Too many credit repair companies, too
little time!
The Internet provides a multitude of options to
the consumer with bad credit. New credit repair companies
seem to materialize out of thin air every minute. Type the
term "credit repair" in any search engine and you
will see millions of options—Google reports over 52,000,000
results as of the writing of this article. But, consumers
are still left with the question – “Which credit
repair company is right for me?”
How do I choose the right
one?
All the credit repair companies claim they’re
the best choice out there. Usually, you’ll see a comparison
grid on their site and, of course, their company will have
all the plus signs vs. everyone else. The problem is, they
all claim that they are the best. Also, they don’t really
make true comparisons. They re-arrange their words so that
they can spin facts around.
I, The Credit Guru, took an in-depth look at the
major players in the market and attempted to make true comparisons
based on the information mentioned in each of the companies
websites, information in government agencies and information
from other websites about credit repair. I aim to guide you,
the consumer, in making the smartest decision possible.
5 Online Credit Repair Companies Ranked
I chose 5 credit repair companies that I felt
had the biggest online presence. Of the 5, the company that
I feel is the best choice for consumers is Lexington Law.
Here is the ranking of the 5 companies accordingly.
#1:
Lexington
Law
– This Company has established itself as the top choice.
It has been an established law firm for a long time and has
been the pioneer among all the online credit repair companies.
They are the only firm with 24/7 customer service that is accessible
through phone, email and online chat. They have good reviews
from both the Better Business Bureau and 3rd party websites
about credit repair. They are very open about their deletion
records and even publish quarterly reports of the deletions
they have accomplished(667,336 deletions in 2005). Lexington
Law charges a slightly higher price for its services, but they
are worth the additional investment.
#2: Ovation Law – Ovation
Law is very similar to
Lexington Law. They were a Law Firm first before they
decided to venture into online credit repair. Their customer
service is open the most hours per week compared to the bottom
3, but, they are not open on Sundays. They only show 34 deletions
in 2005 for 4 clients.
#3: Repair your bad credit – (a.k.a.
DSI Solutions) If you are looking to save money, this site
is the cheapest.
#4: Credit Bureau Experts –
If you don’t have too many negative items to be deleted,
Credit Bureau Experts price scheme will work for you because
after the fourth month, they will only charge you for every
item they deleted.
#5: Your Credit Attorney –
I advise against using this site because of the negative review
I found at BBB (see Government Accreditation).
For
More Info Click 
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Lexington
Law |
Ovation
Law |
Your
Credit Attorney
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Repair
Your Bad Credit |
Credit
Bureau Experts |
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Established law firm? |
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Government Accreditation |
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Length of Business & Online Experience |
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Availability of Customer Service |
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Price |
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Credibility Statements |
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Refund Policy |
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3rd Party Recognition |
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| Total ? |
18 bars |
13 bars |
1 bar |
3 bars |
2 bars |
| Legend : |
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Best |
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Good |
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Careful! |
Company Establishes
Itself as a Law Firm (vs. Credit Repair Experts)
There are 2 types of companies out there. The
first group is backed by actual law firms and the second group
call themselves credit repair experts. I, The Credit Guru,
feel that for a topic as sensitive and as important as somebody’s
credit score, consumers will feel more comfortable in knowing
that their cases are being handled by a law firm. First of
all Law Firms are subjected to government rules and regulations.
Secondly, law firms can do everything credit repair experts
can do, and many things they can’t. Thirdly, law firms
have to govern themselves according to the applicable rules
and principles of professional conduct. Lastly, there is attorney-client
privileges that a law firm would need to abide by. Thus, you
can be sure that all the activities involved in repairing
your credit score will be confidential.
| Lexington
Law |
- operates as Lexington Law Firm
- mentions 5 attorneys-at-law on their site
- offers direct client-to-attorney contact
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| Ovation Law |
- operates as Ovation Law Firm
- mentions 2 attorneys-at-law on their site
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| Your Credit Attorney |
- establishes itself as operating under Centurion
Law Firm
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| Repair Your Bad
Credit |
- operates as DSI Solutions
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| Credit Bureau
Experts |
- operates as Credit Bureau Experts
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Lexington Law establishes itself as a law
firm and has the most attorneys mentioned on their site. But,
they received the most bars because they are the only ones
who offer direct client-to-attorney contact. Ovation Law gets
2nd place.
