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Credit Repair Counselor - How Can They Help Me?
By admin | March 8, 2008
With so many different names and and job descriptions to choose from when selecting a credit repair service, many consumers are just throwing their hands up in a sign of utter and complete confusion. Without having had a lot of experience with the various types of professional help available in a credit crisis, many people are unable to distinguish between the types of services, and more importantly, making the right choice for their particular situation.
Here is the problem in a nutshell. While the Credit Repair Organizations act does lay out much of the framework for process and protocol in providing services ( mostly outlining guarantees, payment agreements and defensive policies to ensure consumers don’t’ get mislead or over billed ) there is ironically very little oversight in titles and terminology, nor accreditation or licensing issues.
Very simply - you, your next door neighbor and his Aunt visiting from Boca Raton can all call yourselves credit counselors and hang a shingle as such on the front door. While there are some more advanced distinctions from a schooling and a continuing education standpoint in the consumer finance counseling arena overall, again, this type of repair is just not an area that has a lot of oversight. So you have to be careful when picking a professional to assist you with your needs.
Many of the counselors you are going to find online are easy to spot, and easy to verify from a credentialing standpoint. They are paralegals working for a law firm that specializes in credit repair. They are omnipresent throughout this business and have credentials that can be checked. Good place to look? How about the Better Business Bureau? It’s a good idea to check with the Online Better Business Bureau as they can usually provide you with an instant database query of any negative actions taken against a particular attorneys office or credit counselor.
Other individualized ” one man or woman shops” are going to be harder to do quality control for, especially if you are not meeting them face to face, which is becoming more common with online hires. It’s always a good idea to check credentials and track record through testimonials. Often times small credit clinics will offer some sort of incentive to satisfied past customers for this very purpose, to make themselves available ( at least via email ) for a reference or testimony of a prior job well done.
If you are hiring a counselor, just make very sure you understand EXACTLY what the job or service performed will be, as unfortunately, I’ve seen counselors charge several hundred dollars for 90 minutes of basic ” counseling”. Often times this counseling is nothing more than an admonishment for past spending or credit issues, and then a written budget to follow to try to stay afloat. If you are truly in need of repair, this would obviously be money and time wasted - as any good similar service would include some sort of budgetary education, and no one likes to be chastised when they are already down in the dumps.
Make sure you identify your needs before committing to any credit repair counselor, and make sure the service they will be ultimately providing conforms to your situation. There are many talented, caring and hard working folks out there who will do a good job for you, just make sure you do your research before signing on the dotted line!
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