BiggerPockets

Don't speed.

Ok... the real answer...

You can look at the reasoning codes that are on some credit reports and they will list the reasons why your score is not higher.

Also, you can use www.truecredit.com (which is Trans Union) and it will give you suggestions on what to do to raise your score.

someone in this forum mentioned lexington law you can do a search on that. they remove negative items from you history. It was mentioned several days ago.

Is there something specifically wrong with Lexington Law? Did you have a bad experience. It's been mentioned here several times so it may help others if you have something to share in more detail.

8)

Rehab702,

Lex Law has a bad rep for continuing to charge you your monthly payment after you cancel. They have been known to dispute good accts and they get it deleted and its almost impossible to get them put back on.

I've had two friends that used Lex Law and while some the bad things fell off, it was offset by the good accts that got removed. They have no reason to worry about what gets deleted because its not their credit thats being hurt.

Your credit score is the most importent thing these days because all lenders use it (with a few exceptions, FHA and such).

Lefty

.So I should write a letter to the collection agencies and they will handle it from there. I found a sample letter off that website you recommend.

I should fix it to make it fit my situation. '

what do think? is this correct?

AGREEMENT TO COMPROMISE DEBT

Max Creditor, referred to as CREDITOR and Jane Doe, referred to as DEBTOR, agree to compromise the indebtedness as between them. CREDITOR, hereby agrees to compromise the indebtedness due the CREDITOR on the following terms and conditions:

The CREDITOR and the DEBTOR agree that the present debt due is $1436.18 (one thousand four hundred thirty six & 18/100 dollars). The parties agree that the CREDITOR shall accept the sum of $1000.00 (one thousand & no/100 dollars) as full payment on the debt. The acceptance of the payment will serve as a complete discharge of all monies due. The payment shall be made in cash.

In addition, upon accepting of the $1000, the CREDITOR will notify all Credit Reporting Agencies that account is PAID AS AGREED, and delete any entries showing this account as ever being late.

This compromise is expressly conditioned upon the payment being received by January 15, 2000. If the DEBTOR fails to pay the compromised amount by January 15, 2000, the original amount owed by the DEBTOR will be reinstated in full, and immediately due.

This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and assigns.

Dated: _______________

Signature: ____________

Max Creditor
CREDITOR

Signature: ____________

Jane Doe
Debtor

this is the website: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/forms/sampleletter6.shtml

Hello hondal,

I know I may be a little late chimimng in but here are my thoughts:

1.)The credit cards that you have now......do NOT put more than 50% on those cards. In other words, if your limit is $1000, never spend more than $500 on that card. Also when you do pay it back, pay a little more than your minimum eaach month. Most consumers believe if they pay the bill off all at once, their score will improve...NOT SO. Lenders see you as a dead beat since you are not exactly building credit.

2.) Pay all of your bills on time. Bills paid more than 30 days late are reported to the bureaus. if you are 2 or 3 or 15 days late, that will not affect your FICO.

3.) Equifax, Transunion, and Experian are all privately owned, for-profit companies. Their job is to report your financial responsibility or lack thereof. Think about that. They are not supposed to report ANY unverified information about you financially, yet they do. What incentive do they have to verify all information, when they are getting paid to report erroneous information? Studies show that 79% of all information found on consumer credit reports are unverified. So, even if you do owe money to X creditor and the bureau cannot prove that you do, the FTC and the FCRA says that they can't. Yet...they do.That is where credit restoration companies come in. Experienced Lawyers fight vehemently to get those pesky negatives off your report.

4.) Lexington law has its hands full with angry customers. I know a few of my mortgage clients that have worked with them in the past and thought that they had had good credit. When I finally pulled their credit reports, alot of times the score were even worse. They have been known to collect their fees and not correspond with their clients or tell them how the process was going. They also have mor complaints with the BBB than I care to mention. http://www.BBB.ORG

I recommend United Credit Education Services. They are GREAT and Non- profit. You can see my profile for the website.

I wish you blessings and success in your credit restoration and business endeavors.

LL will charge you for what you can do for free and get better results on your own. Since the charge monthly it is in their best interest to work as slowly as possible.

Well, I guess I'm one of the ones who had good results with Lexington Law.

I used to run a credit repair seminar for auto dealerships. They would hire us to come in and teach the shoppers how to become buyers.

At the end of the day, most of the attendees would want to hire someone to do it for them. As GA has some funny laws (and, I didn't want to do it anyway) after researching the field, I started refering them all to Lexington. I would guess that over the years, I sent them 500+.

While no company is perfect, I would have to say that their results were far better than some of the comments on here would indicate. I continue to use them for my lease-purchase clients. I require all my lease-purchase clients to enroll in some type of program. That way, they have a chance of actually getting that morgtage next year. I have 3 in their program now, and all are on-track.

A few points-
1. The client is also responsible for communication with the firm. Last time I checked, my phone dialed out, too.
2. It is actually the client who ID's which accounts to dispute (I actually work with my tenants to ID them). So, if good accounts were removed, there was probably a reason.
3. Scores DO NOT always go up when you get negative items off. I had a nice couple I sent them with only 4 items on their report- a $500 limit Cross Country card (maxed out) and 3 repos from where they had co-signed for their kids. 2 months later, the repos were gone, but as their high credit was the credit card, their score actaully dropped 11 points. But, with the poison pills off, they got a car.
4. Payments are made by auto draft, and can be stopped with a simple call to your bank.
5. You have to stay on top of it- I meet with my tenants each month to go over their progress.

And a note- one poster who slammed Lexington and then went on to promote one he is marketing. That's kind of reminding of the stuff we hear everyday from all these folks running for President. Just take the high road- promote your own firm. People are smart, and can made an informed decision.

And, while the company he toughts might do a great job, the $499 fee they charge up-front is in violation of the CROA (Credit Repair Organizations Act) and my own state law. So, I could never refer them to any of my tenants, anyway.

Not to take a cheap shot, but I guess your opinion can be swayed if you're getting paid. I mean, how many folks working at Ford are going to tell you how great a Chevy is?

So, just do your own research, and make an informed decision.