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Are you dealing with bad credit but are unsure how to go about getting back on track? Are you tired of being harassed by collections calls and letters at every turn? If so, working with a professional credit repair company may be the answer. Professional credit repair in Wisconsin can get the collections agents off your back as you work to repair your credit. Keep reading to find out more about how you can repair your credit today.
The cost of living in Wisconsin is slightly below the national average. Most of this is due to the low cost of housing within the state, as other cost of living expenses are very similar to existing averages in the country. To match their low cost of living, Wisconsin also has low levels of credit card debt per person. The average person Wisconsin has credit card debt of $4,444, far below the national average of $5,193.
Wisconsin also has surprisingly high credit scores. On average, people in Wisconsin have a credit score of 735, more than 20 points above the national average of 714. This is a healthy credit score, but it doesn't represent every individual living in the state of Wisconsin. If you're having trouble with your credit score being lower than you anticipated, or your credit score won't increase no matter what you do, credit repair could be a great option to help you get back on track by removing false entries from your credit report that might be negatively impacting your credit score.
The Wisconsin state law dealing with credit repair companies is known as the Credit Service Organization (WI Leg 422.501). This is a law that has the following requirements for companies offering credit repair as a service:
All credit repair businesses in Wisconsin must also follow the rules set by the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA). This is a federal law dealing with credit repair. It states that companies offering this service should always provide a written contract, cannot provide misinformation to clients about what credit repair entails, and must not charge for the service of credit repair upfront.
You don't need to work with a lawyer for credit repair in Wisconsin. There are many reputable companies that are operating within the state, providing credit repair service that's just as good as a law firm would offer. Many law firms in the state do offer credit repair, but you're not limited to just working with them if you don't want to. Choose a company you feel comfortable with, whether or not they are a law firm.
You can expect the credit repair process in Wisconsin to go something like this:
Step 1: Getting your credit reports
Before you can start anything else in the credit repair process, you need to know what's happening behind the scenes on your credit reports. Credit reports is plural because there are actually 3 different credit reports assigned to each person, not just 1 single report. These 3 reports are maintained by separate credit bureaus, so they can contain slightly different each information on each one. Each bureau is required to provide 1 free credit report to each person at least once every 12 months.
Step 2: Checking out credit entries on your reports
Once you have either a digital or physical copy of each credit report, the hard part starts. You need to go through each report and check for false information or errors. Entries can go back seven or more years, so you could end up taking quite a while to look at all the reports thoroughly. It's important to be as thorough as you can, since this is going to lay the foundation for what you can or cannot dispute on your credit report.
If you don't find any inaccurate information on your report, you'll stop here. If you find a mistake on your credit report, you need to move on to step three and dispute that credit report entry with the relevant credit Bureau.
Step 3: Disputing inaccurate information for correction
There's no way for you to make corrections on your own credit reports, so you need to work with the credit bureaus themselves to make corrections as necessary. This starts by sending a dispute letter to the relevant bureaus that list the incorrect entry on your credit reports. This dispute letter should contain evidence of the inaccuracy of the entry, as well as information to help aid their investigation.
Although it sounds simple enough, don't be deceived! While you can do credit report on your own, you probably don't want to because of the complexity involved in disputing claims with credit bureaus. It's simple enough to check your own credit reports for errors, but when it comes to communicating those errors to a credit bureau in a way that will make them take you seriously and fix the issue, you're better off working with an experienced credit repair company to help.
Credit repair may seem complicated, but it is actually quite simple. Repairing credit involves removing items on your credit report that are inaccurate such as accounts that don’t belong to you or those with incorrect accounts. Depending on the nature of your debt, some can be consolidated which can also be used to improve your score. If there are collections on your credit report, negotiating a payoff is one way the negative mark can be removed. A professional credit repair service in Wisconsin will do many of the things you are able to do on your own to fix your credit, however, they have the time and knowledge to get it done more efficiently.
Living within your means, managing your finances, and paying your bills on time is the only way to ensure you maintain a good credit score. However, if your score has gone down so far as to being considered bad credit, hiring a credit repair company can help. They will work to improve your credit by disputing any inaccurate items on your credit report which can bring your score up as much as 100 points. In addition to corrections, they will work to have old accounts that are bringing down your score removed. If you have a lot of debt that has a negative effect on your DTI, they can also help you to consolidate which can improve your overall score. A credit repair company will also work to negotiate with debt collectors to settle for a lower amount and even remove negative marks when the account is paid off, which will also raise your credit score.
Depending on the nature of your debt, consolidation may be an option that helps you get your debt under control. Medical debt and credit card debt are two types that are prime candidates for consolidation. A credit repair agency will be able to handle the negotiations and bring your debts under one creditor while setting up affordable payments that meet your needs. In many cases, negative marks from separate accounts can be removed following a debt consolidation. This will help improve your credit score as the derogatory entries fall off. Making your consolidation payments on time each month will also help improve your credit score over time.
Credit scores can only be improved through credit repair if you have issues on your credit report. Since these issues can be negatively impacting your credit score, you might see significant improvements when there are no longer on your reports. This is the simplest way to improve your credit score, but it's only eligible to those who have errors on their credit reports.
On average, Wisconsin residents can expect to spend between $49 to $179 per month on credit repair services, plus the potential for a one-time contract setup fee depending on which company you work with. The most common price range for credit repair service in Wisconsin is between $69 to $119 per month.
Unfortunately, credit repair is not an easy, short-term fix. It can take anywhere from three to six months to get your credit repaired in Wisconsin. While it's worth the wait, you need to start the process as soon as possible in order to avoid any unnecessary delays.
It's easy to assume that services like credit repair are only available in large cities like Milwaukee, Madison, or Green Bay. However, this is not the case. All residents of Wisconsin are able to access the same credit repair companies as one another, as long as those companies are abiding by state and federal regulations. So even if you live in smaller cities like Watertown, Glendale, or Ashland, you still have plenty of options for reliable credit repair service in the state of Wisconsin.