Are you looking for professional help to improve your credit score? We have reviewed 42 credit repair companies and have selected 7 that could help you challenge credit inaccuracies, dispute negative items on your credit report and raise your credit score.
No matter what type of credit score you have, if you live in Alabama then professional credit repair can help. Professional credit repair can help get you back on the path to financial health. By working with a reputable Alabama credit repair company, you can check your credit report and come up with a customized plan to help repair your credit. By working with experienced financial professionals, your life and your credit can get back onto the right track. Once you fix your credit, you won’t have to worry about missing out on your dream home or being denied if you want to purchase a new car or get a credit card. There are plenty of debt repair options available to all Alabama residents, so give a reputable credit repair company a call so you can get started today.
Debt is a normal part of life. In Alabama, the average person has a credit card balance of $5,157, which is lower than the national average. For those buying homes, the average mortgage payment was $1,172.
While the statewide average FICO credit score is a healthy 710, this doesn’t mean the whole population of Alabama has good credit. If bad credit is causing you problems, credit repair is one option to help improve your credit score by removing inaccurate entries on your credit report.
Credit repair is legal in Alabama. While there can always be bad operators, there is a completely legitimate credit repair industry in Alabama. Don’t let any company pressure you into working with them unless you’re fully comfortable with it, because you can always choose to go through the credit repair process yourself.
Every Alabama resident has the right to challenge entries on their credit report. If you believe there are inaccurate or fraudulent entries on your credit report, you could be experiencing unnecessary difficulty in getting a loan. Credit repair is your right, whether you choose to do it on your own or work with a credit repair firm.
Don’t let bad credit get you down. It takes time to recover following a long history of bad credit, but working with a credit repair agency can help. The best way to safeguard your credit score is to stay informed about how it is used and also by maintaining a balanced budget. It is important to note that credit repair organizations are federally regulated. According to the CROA, no organization that is offering credit repair services is allowed to make false claims. In Alabama, all credit repair companies must also be licensed and follow Alabama financial industry laws.
There are no specific state laws about credit repair in Alabama. Instead, the state industry falls under federal credit repair laws, known as the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA). This act governs the conduct of credit repair companies in how they advertise to you, how they charge customers, what should be included in the written contract, and your cancellation rights.
Although you can hire a credit repair lawyer to do your credit repair in Alabama, you do have other choices. There’s no requirement for credit repair to be done by a lawyer, meaning companies that help you repair your credit don’t actually need to be lawyers.
Most of the top credit repair services in Alabama are not law firms. Consumer law firms can also provide this service, but there’s no reason you need to work with a lawyer to challenge credit report entries. Find an Alabama credit repair service you trust to do the job right.
Living with bad credit can be difficult so it makes sense that you want to repair your score as soon as possible. It is important to keep in mind that fixing errors, removing negative marks, and rebuilding your credit score takes time. In general, you should be able to see a noticeable change after three months. Around the six-month mark, you may even notice a jump in your score as old debts and other issues start to fall off. Follow the plan your credit repair company lays out for you in order to achieve the best results. Going through the credit repair process in Alabama can take time, but it’s worth it if you have inaccuracies on your credit report. The process can be done in 3 steps:
The first step to repairing your credit is understanding the issues on your credit report. In Alabama and all other US states, you’re entitled to a free credit report from all 3 major credit bureaus every 12 months. Request reports from all 3 to get a complete picture of everything impacting your credit.
With the 3 credit reports in hand, you need to go through each and look for any entries that appear inaccurate or suspicious. Pay close attention to every detail.
Inaccuracies can include fraudulent entries, incorrect negative reports, missing payment information, and similar false information. When any inaccuracies are present on your credit report, you are entitled to an investigation and removal of all false entries.
If you find entries on your credit report that are inaccurate, you can challenge those entries through a dispute process with the major credit bureaus. This is a process you can do for yourself, or you can work with a reputable credit repair company to handle it for you.
The dispute process can take time. Specific evidence needs to be submitted for the process to start, and you need to follow up regularly to make sure your disputes are being actively investigated. Once the investigation is complete, inaccurate entries may be removed from your report, which can improve your credit score.
Note: Credit repair cannot fix all bad credit scores. This process works on fraudulent or inaccurate entries in your credit report. You cannot undo legitimate negative entries, such as missed payments or defaulting on a loan.
The real impact of disputing inaccurate entries will vary. If there are missed or late payments recorded incorrectly, having those removed will have a significant impact on your credit score. Other inaccuracies may not have as strong of an impact, but it can still be worth following up to make sure your credit building is not being held back by anything.
Credit repair from an experienced company in Alabama is between $99 - $199 per month, with the average being around $120 per month. Since the plans are charged monthly, you can cancel at any time. If you want the credit repair firm to continue following up until the end of the process, you need to continue paying the monthly fee until it’s complete.
It can take as little as 30+ days to resolve any issues with your credit report in Alabama, or it could take up to a year if you have to go through many negative items and there is a lot of back and forth with the credit bureaus. When you put in a dispute with any of the major credit bureaus, they are given 30 days to investigate the issue and give you a response. Depending on the results of the investigation, that could be the end of the process, or you could have to follow up again to resubmit a dispute if your first application had incomplete information.
Credit repair is available in every major city in Alabama, including Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, and Mobile. There are many reputable credit repair firms in these cities for anyone to use. Most credit repair firms in Alabama operate in all cities and are not limited to only the larger metro areas. Credit repair is not location dependent. You can do it from anywhere in the state, even if you’re in a different city or county from the firm you’re working with. Whether you live in La Fayette, Adamsville, Brookside, or Daphne, you can access trustworthy credit repair to help improve your credit score in Alabama.
Restoring your credit can be a confusing process, and it is one that often takes a considerable amount of time. In order for your credit to improve and not just get worse, there is a lot of work that needs to be done on your behalf. A credit repair company in Alabama will typically start by getting copies of your credit reports. If you have some that are less than 30 days old, you can use those for a consultation as well. They will then review your credit report and create a customized plan that addresses negative marks on your credit such as closed accounts, bad debt, and other issues. In some cases, you may be encouraged to consolidate your bills while in others it may be best to pay them off and then close the accounts.
Credit repair services also address mistakes that are found on your credit report. Items such as double accounts paid balances still showing as due and even debts that do not belong to you. As your bad marks start to fall off, you will notice your credit score start to improve over time. A good credit repair company will also work with you to create a budget to help you stay on track with your finances as you continue to repair and build your credit. This is important for people who have trouble managing their finances or those who have consolidated and need to maintain a regular payment schedule as part of their payment arrangements.
In order to maintain a healthy credit score, you will need to make timely payments. If you miss a payment or if you are late, it will result in a negative mark on your report. Bringing the account up to date and then asking for a goodwill removal will often be granted if you have maintained a regular payment schedule for at least six months. Also, having open lines of credit are good for your score, but using up the full available balance is not. Your score will decrease as your debt to income ratio increases. Anything below 50% is ideal and won’t affect your credit score, however, above 50% will start to cause it to drop.
Your ratio is determined by how much of your available credit lines are used. For example, if you have a credit card with a $2000 limit, carrying a balance of more than $1,000 will put you over the 50% DTI for that card. Your score is also determined by the DTI of all of your accounts combined, so make a pointed effort to reduce your ratios to help boost your score. If all you can make are the minimum payments then that is better than a late payment. However, if you can pay more, consider increasing your payment or making several payments each month to bring your DTI down.