Credit Repair Articles / Education and Your Rights

At Vitesse Financial, we feel that reliable credit repair companies make it a priority not only to assist their clients fix bad credit, but help them feel informed about loan repayment, debt consolidation, credit scores, and lender standards. The more informed an individual is, the less likely he or she is to make errors unknowingly--this is especially important when dealing with delicate matters like credit history. One error can take months to fix!

We have placed the following articles on our site, which explain topics like ways a credit repair company can help clients, what happens when a credit bureau makes an error on a consumer's report, how public records affect a FICO score, and much more. We encourage visitors to our site to read the following articles about various aspects of credit rating repair, bureaus, lenders, and scores.

• Credit in the Financial Crisis (June, 2009)
• Three Reasons to Repair Low Credit Scores (May, 2009)
• Habits for Optimal Credit Ratings (April, 2009)
• Credit Report Basics (March, 2009)
• Three Ways to Improve Your Credit Score (February, 2009)
• Repair Bad Credit in 2009 (January, 2009)

Inform Yourself, Education and Your Rights

• Why the Credit Bureaus Can't Get It Right (PDF) (Smart Money - March, 2009)
• Mistakes Do Happen: A Look at Errors in Consumer Credit Reports (PDF) (Public Interest Research Groups Study 2004)
• Credit Report Accuracy and Access to Credit (PDF) (Federal Reserve Bulletin 2004)
• Credit Score Accuracy and Implications for Consumers (PDF) (Consumer Federation of America/National Credit Reporting Association 2002)
• Colorado Credit Services Organization Act (PDF)
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (PDF)
• FICO Score Negative Accounts and Public Records

Credit repair is legal, but some companies are not. The following fraud detection guidelines can help you steer clear of illegitimate credit repair companies.

The Federal Trade Commission Advice for Consumers

• Avoid any company that wants you to pay for credit repair services before they provide any services. It is against the law.
• Avoid any credit repair company that will not tell you your legal rights and what you can do, yourself, for free.
• Avoid any credit repair company that tells you not to contact a credit reporting company directly.
• Avoid any credit repair company that advises you to dispute all of the information in your credit report.
• Avoid any company that suggests creating a 'new' credit identity - and then, a new credit report - by applying for an Employer Identification Number to use instead of your Social Security number. That is against the law. If you follow illegal advice and commit fraud, you also may be subject to prosecution.