Questions, answered honestly.

Most clients begin seeing changes within 30–45 days. A typical engagement runs 4–6 months depending on the complexity of your file. Severely damaged files can take longer; clean-up cases are sometimes shorter.

Anything on your report that is inaccurate, outdated, or unverifiable. That commonly includes late payments, collections, charge-offs, repossessions, foreclosures, bankruptcies, judgments, tax liens, and unauthorized hard inquiries.

Yes. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) give you the right to dispute any item on your credit report and to hire a professional to assist you. We work entirely within the bounds of federal and state law.

No legitimate firm can promise specific score outcomes — and we won't. What we can promise is that every item we challenge is challenged correctly, escalated where appropriate, and fully documented. Under CROA, any company that guarantees results is breaking the law.

Pricing depends on the scope of your file and the level of service you choose. The initial consultation is free, and you'll know exactly what to expect — in writing — before you sign anything. Federal law prohibits us from charging you before work has been performed.

Yes, you have the legal right to dispute items on your own at no cost. Many clients hire us for the same reason they hire an accountant or attorney: we do this every day, we know the strategies that actually work, and we save you months of trial and error.

A government-issued ID, proof of address (utility bill, lease, or bank statement), your Social Security number for bureau verification, and access to your three-bureau credit report. We help you pull a soft-inquiry report so your score is not affected.

Disputes themselves do not lower your score. Removing negative items typically improves it. Score dips during the process usually come from unrelated activity — new inquiries, higher balances, or closing old accounts — which is why we coach you on what to avoid during the engagement.

FICO is the score used in roughly 90% of lending decisions (mortgages, auto loans, credit cards). VantageScore is a competing model often shown by free credit apps like Credit Karma. The numbers can differ by 20–60 points even on the same day — always check the FICO score the lender actually pulls.

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion each maintain their own database. Creditors don't always report to all three, and they don't always report on the same date. Different data plus different scoring models means different scores.

At minimum once a quarter, and always before a major financial decision (mortgage, auto loan, lease application). You're entitled to a free weekly report from each bureau at annualcreditreport.com.

No. Checking your own report is a 'soft inquiry' and has zero impact on your score. Only 'hard inquiries' from a lender pulling credit for a new account can affect it.

Most negative items — late payments, collections, charge-offs — fall off after 7 years. Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays for 10 years; Chapter 13 for 7. Hard inquiries fall off after 2 years. Unpaid tax liens have no time limit under current rules but can usually be challenged.

FICO ranges: 800+ Exceptional, 740–799 Very Good, 670–739 Good, 580–669 Fair, below 580 Poor. The best mortgage and auto rates are typically reserved for 740 and above.

We send formal, written challenges to the credit bureaus and the original furnishers (creditors and collectors). Under the FCRA, they have 30 days to verify the item with documentation. If they can't, it must be removed or corrected.

We don't stop there. We re-challenge using a different angle — method of verification requests, direct disputes with the furnisher, debt validation under the FDCPA, or escalation to the CFPB and state attorney general if warranted.

Sometimes — when the creditor cannot prove the debt to the bureau's satisfaction within the legal timeframe, the item must be removed regardless of whether it was originally accurate. We never lie about an item; we simply hold the bureaus and furnishers to the legal standard they're required to meet.

A goodwill letter asks a creditor to remove a paid late payment as a courtesy. It works best with banks and credit unions where you have a long, otherwise-clean relationship. It almost never works with collectors. We deploy it strategically when it has a real chance.

An agreement where a collector removes a collection from your report in exchange for payment. It's not guaranteed and is less common than it used to be, but we still negotiate it where the collector is open to it — and we always get the agreement in writing before any money changes hands.

It depends. Under newer FICO models (FICO 9, FICO 10) and VantageScore 3.0/4.0, paid collections are ignored. But many lenders still use older FICO models that count them. We'll review your file and tell you which debts to prioritize and which to leave alone.

Three levers, in order of impact: (1) keep utilization under 10% on every card, (2) make every payment on time, (3) keep your oldest account open. Add a secured card or credit-builder loan if your mix is thin.

Under 30% to avoid penalty, under 10% to optimize. The bureaus take a snapshot on your statement date, not your due date — so pay down before the statement closes, not after.

Generally, no. Closing a card lowers your total available credit (raising utilization) and can shorten your average account age. Keep them open with a small recurring charge and autopay unless there's an annual fee you can't justify.

Yes, when added to a seasoned account in good standing — long history, low utilization, no late payments. It's one of the fastest legitimate ways to boost a thin file. We help clients vet which accounts are worth being added to.

Tradelines are accounts that appear on your credit report. Authorized-user tradelines from family or close friends are legitimate. 'Buying' tradelines from strangers through brokers is a gray area, often violates the card issuer's terms, and the score boost is increasingly filtered out by newer scoring models. We don't recommend it.

A secured card requires a refundable deposit that becomes your credit limit. It reports to all three bureaus exactly like a regular card. After 6–12 months of perfect payment history, most issuers will refund the deposit and upgrade you to an unsecured card.

Yes. Bankruptcy itself is reportable, but the individual accounts included in it must be reported as '$0 balance, discharged in bankruptcy' — anything else is a violation we can challenge. Many post-bankruptcy files have multiple errors we can remove.

Absolutely. File an FTC Identity Theft Report at IdentityTheft.gov, place a fraud alert with the bureaus, and we'll handle the dispute and block process under FCRA §605B. Items confirmed as identity theft must be blocked within 4 business days.

No. Late payments fall off after 7 years like any other tradeline. Federal loans in default can be rehabilitated — after 9 on-time payments, the default notation is removed entirely. We coordinate with your loan servicer when that's an option.

Yes, though most lenders prefer to see the dust settle. We work closely with mortgage brokers and can structure your repair around a target application date — typically 60–120 days out — so your file is in optimal shape when underwriting pulls it.

You have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). You can demand validation in writing within 30 days, you can tell them to stop calling, and you can record violations. We coach clients on how to handle collector contact during the engagement.

It's rare but possible — called 're-aging' or 're-insertion.' Under the FCRA, a bureau that reinserts a removed item must notify you in writing within 5 business days. If it happens, we challenge it immediately, and re-insertions without proper notice are themselves an FCRA violation.

Credit repair removes inaccurate or unverifiable items from your report. Debt settlement negotiates with creditors to accept less than you owe — and it usually damages your credit further before it helps. They solve different problems; we'll tell you honestly which one you actually need.