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Who is Lexington Law and should you consider hiring them to repair your credit?
I’m sure that most of you have heard something about Lexington Law, and have wondered if you should consider hiring them to help you repair your credit. While a lot of people might consider them a scam, in reality they don’t exist to scam you. What they do, however, can be very secretive about what they offer. I’m going to give you an overview of what they actually do for you, and let you know the biggest secret of them all. Keep reading to find more.
For a one time $99 setup fee, and $39 per month you can sign up for the Lexington Regular plan. In this plan, they will happily assist you with disputing an unlimited number of items on your credit reports. They don’t say what type of disputes they will send, though. This comes into question when you preview their next option.
Their second plan is a $99 setup fee and $59 per month option that is called the Concord Standard. In this plan they agree to send Goodwill Letters to help attempt to remove some of the smaller late-pays that may be on your reports. They will also offer to ask a creditor for complete documentation and verification of an account that is on your report. This is recommended for seriously late accounts. Finally, they also offer send a Debt Validation letter to attempt to remove accounts that are Charge-Offs and Collection Accounts. Now, I’m pretty sure that if you’re considering using their services, you’ll at least be in this condition, with some seriously late accounts, as well as a charge-off or two. While the first plan may sound like a good deal, there’s a great chance that it isn’t going to suit your needs at all.
Plan #3 is called the Concord Premiere plan, and is available for a $99 setup fee and $79 per month payment. In this plan they provide everything that you get in the other plans, as well as offering a credit monitoring service on top of it. They will look at your report each month and tell you how you can use your credit better to increase your scores. They also let you know when any changes are made to your credit reports. On top of that, they allow you to dispute Inquiries that are on your credit reports. Then, if that’s not enough, you get a $25,000 Identity Theft insurance policy. Wow, it sounds like you’re really getting a great deal here, especially for only $79 per month. Keep reading, though. This is where it gets good.
They try to make it sound like they’re doing a lot for you, especially with the Standard and Premiere plans. If you go to their website, you’ll see how they have all these attorneys ready to help you repair your credit. You can even go online to let them know which items you want to dispute.
What they don’t tell you, though, is that you can do every single bit of that process yourself, for a fraction of the price. In fact, some of it can even be done over the phone or online. You never know how long it will take to remove some of the negative items, and they’re counting on it taking some time. That’s why they implement the monthly payments. They’re hoping that they only end up getting a few items removed at a time, causing you to keep having to pay them month after month. I’m going to tell you how you can do each piece of their process on your own. If you choose to sign up with them, at least you’ll be more informed.
Filing A Dispute: Filing a dispute can actually be really easy. If you are disputing personal information, such as a name or an address, then that can be done over the phone or online. If you are disputing an account on your credit report, you will get better results if you file your dispute in writing, instead of doing it online. It is also best to do it in writing because then you have a paper trail in case you need it for anything later. If you want free information on how to file a dispute, then just enter your name and email address in the box to the upper right and I will send the process straight to your email.
Disputing An Inquiry: I don’t know why this is offered only on their “Premium” service, because it is extremely easy to do. All you have to do is call the credit bureau and tell them that the person who did the inquiry did not have your permission to check your credit report. This can also be done through a simple letter, too. You just have to let them know that you didn’t give them permission to pull your credit and you should be able to have them removed. ** This is important ** : Do not start disputing all of your inquiries on your account at once. If you are doing this to repair your credit, then only dispute one or two at a time. Then wait for a few weeks before doing it again. If you start naming off a bunch of inquiries to dispute, then it is very likely you could have your report frozen and flagged for fraud and identity theft. You do NOT want this, because then you have to deal with just one more thing. Besides, the inquiries don’t affect your credit score as bad as the negative accounts that are on there.
Debt Validation: This is a very easy concept, but it is quite powerful. There are many Collection Agencies out there that simply buy up old debt or even try to collect on debts that they don’t even own, and then purchase the debts after they have collected. When you send a debt validation letter, you are requesting that they send you proper proof that they are allowed to collect on the debt. If they do not send this proof, then you are not required to pay them a dime. On top of that, they are not allowed to put anything on your credit report. If they do not send you adequate proof as stated by the FDCPA, then every time they try to collect after that, or every single update to your credit is counted as a violation and you can take them to court. Most of them don’t want to go to court, because it could open up investigation into their shady business practices, so they will simply comply with your request to remove your file and remove the account from your credit. There is also a method that is a little more consistent that you can use here too. It’s called the 1-2 punch, and will be explained at a later date through this site or you can learn about it earlier by signing up in the form at the upper right.
