FTC goes after credit repair groups on clarkhoward.com

The FTC has filed suit against a number of credit repair groups for violation of the Credit Repair Organization Act. You know the usual suspects…you see their ads on the Internet, on TV and in your inbox as spam. Beware of those promises to erase bankruptcy and magically raise your credit score.

Unfortunately, under current law, these scamsters are only subject to a slap on the wrist. There's no possibility of jail time for what they do. So they go away when reprimanded and then set up shop under a different name.

There is no magic wand for credit repair. You fix your credit by paying your bills on time. It really is that simple. Some 35% of your credit score reflects your timely payments each month, while another 30% has to do with reducing the amount of debt you owe vs. your line of available credit. That's a combined 65% right there.

Meanwhile, the FTC recently poked fun at the FreeCreditReport people with a spoof ad available at FTC.gov. As always, Clark wants to remind you that AnnualCreditReport.com is the only legitimate site to get your free credit reports once per year.

In fact, Clark has a new mantra he'd like you to repeat: FreeCreditReport is NOT free, FreeCreditReport is NOT free, FreeCreditReport is NOT free!

Lastly, Quizzle.com, CreditKarma.com and Credit.com all offer free credit scores. (Editor's note: The scores offered by these 3 services are not the official FICO score, but rather an approximation of it.)

What others are saying

I think no matter what we want the best credit score at all times. Writing dispute letters and sending them to the creditors can be frustrating. My FICO never changed until I finally found a non profit that had lawyer style credit dispute letters. They ahve inquiry removal letters which always boost even the best credit scores. BestCreditRepairLetters.com is a site ran by volunteer credit repair experts that offers credit dispute letters for credit inquires, late comments, collections, charge-offs, etc. They have examples on the website that show their letters work.
By Michael Lach @ 10/31/09 01:09:56 AMreport abuse
lexington law credit repair
so I am confused, is lexington law a good company, has anyone used them? with good results?
By mr brady @ 06/29/09 01:26:39 PMreport abuse
Free Credit Report.com
Sounded like a Great thing on TV, but it's not!
Reading the fine print saying "you have 9 days to cancel without any charge" isn't even valid. Their estimate of 9 days are not 24 hour periods even.
I canceled on the 9th day, was told by the operator my "credit card would not be charged" AND "to call back if it accidently was". Which it was the day after I called and canceled, and I did call them back. I was then told they "would not refund my money" and that "the previous operator have misinformed me".
Stay away from Free Credit Report.com, it's NOT Free and it's not a complete report either.
By Suni @ 04/13/09 07:15:40 PMreport abuse
Accuracy of FICO from creditkarma.com, quizzle.com, and credit.com
On 27 Mar 2009 I was looking to refinance my home. The online services and the phone sales people based quotes on FICO. I pulled my score from creditkarma.com (777), quizzle.com (834), and credit.com (832). Later the same the I applied for a mortgage and the mortgage company pulled my real scores (for $35). They were Equifax (803), Experian (814), and Transunion (799). Se beware the free credit report sites. You get what you pay for.
By Greg Spinney @ 04/07/09 05:34:27 PMreport abuse
Quizzle.com
I have found out there is another site that is trying to capitalize on people misspelling Quizzle.com If you put in http://www.quizzla.com/ instead of the www.Quizzle.com you get something that is not quite what your looking for but will lead you to believe you have found the right place. Thanks for letting folks know the right place.
By Jim Rumley @ 04/06/09 04:52:08 PMreport abuse
FreeCreditReport.com
The commercials are annoying, but they become downright aggravating if you've been duped by this firm. Everytime I hear that commercial, I think of how they claim "Free Credit Report" (dot com, Baby), but it's just not free.

What happens is that in order to get your "free" credit report, you have to sign up for 30 days free of a "credit monitoring service", and of course you give them a credit card number. And I, like thousands of others, signed up intending to cancel within the 30 days - no big deal. But you all know how this works - you forget, something happens, you never use the service again after you get your initial Credit Score. So about 5 months later, my wife asks "what's this charge we've been getting". Turns out, I got all busy and forgot to cancel the service. And, as could be expected, despite the fact that I never used the service other than getting the "free" credit report at signup, they were completely unwilling to make any adjustment to the charges. Usually my wife has a way with getting people to do the right thing, but not these clowns.

The commercials are stupid and catchy, and some are just ridiculous. But everytime I see that guy "singing" (turns out, he's a Canadian actor who only lipsyncs the songs - they're being sung by the guy who writes them), I just want to pound him into the turf over my lost $75.

Is that wrong?
By Howard @ 03/28/09 05:12:11 PMreport abuse
Clark...

Are you saying that Lexington Law Firm is a scam? How about credit repair guru, Edward Jamison?

Please share the difference between a legitimate credit repair company and the illegal ones.

Clark...

Are you on the Board of Consumer Credit Counseling? Do you have a vested interest in claiming credit repair companies are scammers?

According to the FCRA, is it true, that ALL information on your credit profiles MUST report 100% accurately, or the item MUST be deleted.

Well, what if a person pin-pointed a negative item on their report... Do they not have a right to dispute that item and have it removed, LEGALLY?

If so, I think that contradicts your statement above in paragraph three.

Please be more specific and try not to throw blanket statements out.