[back to chart]
Government
Accreditation I checked the United
States Patent and Trademark Office to see if any of these
companies have filed for a trademark for their names. Check
for yourself by following this link (www.uspto.gov).
I also checked if there was any records about the company
that were worth looking into with the Better
Business Bureau.
| Lexington Law |
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| Ovation Law |
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| Your Credit Attorney |
- no trademark filed under Centurion Law, Centurion
Law Firm or Your Credit Attorney
- not a BBB member
- view BBB reliability report http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/Company
ReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=13193362
- BBB warning! "I strongly question the company’s
reliability for reasons such as that they have failed
to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly
misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s
licensing or registration requirements, their complaints
contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s
industry is known for its fraudulent business practices."
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| Repair Your Bad
Credit |
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| Credit Bureau
Experts |
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Both Lexington Law and Ovation Law have solid
government accreditation to back them up. They are tied at
1st and I give them both three bars.
[back to chart]
Experience
I looked at the original business start date from
the BBB and how long the company has been online
(http://www.alexa.com).
| Lexington Law |
- original business start date July 1993
- online since March 2000
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| Ovation Law |
- original business start date January 1976
- online since May 2004
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| Your Credit Attorney |
- original business start date March 2003
- online since March 2003
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| Repair Your Bad
Credit |
- operates as DSI Solutions
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| Credit Bureau
Experts |
- I could not find an original business start date
for this company
- there was no data about when this company went
online from Alexa. This usually happens when a website
is still new.
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Although Ovation Law has been in business
the longest time, I feel that it has very little experience
as an online company. Since I are searching for the best online
credit repair company for the consumer, I feel that Lexington
Law, has the most online experience and has enough time
since original business start date to deserve to win this
criterion. Ovation Law is a close second.
[back to chart]
Availability
of Customer Service I called each of
the companies in order to get their customer service hours
and I looked at the types of customer service support available
with each firm.
| Lexington Law |
- Monday – Sunday (6 am – 10pm) MST
- 168 hours / week phone support
- Live chat / instant message available
- Email support
- Spanish Support
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| Ovation Law |
- Monday to Friday (8 am – 10pm) EST
- 45 hours / week phone support
- Live chat / instant message available
- Email support
- Spanish Support
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| Your Credit Attorney |
- Monday to Friday (9am – 5pm) PST
- 40 hours / week phone support
- Email support
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| Repair Your Bad
Credit |
- Monday to Saturday (10am – 7pm) CST
- an answering service that will take messages 24/7
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| Credit Bureau
Experts |
- Monday to Friday (9am – 6pm), Saturday (10am
– 2pm) EST
- Email support
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Lexington Law is the only
online credit repair firm open 7 days a week.
That’s why they get the most bars. They also offer the
most type of customer service support. Ovation Law offers
similar types of customer service support and comes in 2nd.
[back to chart]
Price All
the credit repair companies have their own price points and
payment plans. Some even have additional services offered
where additional charges are incurred. I assumed that most
credit repair customers will stay with a company for at least
six months and computed for the total amount paid at the end
of the 6th month. It takes about 90 days before customers
can even begin to see deletions on their credit report. If
the company offers different service levels, I only compare
the basic service plan.
