The negative perception of the credit repair industry
http://www.financemeter.net/articles/17122/1/The-negative-perception-of-the-credit-repair-industry/Page1.html
Don Tate
Check out TheTopTens to view thousands of top ten lists including the best credit repair services, best auto insurance companies, and best webhosting providers. By Don Tate
Published on 03/24/2010
When you consider all of the strikes against credit repair companies it is easy to see why so many people are convinced that there is no such thing as a legitimate credit repair organization and why it is so difficult to persuade them otherwise.
The negative perception of the credit repair industry
There is a type of company out there that, even though it is regulated by federal legislation and has been in existence for decades, is among the most maligned in the country. Even though many thousands of Americans have been benefited by the services provided by the organizations and individuals within the industry, there are still others who are convinced that the whole industry is nothing more than a farce and any company operating within it is a con-artist.
Looking at the title of this page, it is apparent the industry we're talking about is the credit repair industry. Despite the fact that the oldest credit repair companies have been around for 20 years, that credit repair companies have been able to help consumers delete millions of damaging listings from their credit reports, and that the federal government created the Credit Repair Organizations Act in order to regulate the credit repair industry and not to wipe it out, there are so-called "experts" in the media, in major corporations, and in government positions that claim that any company who offers credit repair services should be avoided.
There are a few reasons why so many people believe credit repair services are a scam. For starters, there have been far too many "credit repair" clinics whose goal really was to scam people. These clinics promised the world but ended up just taking people's money. Left and right people desperate to improve their credit scores were getting suckered by these con jobs to the extent that the negative attention these clinics received was enough to put a shroud over the entire industry. Instead of bothering to try separating the good companies from the bad, a lot of people simply opted to accept that the entire industry was fraudulent.
And once this conclusion is made, it is easy to find supporting evidence because there are some pretty massive institutions that benefit from your believing that credit repair services are not to be trusted. And who are these institutions? They are the credit bureaus who manage your credit file and the lenders who use your credit score. The credit bureaus would prefer that people do not try to clean up their credit report. It's bad business. The credit bureaus make money by taking information about you, aggregating it in a report, and then selling it. Credit repair creates additional work that costs them money. When you are dealing with hundreds of millions of credit reports, it would cost them dearly if everyone out there started trying to repair their credit. Many lenders, on the other hand, don't want you repairing your credit because when you increase your credit score, they cannot demand as high of interest payments. So, given the scale of the companies that would rather you didn't attempt to repair your credit and the fact that their profits are on the line, it is obvious why when people try to confirm their doubts about credit repair services, they are able to find plenty of information. Also consider the budgets these organizations can dedicate to lobbying lawmakers and planting stories in media outlets and it's clear why the amount of anti-credit repair information dwarfs the voice of the pro-credit repair crowd.
When looking at all these factors it is easy to see why so many people whole-heartedly believe there is no such thing as credit repair and why it is so difficult to convince them otherwise.
Someday the situation may change. Each day, as more and more people are able to successfully improve their credit score with help from credit repair services there is a broader base of people who know credit repair works to contend with the people who believe it does not. But until there are enough success stories to turn the tide, those who do their research, find a legitimate credit repair service, and work to repair their credit will be the lucky ones because their credit scores will look that much better than those belonging to the people who will do nothing.
Looking at the title of this page, it is apparent the industry we're talking about is the credit repair industry. Despite the fact that the oldest credit repair companies have been around for 20 years, that credit repair companies have been able to help consumers delete millions of damaging listings from their credit reports, and that the federal government created the Credit Repair Organizations Act in order to regulate the credit repair industry and not to wipe it out, there are so-called "experts" in the media, in major corporations, and in government positions that claim that any company who offers credit repair services should be avoided.
There are a few reasons why so many people believe credit repair services are a scam. For starters, there have been far too many "credit repair" clinics whose goal really was to scam people. These clinics promised the world but ended up just taking people's money. Left and right people desperate to improve their credit scores were getting suckered by these con jobs to the extent that the negative attention these clinics received was enough to put a shroud over the entire industry. Instead of bothering to try separating the good companies from the bad, a lot of people simply opted to accept that the entire industry was fraudulent.
And once this conclusion is made, it is easy to find supporting evidence because there are some pretty massive institutions that benefit from your believing that credit repair services are not to be trusted. And who are these institutions? They are the credit bureaus who manage your credit file and the lenders who use your credit score. The credit bureaus would prefer that people do not try to clean up their credit report. It's bad business. The credit bureaus make money by taking information about you, aggregating it in a report, and then selling it. Credit repair creates additional work that costs them money. When you are dealing with hundreds of millions of credit reports, it would cost them dearly if everyone out there started trying to repair their credit. Many lenders, on the other hand, don't want you repairing your credit because when you increase your credit score, they cannot demand as high of interest payments. So, given the scale of the companies that would rather you didn't attempt to repair your credit and the fact that their profits are on the line, it is obvious why when people try to confirm their doubts about credit repair services, they are able to find plenty of information. Also consider the budgets these organizations can dedicate to lobbying lawmakers and planting stories in media outlets and it's clear why the amount of anti-credit repair information dwarfs the voice of the pro-credit repair crowd.
When looking at all these factors it is easy to see why so many people whole-heartedly believe there is no such thing as credit repair and why it is so difficult to convince them otherwise.
Someday the situation may change. Each day, as more and more people are able to successfully improve their credit score with help from credit repair services there is a broader base of people who know credit repair works to contend with the people who believe it does not. But until there are enough success stories to turn the tide, those who do their research, find a legitimate credit repair service, and work to repair their credit will be the lucky ones because their credit scores will look that much better than those belonging to the people who will do nothing.