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The Credit Repair Industry There was an amazing reception with our first article comparing the different credit repair companies that we decided to compare our 1st winner Lexington Law to a new set of Credit Repair companies to see how well they still rank.
Click here to see our previous article.
Inside Bad Credit takes a look at a major player in the market compared to the other companies that have been around to see what company is best for you.
5 Online Companies Ranked
We chose 1 company with the biggest online presence and compared them to others that are not as big but might be good for you to. This way, we can see if bigger is really better. What we found out is that Lexington Law still supersedes the small companies. Here is our ranking data:
This Company has established itself as the top choice. It has about 5 attorneys whose names are on the line in the site. It has a trademark filed and BBB accreditation. Lexington Law has been in business and online the longest. Their customer service is the only one available 7 days a week and offering live chat and Spanish support. They have a good credibility score and have the most 3rd party recognition. Lastly, they are the second lowest priced credit repair service. You definitely get the most bang for your buck.
#2 and #3
Legacy Legal and Trinity Credit Services are both tied
at #2 and #3.
Legacy Legal – Of the credit repair
companies mentioned in this article, they are the lowest priced.
They also have a pretty good government accreditation in that
there have been no complaints filed against them over the
last 36 months.
Trinity Credit Service – They have
the highest points in terms of credibility statements in that
they have a credit repair service bond and a registration
from the secretary of state.
#4: Academy Law
– they have been called a Lexington Law mimic, but they
gained points in having 2 attorneys mentioned on the site
and getting some 3rd party recognition.
#5: Fowler and Fowler –
they are 2nd to Lexington in length of business and length
of online experience.
best. Here is a summary of the criteria and the points each
company received during the evaluation process.
For
More Info Click 
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Lexington
Law
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Academy
Law
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Fowler
and Fowler
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Legacy
Legal
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Trinity
Credit Services |
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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 ? |
19 bars |
4 bars |
2 bars |
5 bars |
5 bars |
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. We, at inside bad credit,
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.
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Lexington Law |
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| Academy Law |
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| Fowler and Fowler |
- Operates as Fowler and Fowler Credit and Debt Solutions,
Inc.
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| Legacy Legal |
- Operates as Legacy Legal Services Inc
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| Trinity Credit Services |
- Operates as Trinity Credit Services
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Lexington Law establishes itself as a law
firm and has the most attorneys mentioned on their site. But,
they won this criterion because they are the only ones who
offer direct client-to-attorney contact. Ovation Law gets
2nd place.
[back to chart]
Government
Accreditation We 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 (http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=p4qvu8.1.1).
We also checked if there was any records about the company
that were worth looking into with the Better Business Bureau
(http://www.bbb.org/).
| Lexington Law |
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| Academy Law |
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| Fowler and Fowler |
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| Legacy Legal |
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| Trinity Credit Services |
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Lexington Law is the only one that filed a
trademark and is a BBB member. Second place goes to Legacy
Legal because there have been no complaints filed in the BBB
for the last 36 months.
[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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| Academy Law |
- Original business start date May 2003
- Online since August 2003
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| Fowler and Fowler |
- Original business start date January 1998
- Online since June 2001
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| Legacy Legal |
- Original business start date May 2002
- Online since November 2001
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| Trinity Credit Services |
- We could not find an original business start date
for this company, BBB file was opened January 1995.
- Online since April 2005
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Lexington Law has been in business for the
longest time and has the longest experience with being in
business online. Fowler and Fowler comes in as 2nd longest
in business and in online experience.
[back to chart]
Availability
of Customer Service We called each
of the companies in order to get their customer service hours
and we 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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| Academy Law |
- Monday to Friday (9 am – 5pm) MST
- 40 hours / week phone support
- Email support
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| Fowler and Fowler |
- Monday to Friday (9am – 6pm) EST
- 45 hours / week phone support
- Email support
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| Legacy Legal |
- Monday to Friday (9am – 5pm) MST
- 40 hours / week phone support
- Email support
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| Trinity Credit Services |
- Monday to Friday (8:30am – 6pm), CST
- 47.5 hours / week phone support
- Email support
- Call direct to agents assigned
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Lexington Law is the only online credit repair
firm open 7 days a week. That’s why they get 1st place.
They also offer the most type of customer service support.
Trinity Credit Services in the one that gives the second most
number of hours per week. In addition to that, the agents
actually give you their own extensions so the service seems
more personalized.
[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. We 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, we only compare
the basic service plan.
| Lexington Law |
- Basic Credit Repair Plan = $97 setup fee and $49.95
/ month
- At the end of the 6th month total amount paid is
$396.70
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| Academy 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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| Fowler and Fowler |
- Only Plan = $89 setup fee and $79 / month
- At the end of the 6th month total amount paid is
$563.00
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| Legacy Legal |
- Basic Credit Repair Plan = $89.95 setup fee and
$39.95 / month
- At the end of the 6th month total amount paid is
$329.65
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| Trinity Credit Services |
- Price is case to case basis can be from $600 to
$1,500 depending on the amount of time we need to
spend on your credit report, after the consultation.
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Legacy Legal is the cheapest price to be followed
closely by Lexington Law.
[back to chart]
Credibility Statements
We played detective and looked for facts about
their credibility that the credit repair companies mentioned
in their website. We looked for actual deletion examples,
examples of clients handled on the site or any other related
documents. We wanted to see how open and factual each site
was about their services.
| Lexington Law |
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| Academy Law |
- No credibility statement or removal rate found.
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| Fowler and Fowler |
- Mentions a 90% removal rate, no data on actual deletions.
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| Legacy Legal |
- No credibility statement or removal rate found.
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| Trinity Credit Services |
- Has 12 client credit report before and after examples.
- Has a Trinity Credit Services Bond and Registration
from Secretary of State posted in PDF on site.
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Trinity Credit Services has a bond w/ clients
that basically states that if they fail to deliver, client
can get as much as 10K. In addition, they also have a convincing
registration from the secretary of state. Lexington Law seems
to be very open about their deletions and even has a page
on their site dedicated to just talking about the deletions
they have had from the last few years. They get first and
second place respectively.
[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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| Academy Law |
- You may cancel and get a full refund for up the
midnight of the 3rd day after sign-up.
- If you remain a client for 12 months, there is no
progress in your case, you have forwarded all your
credit reports on a timely basis, you furnish them
w/ your credit reports again, they will refund you
your monthly fees.
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| Fowler and Fowler |
- 1 year contract. No mention of refund.
- 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 $40 per deleted item.
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| Legacy Legal |
- You may cancel and get a full refund for up to 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 $60 per deleted item.
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| Trinity Credit Services |
- No refund or cancellation policy online. Need to
call and ask about this.
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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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| Academy Law |
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| Fowler and Fowler |
- We could not find any 3rd party sites recognizing
fowler and fowler.
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| Legacy Legal |
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| Trinity Credit Services |
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Lexington Law has the most 3rd party informational
sites vouching for them and they are #1 in most comparison
articles, Academy Law has the 2nd most 3rd part recognition.
[back to chart]
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