days. It’s important to carefully weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether to work with Accredited Debt Relief. Kim Lowe is Head of Content for NerdWallet’s Personal and Student Loans team.

If you currently have a bad credit score, you’re unlikely to jump all the way up to an excellent credit score. Depending on your situation, you might not make much positive progress, if any. “ creditrepair can help you buy a home, get a business loan or finance an education,” says Andrew Smith, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. But if you’ve faced financial challenges, your credit score could be dragging you down. Once you start taking the steps to fix your credit, it’s a good idea to keep regular tabs on your score by checking it once a month.