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.
There may be many beautiful homes on the market in Maryland, but if you have bad credit, they are all out of reach. Perhaps homeownership is not in the cards, and you simply want to get the car of your dreams. If you have bad credit, chances are you won’t be approved for a loan or you will be offered high-interest rates that make your dream car unaffordable. Whatever your goals maybe you will need a healthy credit score to get there. There are some things you can do on your own to fix your credit, but a professional credit repair service in Maryland can do so much more.
Maryland is consistently listed as one of the top 10 most expensive states to live in the US. Because of this, it comes as no surprise that Maryland has much higher credit card debt than the average US state. At $5,858 per person, the state average credit card debt is nearly $700 more than the national average.
Despite higher costs of living, credit scores in Maryland are on par with national averages. At 716, the state average is just 2 points above the US average. This is a good average credit score, but it’s not enough to get you access to the best rates from all loan providers.
Credit scores are very important, without a moderate to good score buying a home or renting an apartment is nearly impossible. Some people may even have a hard time getting a promotion if their credit is less than stellar. Credit repair services are able to fix many common problems on credit reports such as:
Maryland has its own state laws that put some boundaries on credit repair companies that wish to offer service in the state. The main law in question is the Maryland Credit Services Businesses Act (MD Code 14-1901). This law requires that all companies offering credit repair in Maryland should:
All companies offering credit repair in the US have to follow the regulations laid out in the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA). This is a federal law that deals with how credit repair can be communicated to potential customers, the manner in which customers can be charged, and the way contracts should be drafted for every customer.
While some lawyers in Maryland do offer credit repair, many other companies that don’t have lawyers also provide the same service. It’s not necessary to work with a lawyer, since this is a service that can be done by anyone. You can even do credit repair on your own, but you probably shouldn’t unless you have a lot of experience with it already. Working with a reliable credit repair company in Maryland gives you the best chance of successfully removing inaccurate credit report entries, whether they are lawyers or not.
In the state of Maryland, there are 3 steps to credit repair:
Step 1: Make a request for your credit reports
Before you can do anything, you need to access your credit reports. There are 3 different credit reports: 1 from each major credit bureau in the US. You need to make a request to get a report from each of these credit bureaus, either online or via the mail.
Step 2: Take a close look for inaccuracies
Read through each credit report and look for anything that’s inaccurate. Take your time in this step so you can identify anything that’s out of place which could be causing your credit score to be lower than it should be. If you identify any entries that don’t belong, whether they’re simply inaccurate or fraudulent, you will need to draft and send a dispute letter.
Step 3: Dispute incorrect credit entries with the bureaus
Sending a dispute letter to a credit bureau is a necessity as the first step to having an inaccurate credit report entry removed. This should include evidence of the inaccuracy, as well as any information the credit bureau may need for their own investigation. A separate letter must be sent to each credit bureau with incorrect entries.
Note: Although there are only 3 steps to the process, credit repair is best left to companies or individuals with experience going through it. If you try to do it yourself, you can run into unexpected obstacles that will make it difficult for you to accomplish your goal and have inaccurate entries removed. Working with a company doesn’t guarantee success, but it may make it more likely.
The amount your credit score can be improved depends on what’s in your credit report. Credit reports contain all the reported information about how much credit you have available, open credit accounts, payment history on your debts, and other similar information. When inaccurate information is present on your credit report, it will be used as part of calculating your credit score. Having these inaccurate entries removed can lead to significant improvement if these entries were causing your score to be lower.
The average cost of getting credit repair in Maryland is $89 - $199 per month, but you can get the service for the cost of anywhere between $69 - $249 depending on which company you work with. Credit repair is always charged as a monthly service because of the consistent follow up that’s needed to finalize the removal of inaccurate credit report entries.
Unfortunately, credit repair is not a quick process. In Maryland, the average time it takes for credit repair is 3 – 6 months. Credit bureaus generally operate with a requirement that they respond to disputes from people within 30 days of receiving a dispute letter. However, this initial response is not enough to get the problem solved in most cases. It will take a while of going back and forth with the credit bureau before the inaccurate entries are removed from your credit report. Who you pick to help you repair your credit will have a dramatic effect on how successful your efforts will be.
All Maryland cities are eligible for credit repair, regardless of their size or location within the state. There is no restriction on who can get this service, as long as the company that’s providing the service is following all state and federal laws. Baltimore may be the main city where credit repair is advertised, followed by Columbia and Germantown, but you can also get service in Pasadena, Rossville, or Emmitsburg just as easily.