Repair Your Credit By Legally Removing All Negative Accounts: It’s All Legal, I promise! (Just Don’t Report It To The Authorities)

I am sure that by now almost everyone has seen advertisements on the radio, television or the internet from companies or companies affiliated with law firms claiming to be “credit repair experts.” They boldly claim to be successful at removing from credit reports any derogatory accounts including short sales, foreclosures, and bankruptcies.

Most of the claims in these advertisements say, “We can clean your credit report and save you thousands,” “We remove foreclosures and bankruptcies from your credit report and best of all; it is all legal.”

Well, believe me when I tell you that they are lying to you! DON’T BE ANOTHER VICTIM of a credit repair scheme!

Today’s economy is a golden opportunity (in the literal cense) for these so called experts. They adapt very well to changes in the economy. During a booming economy, these companies use the consumer’s excitement to scam people out of their money. Nevertheless, in a slow economy they use the consumer’s fears to continue ripping people off.

The need to remove derogatory accounts like a short sale, foreclosure, collections, bankruptcy from credit reports and the need for new credit has resulted in aggressive marketing by these companies and law firms claiming to be credit experts.

Federal and state authorities warn that their promises may be deceptive and illegal. Why illegal? Well for starters it is against the law for organizations, companies, or individuals to collect fees upfront for credit repair services. It is also against the law to make promises of credit improvements that are not feasible, such as elimination of foreclosure or bankruptcy records that are accurate.

So, contrary to what you may here elsewhere, here is “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” about credit repair:

It is possible for any consumer to remove or modify derogatory information from their credit reports. However, this information has to be inaccurate or outdated.
No trustworthy company will ask you to pay money upfront because it is against federal law.
You should always stay away from companies that tell you not to contact a credit reporting company directly.
Stay away from companies that claim to be able to delete “all” your negative accounts or companies that advise you to dispute all your negative accounts.
Avoid any companies that suggest creating a “new” credit report by applying for an Employer Identification Number to use instead of your Social Security number. This is against the law and you could be subject to prosecution.
In addition, companies need to be registered with the California Secretary of State as “credit services organizations” before conducting their credit repair business, as required by California Law.

If you don’t follow this advice you will most definitely end up loosing your money on worthless products and with deceitful companies.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched “Operation Clean Sweep” in response to thousands of complaints from consumers throughout the nation against deceitful companies.

One of those lawsuits is against Successful Credit Service Corporation (also doing business as Success Credit Services) and Tracy Ballard (also known as Tracy Ballard-Straughn).

According to the FTC, Tracy Ballard from Woodland Hills, California promotes credit repair services through her company’s website and through seminars offering real estate investment and business opportunities.

Ballard posted recordings of herself on her website stating “If we get a client that’s got a Chapter 7 that just was discharged yesterday and included about 20 accounts in there,….maybe some extra tax liens,” their credit would be clear in about 9 to 11 months. Furthermore, she claimed to use a hard delete and further explained that “Once we remove it, it’s gone for good….we fix the credit 100 percent guaranteed whether it is a bankruptcy or a 30-day late.”

In wealth building real estate seminars held throughout the country, Ballard claimed to have special knowledge and special relationships that enable them to permanently and legally remove accurate negative information from consumers’ credit reports.

The company required an advance fee of $3,000 to $4,000. But once consumers caught on to the scheme, their requests for a refund were almost always denied. Unhappy consumers made several attempts to contact Ballard. In response, they received a variety of excuses and eventually were instructed to stop calling. Shortly after, the consumers’ emails and voice-mails went unanswered.

In another lawsuit, the FTC is suing Clean Credit Report Services based out of North Miami, Florida. The FTC claims the company’s radio ads promised that “the negative marks that appear on your credit report can be removed – legally! Things like late payments, collection accounts, charge-offs, repossessions, bankruptcy and identity theft. Clean Credit Report Services will remove all the negative remarks . . . in as little as three months.”

According to the lawsuit, customers were required to pay an advance fee for approximately $400. However, this fee simply provided consumers with a compact disc plus a book that provided instructions on how they could improve their credit files on their own.

As a result of “Operation Clean Sweep,” some of the operations and individuals charged with violating the FTC Act and the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) are:

Nationwide Credit Services, Inc and James R. Dooley, based in Jacksonville, Florida
Clean Credit Report Services, Inc, Ricardo A. Miranda, Daniel R. Miranda and Ruthy Villabona, based in North Miami, Florida
Successful Credit Service Corporation (also doing business as Success Credit Services) and Tracy Ballard (also known as Tracy Ballard-Straughn), based in Woodland Hills, California
Advantage Credit Repair, LLC and Mark D. Solomon based in Chicago Illinois
RCA Credit Services, LLC and Rick Lee Crosby, Jr., based in Largo, Florida
Latrese & Kevin Enterprises, Inc (also doing business as Hargrave & Associates Financial Solutions), Latrese Hargrave (also known as Latrese V. Willimas), and Kevin Hargrave, Sr., based in Jacksonville, Florida and another office in Columbus, Ohio
Ace Group, Inc (also doing business as American Credit Experts, Inc, The Ace Group, Inc, The Ace Group, and Ace), Legal Credit Repair Center, Inc (also doing business as LCRC), Michael Singer, Melvin Kessler and Gerald Roth, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Finally, here is video that may prove useful if you are drowning in debt and you are thinking about contacting a “Debt Consolidation company,” or a “Debt Solution company.” YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!