*Loan,banking and credit>>>credit repair

Are Credit repairs services effective or just another gimmick..?

I need to improve my credit score and I am not sure what this agencies promise is true.

I used one and it worked for me. Cost was $1000 and YES (everyone on here is going to say this), I could have done it myself! But it was worth the money to me to not have to deal with the creditors or the credit bureau customer service. I used Second Chance Financial, my rep was Karen Molina, cell ph # 818-370-6905. My score went up about 80 pts in like 6 or 8 months and because they got all the garbage off of my reports I can now read them.

I trusted them a little more when they let me make payments and before my second payment I already had notice of things deleted.

However, if you want to challenge it yourself here is how:
Get copies of credit reports: www.annualcreditreport.com (free)
Copy pages you want to challenge.
Attach copy of DL, and copy of recent utility bill (with current address)
Write letter to each agency that has data you want to challenge like this: To Whom it May Concern, The following debt is not mine. Reference report number, reference item number and sign it.
Send letter and copies of doc's certified return receipt (USPS) - cost is $4.64 each.

With regard to collections agencies you can call them and try to settle. Their phone number or address (which you can use to get their phone number from information) will be on your credit report. Prepare yourself cause they get paid to be mean. Good Luck to you. They made me cry.

Its just another money maker, don't do it!

go to this forum, and the ppl there will hel you..go to the credit forum...

http://clarkhoward.com/
I use it!
It's not a gimmick but it will cost you. It is something you can do yourself if you have the time and patience. Look up credit repair on google to find out how to do this yourself.
Great info on consolidation and credit score:

http://www.freewebs.com/infosource100...
Many of them are a gimmick. Some of them will go though the same steps you can do your self for no charge. As someone said above, if you don't want to do the work yourself, they may be worth the money. Make sure you no what they will do before you agree to pay anything. If they just dispute everything on your report, don't bother. I recommend getting a free copy of your report from https://www.annualcreditreport.com... and checking for errors first. If all the information is accurate, there is nothing the repair service can legally do to change it. If there are errors, you can decide to have them corrected yourself or pay the service to do the work.
https://www.annualcreditreport.com...