Let’s face it , credit repair companies prey on consumers and scam people without producing any results.
Yes, I run a credit repair company myself and every second client that comes our way complains of being scammed or lied to by other companies.
For this reason, even the largest credit repair companies like Lexington Law firm and creditrepair.com have been sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for defrauding customers.
I’ve written this article as a guide on how to get a refund from a credit repair company you may have paid.
Important point to keep in mind: According to the Credit Repair Organization Act it is illegal for a credit repair company to charge you upfront or monthly fees before success.
Watch this short video that will show you how to get your money back
Below are the steps you can take.
STEP1: WRITE AN EMAIL AND POINT OUT THE LAWS THEY”VE VIOLATED
What you need to know is that credit repair companies constantly violated the Credit Repair Services Organization Act, which is the law governing credit repair companies.
The law states a credit repair company cannot do any of the following:
-Charge upfront credit repair fees
-Promise they can remove accurate information or gaurantee to do so
-Charge you fees after they’ve produced no results for you
-Sign a contract which fails to mention their cost per deleted item..
The email you can write to them will go as follows (make adjustments as needed:
Hello, I’m writing to you to get a full refund of my credit repair fees I’ve paid to you. You have violated the credit services organization act by :
Charging upfront fees
Falsely promising you can remove accurate information
Charged me fees without producing any results
Had me sign a contract which failed to mention cost per deleted item
If my funds are not refunded within 5 days. I will report this matter to the state’s Attorney Generals Office, the CFPB and the Federal Trade Commission.
Please only communicate to me via email
Sincerely
STEP2: FILE REGULATORY COMPLAINTS
You can file a complaint on each of these links:
This is the governments consumer protection website known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) . Here you can state what happened, what the company did wrong and what you’d want from the company to resolve the issue . The CFPB will forward your complaint to the company and the company will need to respond to you and the CFPB
If the company has a Better Business Bureau profile, you can file a similar complaint like the one you file with the CFPB. The BBB is a non-profit which tallys complaints and mediates them as well.
This is the Federal Trade Commission website, although they don’t mediate complaints. They will take legal action against a company if they find them to be defrauding a large number of people
STEP 3: LEAVE SOCIAL MEDIA REVIEWS:
You can share your negative experience by leaving reviews against the company. Where you can state you’re sitll looking to get refunded. Most companies reach out to consumers and pay them to get those reviews removed.
You can see if the company has a page on any of these sites:
STEP 4: CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPAIR AGREEMENT FOR THE ARBITRATION CLAUSE OR TAKE LEGAL ACTION
Check your credit repair agreement for an “arbitration clause.” The bigger credit repair companies often have these arbitration clauses in their contract. If so, you are then allowed to file arbitration against them. The arbitration company may charge you around $250 , but the credit repair company will be billed the rest of the bill for the arbitration proceedings which maybe several thousands of dollars. Do your legal research or consult an attorney before filing.
If there is not arbitration clause, then you can look into filing a small claims suit against them. but in order for you to do so, you need to go to your state’s secretary of state’s website to see if the company is registered as a legal entity in your state.
Bonus Tip: Picking the right credit repair company
If you’re looking to pick the right credit repair company check three things:
- Make sure they charge you $0 upfront and only charge AFTER results are produces
- Check to see if the company an active Yelp page , I’ve found Yelp reviews to be the most reliable.
- Make sure they’re actually suing the creditors and credit bureaus on your behalf. If all they’re doing is sending letters and credit bureaus disputes, those credit bureau disputes letters are available for free online
