I keep getting calls from these 'Credit Repair' services. Do they actually have my credit history in their hands? Can they really do what they promise--repair my credit history?
You are wise to be skeptical of companies that claim to be able to "repair" anyone's credit history. You are personally able to check your own credit report and you should do so regularly. You can get one free credit report each year from each of the three major credit bureaus. If you see anything on your credit report that is in error -- information that's incorrectly recorded or information that doesn't belong in your record at all, for example -- you can dispute that information both with the credit bureau and with the creditor that provided the information to the credit bureau. If there is legitimate negative information in the file, it's history that you can't change. You can only wait for it to no longer be relevant after seven years.
It's unlikely that these credit-repair companies have their hands on your credit report. They certainly don't have the details. If you want to keep it that way, ignore them.
The Federal Trade Commission provides some good background on credit repair companies and other ways to work on cleaning up a poor credit history. Take a look atCredit Repair: Self Help May Be Best.
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You are wise to be skeptical of companies that claim to be able to "repair" anyone's credit history. You are personally able to check your own credit report and you should do so regularly. You can get one free credit report each year from each of the three major credit bureaus. If you see anything on your credit report that is in error -- information that's incorrectly recorded or information that doesn't belong in your record at all, for example -- you can dispute that information both with the credit bureau and with the creditor that provided the information to the credit bureau. If there is legitimate negative information in the file, it's history that you can't change. You can only wait for it to no longer be relevant after seven years. 