| Lexington Law |
- Basic Plan = $99 setup fee and $39 / month
- At the end of the 6th month total amount paid is
$333.00
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| Ovation Law |
- Basic Plan = $85 setup fee and $34.95 / month
- At the end of the 6th month total amount paid is
$294.70
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| Your Credit Attorney |
- Only Plan = $69 setup fee and $29 / month
- At the end of the 6th month total amount paid is
$243.00
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| Repair Your Bad
Credit |
- Only Plan = 3 installments of $79 and $19 setup
fee or $237 upfront
- At the end of the 6th month total amount paid is
either $256.00 or $237.00
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| Credit Bureau
Experts |
- Only Plan = $39.95 for the first 4 months and $19.95
per deletion thereafter
- At the end of the 6th month, assuming that they
are able to deliver 2 deletions per month on the 5th
and 6th month, total amount paid is $239.60
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Repair Your Bad Credit offers the lowest priced
service if you pay upfront. Credit Bureau Experts is the lowest
price if you’re making monthly payments, but, if they
deliver more than 2 deletions in a month then the customer
will really be paying a lot more. I re awarding this bar to
Repair Your Bad Credit since that is the
only amount you pay even after 7 months, 12 months or more.
Credit Bureau Experts gets 2nd place.
[back to chart]
Credibility Statements
I played detective and looked for facts about
their credibility that the credit repair companies mentioned
in their website. I looked for actual deletion examples or
examples of clients handled on the site. I wanted to see how
open and factual each site was about their services.
| Lexington Law |
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| Ovation Law |
- Has data about 34 deletions in 2005 for 4 clients
(Average of 8.5 deletions / client)
- Sample client deletions data can be viewed on this
page
(http://www.ovationlaw.com/results.html )
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| Your Credit Attorney |
- No credibility statements found
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| Repair Your Bad
Credit |
- No credibility statements found
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| Credit Bureau
Experts |
- No credibility statements found
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Lexington
Law was very detailed and open about their credibility
statements. They mentioned the total number of deletions they
had in the year and has quarterly records about the deletions
they have done since Q1 2002. Lexington Law gets three bars
and Ovation Law gets two.
[back to chart]
Refund Policy
I read the fine print in each of the companies
terms and conditions in order to get the real deal.
| Lexington Law |
- You may cancel and get a full refund 5 days after
sign-up day.
- If you remain a client for 12 months, you are eligible
for a refund of some or all of the fees you have paid.
They will charge $50 per deleted item.
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| Ovation Law |
- If you live in Florida, you may cancel and get
a full refund 5 days after sign-up day. Otherwise
it’s 3 days after sign-up day.
- No detailed refund policy in terms and conditions.
On the site they say “Each month that you remain
a client of Ovation Law, you pay a monthly fee. During
any month, if I fail to provide the agreed upon services
(as outlined in the Retainer Agreement provided during
the sign-up process), I will refund your monthly fees
for that month.”
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| Your Credit Attorney |
- You may cancel get a full refund 5 days after sign-up
day.
- If you remain a client for 12 months, you are eligible
for a refund of some or all of the fees you have paid.
They will charge $55 per deleted item.
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| Repair Your Bad
Credit |
- You may cancel and get a full refund 3 business
days after sign-up day.
- You are entitled to all your money back excluding
setup cost if less than %50 of the agreed targeted
items are removed.
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| Credit Bureau
Experts |
- You may cancel and get a full refund 5 days after
sign-up day.
- Enrollment fee is non refundable after 5 days
- You will be refunded the charges for the month if
a negative item has not been removed.
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None of the companies give you 100% money
back. Be concerned about companies who claim that they do.
[back to chart]
3rd Party Recognition
I looked at credit repair information sites to
see what other people say about the different credit repair
companies.
| Lexington Law |
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| Ovation Law |
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| Your Credit Attorney |
- I could not find any 3rd party sites recognizing
Your Credit Attorney or Centurion Law Firm.
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| Repair Your Bad
Credit |
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| Credit Bureau
Experts |
- I could not find any 3rd party sites recognizing
Credit Bureau Experts.
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Lexington
Law has the most 3rd party informational sites
vouching for them and they are #1 in most comparison articles.
[back to chart]
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