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.
Bad credit has a habit of following you where ever you go. Even if you move from one state to another, your credit score will come along with you. Bad credit can be a result of financial mismanagement, or it may be due to a sudden loss of employment. Whatever the reasons may be for your low scores, the results are the same. Instead of letting bad credit dictate your life, consider working with a credit counseling company in Louisiana instead.
Louisiana is an affordable state, with a cost of living that’s below the national average in the US. Probably because of this, Louisiana has a low rate of credit card debt compared to other US states as well. The state average is $4,898 per person, versus the national average of $5,193.
Although the debt numbers are lower, credit scores in Louisiana are also well below national averages. At 689, they are 25 points below the national average of 714. If your credit score is sitting around the state average, or if you just need to raise it to get better debt options, credit repair might be an option to bring up a bad score from inaccurate credit report entries.
There is no magic wand to wave away credit problems, but without a good credit score, your life will be highly limited. It can be hard to rent an apartment, get a job, or even apply for a credit card. If you are tired of being denied at every turn, there is help available. With professional credit repair, you can get back on the path to financial health. Credit repair in the state of Louisiana will address problems such as:
The state of Louisiana has a specific state law that applies to credit repair companies. The Credit Repair Services Organizations Act (LA Rev Stat 9:3573.1) puts some limitations on companies or individuals who want to offer credit repair services to residents of the state. These limitations include:
Beyond the state laws, everyone offering credit repair in Louisiana has to abide by the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) as well. This law gives a blanket guidance to all credit repair companies in the country, mostly about how contracts can be set up, how customers can be charged for the service, and how companies offering the service are allowed to advertise their offerings.
No, lawyers are not necessary for credit repair in Louisiana or elsewhere in the US. While a lot of lawyers might offer this service as part of their practice, it’s a service that can be done by anyone, or even by you yourself, although it’s not recommended. Instead of looking only at Louisiana lawyers for credit repair, search for a company with a good reputation and a proven track record, not just legal credentials.
There are plenty of scams out there targeting people who are desperate to fix their credit. Sometimes it is because they are looking to rent or buy a new home, or in other cases, they simply want the collections calls to stop. Repairing credit takes time and rebuilding your score takes even longer. If a company tries to sell you an instant repair scheme, they are simply out to scam you out of your hard-earned money. Companies that are vague about their pricing or refuse to evaluate your circumstances before giving you an estimate are also not to be trusted.
In Louisiana, there are 3 main steps that go into fixing your credit through credit repair:
Step 1: Requesting credit reports in Louisiana
All residents of Louisiana are entitled to a free credit report from each of the 3 major credit bureaus once every 12 months. You need to request a report from all 3 so you can get the full picture of what’s going into your credit report. If you only get 1 report, you won’t be able to see the entries that might appear on reports from other credit bureaus, meaning you could be missing something that’s being used in calculating your credit score.
Step 2: Checking entries on your credit reports
Take a look at the 3 different credit reports you’ve received and look for any issues that might be present on them. If there are no inaccurate entries on your credit report, there’s nothing you can do to change your credit score with credit repair. Only if you find inaccuracies can you advance to the final step of sending a dispute letter.
Step 3: Contacting credit bureaus about inaccuracies
Dispute letters are sent to credit bureaus to alert them about inaccurate transactions and request their removal from your credit report. These must be sent to credit bureaus when they include incorrect entries in their credit reports, with a letter needing to be sent to each bureau separately. This will initialize the process, but it will take time to finalize everything.
Note: Even if the process of credit repair looks really simple, it’s more complicated than it seems, especially the final step. While you can do it for yourself, you’re likely to run into issues with getting the credit bureau to finalize the removal of credit report entries, even though they’re inaccurate. It’s better to work with a reputable credit bureau that you can trust to follow up with credit bureaus and get things done on your behalf.
You can improve your credit score by a lot if you’re currently having an issue caused by inaccurate entries on your credit report. In Louisiana, you can only use credit repair service to remove inaccurate credit report entries, not legitimate reports. Because of this, it can greatly improve your credit score because you’ll be removing false entries that could be dragging it down by a lot.
The normal practice of charging for credit repair involves paying a monthly fee to the company you’re working with until the process is finished. Most will also charge an upfront setup fee in the start of your contract, which is a one-time payment. In Louisiana, the average cost of credit repair is between $99 - $199 per month, but you can find companies that charge more or less than that, with the full range being somewhere around $129.
Credit repair takes a long time, unfortunately. The average time it takes in Louisiana is between 3 – 6 months because of delays that often happen in the process. Although credit bureaus are required to respond to dispute letters within 30 days of receiving them, they don’t usually complete the full investigation and remove inaccurate transactions within this time. It takes more following up and pushing for movement if you want your case to advance.
You can do credit repair anywhere in Louisiana. There are no restrictions to who can access the service, as long as the company that’s providing it is heeding all Louisiana state laws and federal laws for their industry. It’s not a service that’s restricted to large metro areas like New Orleans or Baton Rouge. There’s always a way to access credit repair, even in St. Rose, Lacombe, or Homer. Many people tend to think that building a good credit score is a hard nut to crack, but with the help of a skilled credit repair specialist, you can turn your credit around and learn to manage your finances properly.