GOT A QUESTION? WE CAN HELP!
What is Credit Restoration?
Credit restoration is a service provided under the CROA that allows credit repair service providers to assist consumers in the correction of items on their consumer credit reports that prove to be inaccurate, outdated, or unverifiable. Any credit repair agency that claims to be able to remove ANY item other than those identified above is in violation of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA).
How are our services effective?
Our service works by working with the creditors and credit bureaus to find legitimate reasons to have incorrect, unfair, or questionable items removed from our clients' credit reports. Often, we can find violations of certain requirements of those creditors. If we do, we leverage those violations as a way to get the creditor or bureau to remove the item in question.
What changes can your company make to my credit?
Honestly, we can't tell you upfront that ANY item can or will be removed from our clients' credit reports. Again, like all legally compliant credit repair agencies, we can only remove items that show to be inaccurate, outdated, or unverifiable. However, a lot of items on most people's reports could fall into one of those categories. For a list of items we have helped remove in the past, check out our results page on Instagram @BlackwoodCreditServices
So, how long is the process before I begin to see results?
We provide all our clients with an estimated time frame for service. In general, clients are usually with us from 3 to 6 months. However, this is not saying all items will be removed in that time frame or that all items will be removed at all. This is just the usual time frame people choose to stay in our program. Since we do not charge deletion fees until we achieve results, we work to achieve those results as fast as possible. Want a more detailed answer... check out our Timeline.
What are all of the fees associated?
There is your initial fee of:
Our clients are always welcome to cancel at any time with no fee. All we ask is that we are allowed to do your final file review. However, if you cancel without allowing the final file review, then a $100 cancellation fee will be charged. Additionally, if we cancel your file due to an inactive monitoring account, the same $100 cancellation fee would apply.
Late Fee - $25
We allow our clients to pay their balances out over a significant amount of time. If an account has had deletions and carries a balance, we request a minimum payment each month of $100 for individuals or $150 for couples. This payment will become due on roughly a 35-40 day rotation based on the file's progress. Each client will receive an invoice the day before the payment is set to be made. If this payment goes more than five (5) days past due, a late fee will be assessed. A client can avoid a late fee by simply calling to re-schedule the due date.
Do I have to mail my own letters?
Most other credit repair companies mail your correspondence for you. They do this to hide their tactics from you. They don't want you to see that all they do is claim the items are "not yours" over and over. In our service, you print, sign, and mail your own dispute letters. We, of course, create all of this correspondence for you, so your job is very easy. The reason we do things this way is quite simple. The FCRA allows the bureaus to ignore any letter that does not come directly from the consumer. They can't claim the letter didn't come from you if it has your signature, includes your proofs of identity, and was mailed from your zip code.
What is my identity needed for?
Driver's License
Utility Bill
Pay Stub with Social Security number
W2 Form
Lease Agreement
Bank Statement
Cancelled Check
What will my score look like at the end?
As much as we would like to, there is simply no way to know the answer to this question. There are far too many factors involved in the credit scoring model; the biggest variable being the "human factor". We don't know what you are going to do during this process. You might get new lates, max out credit cards, get new credit, get new collections, get a judgment placed against you, or one of hundreds of other things that would change the outcome of your service. REMEMBER! We are hired only to help remove items from your report that you wish for us to work on, the score change is simply a byproduct of our service.
What will be my approval odds?
Blackwood Credit Services does not give any type of loans or financing. Therefore, we can not tell you if you will be approved for any of those things. Many people come to us with very poor credit and hope to be approved for loans or funding programs with very strict financing guidelines. Remember from above, if we can't promise you ANY item is going to be removed from your report, how could we possibly assure you that you will be approved for a loan after working with our program? We are here to help and we help hundreds of people, but please do not expect miracles.
Can we pay for rushed results?
Unfortunately, NOT. We want this service done as fast as possible. Think about it, we don't get deletion fees until items are removed. We would love for there to be a legal way to make things "disappear" in seven days. However, it just doesn't exist. Now for a little more detail... From the time the credit bureaus receive your dispute, they have 30 days to respond. This leads some people to believe that if it has been more than 30 calendar days, then they MUST remove those items. This is simply not the way it works. There are sections of the law that allow them additional time under certain conditions.
Disputes?
Some companies try to speed up their service by using online disputes. There are a whole host of reasons NOT to do this. Additionally, you should never dispute online either. Here's why:
When a dispute is entered online, it goes into EDRP or expedited dispute resolution process. This sounds great until you read a little further unto the FCRA. It clearly states that if a dispute goes into EDRP then the bureaus do not have to comply with certain sections of the FCRA.
Did you hear that? They get to ignore the law!
The sections they don't have to comply with are also quite handy in the credit repair process. One section is the "Method of Verification" section. If an item comes back as verified, they don't have to tell you "HOW" it was verified. Another section is the "Re-Insertion Letter" section. Usually, if an item is deleted, there are steps the bureau must follow in order to be able to re-insert that item. One of these steps is to send you a re-insertion letter before placing the item back on your report. The simple cost of creating and sending this letter drastically limits the amount of re-inserted items. If an item is processed under EDRP, THIS LETTER IS NO LONGER REQUIRED! They can just put the item back whenever they get good and ready.
Just take our advice... Don't dispute online.
Why do I have to pay for credit monitoring?
By keeping a monitoring service is our way of looking under your proverbial credit "hood". It allows us to see exactly what needs to be done and check up on the bureaus and creditors. When they say something has been changed, we want to make sure it is REALLY changed.