You see the ads all the time on TV, newspapers, the internet. Here is an
example:

"Erase bad credit-100% guaranteed or your money back!"

"Create a new credit identity legally!"

"Remove ANY bad credit from your credit file."

Do yourself a favor and save your money. These companies appeal to
people across the country. They promise to help you get your credit
straight so you can get a car loan or a mortgage. After you pay hundreds
of dollars, you will likely end up with nothing to show for it. Except
possibly a jail sentence if you do something illegal.

Some companies are claiming to create a "new credit identity" by applying
for an Employee Identification Number from Social Security and then using
the EIN instead of your social security number when applying for credit.
Not a good idea! It is a federal crime to make false statements on a loan or credit application, misrepresent your Social Security number or obtain an EIN under false pretenses.

You CAN improve your credit file, but there are things that you can not fix!

If you have a legitimate lien, judgement or bad mark on your credit, the
chances are you are not going to get it removed. If it is NOT a legitimate charge, you can fix it yourself by simply writing a few letters. Write the credit bureaus and make a formal complaint. Write letters to the creditor and be sure to send copies of your letters to the credit bureaus as well.

For charge offs or written off accounts, you may be able to "settle". Here
is how it works. Lets say you owe Johnson's Dept store $328. You never
paid and now it is on your credit report as a written off account. You
really do owe this money. Now, you could dispute the fact that you owe it and if the store doesn't respond to the inquiry within 30 days, the credit bureau DOES have to remove it.

However, the store can re-enter the charge as soon as they are able to
prove it really is owed by you, so if you really owe it, why bother?
That is what these credit repair companies do....They dispute the
claims of the creditors in the hope the creditors will not respond! What
they don't tell you is that the creditor can come back AFTER the file has
been removed and have it put back on your file simply by sending the
information to the credit bureau, showing that you DO owe the money!

There are several options for you to get bad credit off your file. The first thing you should do is get a copy of your credit report. You should do this at least once a year anyway, just to see what is on there. Then, if you do have something on the file that you feel is in error, dispute it. You can get a FREE credit report by clicking this link. AOL users, copy and paste into your browser.

http://www.freecreditreport.com/index.asp?sourceid=00330369275596272479

In the case of written off accounts, contact the store and ask them how much it would take to settle the accout. You may be able to settle the account for a fraction of what is owed. It will still show on your file, but will be marked paid, which is a plus. After a certain length of time, it will automatically come off. If it remains unpaid, it can stay there indefinitely, if the debt is sold to a collection agency.

For late payments over 30 days, you just have to live with it until it comes off.

Length of time varies depending on what type of account it is.

For judgements and liens, you generally have to pay them in order for it to be marked satisfied. Then it will come off eventually.

If you have open accounts that you are not using, close them and notify the credit bureaus that they are now closed. Too many open credit accounts
count against your credit score.

The best advice anyone can give you is to guard your credit carefully.

Don't fall into a credit trap and overextend yourself. But, if it
happens....and it does....you just have to bite the bullet until you can get things right again.

Don't waste your money on these "credit repair" folks, your money would be
better spent paying your bills!

Cindy Snyder operates Creative Mortgage Co. Visit her site at http://www.creativemortgageco.com/ She publishes a monthly newsletter entitled 0nly4Homebuyers. You can subscribe at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/0nly4Homebuyers. Cindy operates a healthcare website at http://www.firsthealthsource.com/