Tips on Selecting a Credit Repair Attorney
Correcting credit errors is a miserable process. Once you finally end the procrastination about fixing your credit, you have to make a decision. You can take one of two different credit repair paths.
Many people decide first to fix their own credit only to discover the process is much more involved than they expected. This is because they are trying to save a few dollars by going the inexpensive route.
First, there is a great deal of legalese you need to learn when fixing your credit. For instance you will have to learn your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and so on.
If you are not the type of person who enjoys legal research in your free time, or don’t have patience for translating wordy statutes and confusing case laws from around the country, then this might not be for you. But if you are determined enough to plow through the stacks of law books, then you should expect to spend at least a a few Sunday afternoons researching applicable credit laws at your local library.
Assuming you are able to understand the case law and statutes, then you have to move onto the more important part of credit repair. The next step is to write a coherent and compelling dispute letter. You will need to cite the applicable case law and disputed items.
Specifically, a good credit bureau dispute letter must contain certain elements, and must be silent as to other elements. Your dispute letter will be ignored if not drafted properly. If you write the letter incorrectly, the bureaus will probably throw your dispute in the garbage and you have to start all over.
Next, you need to travel to the nearest post office and stand in line so that your letters are all certified. This is time consuming and quite costly. If you send three letters for each round of disputes, you are looking at paying about ten dollars per dispute.
Plus, mailing out a letter via certified receipt is an all consuming process. Wouldn’t you prefer to spend that time planning a vacation or relaxing during your lunch break at work?
Disputing bad credit on your own also requires an organized office and a strategic plan. For starters you will need a spreadsheet to track the progress of each disputed item. Plus, you will need to give yourself reminders in the event the bureaus or creditors have allowed the proper investigation period to lapse.
Does this sound like fun? Do it yourself credit repair is overwhelming and intimidating especially if you are not highly motivated to learn the federal credit laws. So, unless you are dedicated to becoming an expert in the federal statutes, the issue is not can you afford to hire a credit repair attorney, but rather can you afford NOT to seek help from an affordable qualified attorney.