Just because your platform is far reaching, you should be held to the same standard the credit repair companies are held to.

Please do a little more research on this topic, stop putting your interests ahead of facts, and you'll find that some of what you claim is WAAAAAAAAAAAY off base.
By anonymous @ 03/27/09 03:25:22 PMreport abuse
FICO vs FAKO!
Come on Clark! If you're going to mention FICO scores in an article, tell people where the bona fide site is!

http://www.myfico.com/Default.aspx

Don't fall for those FAKO scores, which can be as much as 100 points off from the real thing!
By Medical Student @ 03/27/09 11:42:31 AMreport abuse

I think no matter what we want the best credit score at all times. Writing dispute letters and sending them to the creditors can be frustrating. My FICO never changed until I finally found a non profit that had lawyer style credit dispute letters. They ahve inquiry removal letters which always boost even the best credit scores. BestCreditRepairLetters.com is a site ran by volunteer credit repair experts that offers credit dispute letters for credit inquires, late comments, collections, charge-offs, etc. They have examples on the website that show their letters work.

By Michael Lach @ 10/31/09 01:09:56 AMreport abuse

lexington law credit repair

so I am confused, is lexington law a good company, has anyone used them? with good results?

By mr brady @ 06/29/09 01:26:39 PMreport abuse

Free Credit Report.com

Sounded like a Great thing on TV, but it's not!
Reading the fine print saying "you have 9 days to cancel without any charge" isn't even valid. Their estimate of 9 days are not 24 hour periods even.
I canceled on the 9th day, was told by the operator my "credit card would not be charged" AND "to call back if it accidently was". Which it was the day after I called and canceled, and I did call them back. I was then told they "would not refund my money" and that "the previous operator have misinformed me".
Stay away from Free Credit Report.com, it's NOT Free and it's not a complete report either.

By Suni @ 04/13/09 07:15:40 PMreport abuse

Accuracy of FICO from creditkarma.com, quizzle.com, and credit.com

On 27 Mar 2009 I was looking to refinance my home. The online services and the phone sales people based quotes on FICO. I pulled my score from creditkarma.com (777), quizzle.com (834), and credit.com (832). Later the same the I applied for a mortgage and the mortgage company pulled my real scores (for $35). They were Equifax (803), Experian (814), and Transunion (799). Se beware the free credit report sites. You get what you pay for.

By Greg Spinney @ 04/07/09 05:34:27 PMreport abuse

Quizzle.com

I have found out there is another site that is trying to capitalize on people misspelling Quizzle.com If you put in http://www.quizzla.com/ instead of the www.Quizzle.com you get something that is not quite what your looking for but will lead you to believe you have found the right place. Thanks for letting folks know the right place.

By Jim Rumley @ 04/06/09 04:52:08 PMreport abuse

The commercials are annoying, but they become downright aggravating if you've been duped by this firm. Everytime I hear that commercial, I think of how they claim "Free Credit Report" (dot com, Baby), but it's just not free.

What happens is that in order to get your "free" credit report, you have to sign up for 30 days free of a "credit monitoring service", and of course you give them a credit card number. And I, like thousands of others, signed up intending to cancel within the 30 days - no big deal. But you all know how this works - you forget, something happens, you never use the service again after you get your initial Credit Score. So about 5 months later, my wife asks "what's this charge we've been getting". Turns out, I got all busy and forgot to cancel the service. And, as could be expected, despite the fact that I never used the service other than getting the "free" credit report at signup, they were completely unwilling to make any adjustment to the charges. Usually my wife has a way with getting people to do the right thing, but not these clowns.

The commercials are stupid and catchy, and some are just ridiculous. But everytime I see that guy "singing" (turns out, he's a Canadian actor who only lipsyncs the songs - they're being sung by the guy who writes them), I just want to pound him into the turf over my lost $75.

Is that wrong?

By Howard @ 03/28/09 05:12:11 PMreport abuse

Clark...

Are you saying that Lexington Law Firm is a scam? How about credit repair guru, Edward Jamison?

Please share the difference between a legitimate credit repair company and the illegal ones.

Clark...

Are you on the Board of Consumer Credit Counseling? Do you have a vested interest in claiming credit repair companies are scammers?

According to the FCRA, is it true, that ALL information on your credit profiles MUST report 100% accurately, or the item MUST be deleted.

Well, what if a person pin-pointed a negative item on their report... Do they not have a right to dispute that item and have it removed, LEGALLY?

If so, I think that contradicts your statement above in paragraph three.

Please be more specific and try not to throw blanket statements out.

Just because your platform is far reaching, you should be held to the same standard the credit repair companies are held to.

Please do a little more research on this topic, stop putting your interests ahead of facts, and you'll find that some of what you claim is WAAAAAAAAAAAY off base.

By anonymous @ 03/27/09 03:25:22 PMreport abuse

FICO vs FAKO!

Come on Clark! If you're going to mention FICO scores in an article, tell people where the bona fide site is!

http://www.myfico.com/Default.aspx

Don't fall for those FAKO scores, which can be as much as 100 points off from the real thing!

By Medical Student @ 03/27/09 11:42:31 AMreport abuse

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Mar 26, 2009 -- FTC goes after credit repair groups

What others are saying