Credit Score and Report Monitoring/Advice: You probably don’t realize it, but you can get the same thing at several places online for MUCH cheaper. I currently get the same thing from TrueCredit at $9.99 per month (may be $14.99 per month now), but FreeCreditReport.com offers it, as well as many other places. I will get a page up with links to several businesses online that offer this, as well as their prices.
Identity Theft Insurance: Here are 2 places that provide great Identity Theft protection for as low as $10 per month, and back it up with a $1,000,000 guarantee. That sounds a little better than a $25,000 guarantee now, doesn’t it?
Lifelock is a company that specializes in securing your identity, no matter who knows your social security number. They have become a trusted name in Identity Theft Prevention, and have very reasonable plans for individuals, as well as families.
TrustedID is very similar to Lifelock, without all the commercials. They aren’t as well known, but they provide what appears to be the same level of service when it comes to protecting your identity. I think they even offer the first month free.
I highly recommend you check out either of these two companies if you’re concerned about protecting your identity.
As you can see, there is absolutely nothing that Lexington Law will do to fix your credit that you can’t do yourself for MUCH cheaper. It’s up to you how much you choose to educate yourself about credit, and who you decide to give control of your financial future. Would you rather pay a bunch of money to have somebody else hack at your credit, hoping that they will get things done quickly and not drag it out for months and months? Would you rather take the bull by the horns and try to do it yourself? There are people of all ages and backgrounds repairing their own credit, so there’s no reason that you can’t do the same.
If you do end up deciding to follow through with hiring Lexington Law after reading this whole post, then here’s a nice little link to get you straight there.
If you prefer to do it yourself, then read more of this site and learn more. I also recommend signing up in the upper-right form so I can send you step by step instructions on how to take action and start repairing your credit today.
If you want to learn it all right away, then I highly recommend the Credit Secrets Bible. This thing is packed full of great information and is a MUST READ for anybody trying to rebuild or repair their credit.
FreeCreditReport.com Commercials Lying To You
It turns out those commercials are pretty much lying to you. Read more at the links below, or look around on this site. I’ve been basically telling you that the whole time. ;o)
read more | digg story
Does anyone EVER check credit card signatures? (+Photos)
Great story on how a guy started drawing pictures on his credit card receipts and hey - no one even blinked an eye… Click the links below for the whole story!
read more | digg story
7 Deadly Mistakes That Will Kill Your Credit Score
Your credit score can get damaged pretty badly by things you do to improve it! As a long time credit counselor I have seen hundreds of people destroy their credit score while trying to fix it just because they didn’t know the game. Click on the “Read More” link to see these 7 mistakes.
read more | digg story
What Is A Utilization Ratio And What Should It Be?
A Utilization Ratio is the ratio that is found by comparing your entire credit card balances with your entire credit limits. If that doesn’t make sense yet, keep reading. Imagine that all of your credit cards combined have a credit limit of $30,000. If you use your cards and add the balance of each one together, you have a combined balance of $3,000. This would give you a utilization ratio of 10%. If, by chance, your combined balance was only $300, then your utilization ratio is only 1%.
What value should you be striving for? Well, it’s a subject that many people debate, and few can give absolute proof on a certain number. What is generally agreed, however, is that it should stay between 1% - 10%. This means that your credit card balances help your credit out the most when they remain between those numbers.
Now, you’re probably wondering how having a balance of 1% is better than having a balance of 0%. To be honest, credit card companies don’t care to extend credit to people who don’t use the credit cards. In fact, if you monitor your credit score, you’ll probably notice that it drops in the month after you pay off all of your cards. Then, the next month if you carry a balance, you’ll notice that it may jump back up a few points.
Your credit score is a way to determine how well you manage credit, and your credit risk. If you never use your cards, or pay them in full every month then people don’t have any incentive to give you more credit, and they can’t accurately determine how well you manage it when you are actually using it. The banks are in it to earn money, and you’re not giving them any, so they look past you and onto the next person. If you aren’t comfortable with carrying a balance, then by all means, pay it off and continue with your routine. If you are comfortable with carrying a balance, then keep it low, and consistent.
In the end, you should notice your score rising little by little because of this. No, it’s not a quick increase like you might be hoping for, but it’s a small piece in a very large puzzle.
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