Credit Repair Fraud

Many companies offer fraudulent schemes for personal credit repair, offering to wipe out legitimate records and give a person a "clean slate". In many cases, these are either fraudulent scams or schemes which may cause a person attempting to use them to violate more serious laws. It is very important to note that this is not only the case.

Such schemes are primarily identified by unrealistic promises, such as the following:

We want you to pre-pay even though we are not a bank or a non-profit as defined in CROA.
We will erase bankruptcies from your record.
We can erase tax liens from your record.
We can issue you a new Social Security number.
We can clean up your credit in [any amount of time less than a 30-120 days].
Additionally, if you do sign up for a credit restoration/repair service, you should ask them the following important questions:

Is their company authorized by CROA, as a bank or non-profit to pre-charge for credit repair? Even an attorney cannot pre-charge for credit repair.
Is there a monthly fee? If so, then there is no incentive for them to quickly and efficiently clean your file.
Is there a lawyer or a legal department on staff? If not they are unable to deal with issues like tax liens, wage garnishments, and bankruptcies to the fullest extent.
Is the name "credit counseling" in the name? Credit counseling firms are simply tools of the banks and creditors, and leave your credit report in worse shape than when you started.
Is the company involved in "debt consolidation" at all? Debt consolidation is worse than a bankruptcy for your credit report.
Legitimate approaches which may correct erroneous, misleading, or outdated entries on a credit file, negotiate with creditors, and teach better debt habits, take months if not years to accomplish significant results.