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Article:
Credit Repair Companies and Credit Counseling by: Jeanette Joy Fisher Let's be crystal clear, right up front. Paying someone to 'fix' your credit is a waste of your time and money, since the negative issues that are temporarily removed from your file will only reappear again in a couple of months. Be careful with credit repair scams. Most 'credit repair' companies really don't help. In fact, you can improve your credit more effectively on your own. By using credit repair companies, you may also be opening yourself up to identity theft, unsolicited emails, and direct mailings. Protect yourself; don't ever share your personal information with strangers or give up your right to handle your own financial affairs as you see fit. Another important point: credit counselors only promise to get you out of debt, not to improve your credit. Some companies will have you send them a check every month, out of which they're supposed to pay your creditors for you. However, some credit counselors will often pay your bills late, which means that your credit report soon becomes filled with 'over 30 days late' notations and your credit score drops even lower than it was. 'Debt negotiators,' posing as non-profit organizations, can ruin your credit even further, advising you not to pay your credit card bills at all. They also charge upfront fees, maintenance fees, and monthly fees, all of which are supposed to be placed in a 'trust' account. Then, after many months have passed, debt negotiators finally convince creditors to settle for less money than was owed, making yours an 'uncollectible account.' That tactic not only ruins your credit, due to the many 'over 90 days late' remarks and collections notations, but all the money you supposedly saved -- which was actually money you owed -- will be considered as income by the IRS! In other words, if you owed $'20
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