Among the warning signs of credit repair scams are companies that ask you to pay before providing services. The company may tell you that it can guarantee a specific increase in your credit rating or remove negative credit information from your credit report, even if the information is accurate and up to date. The CROA is a federal law that aims to protect consumers against scams by establishing guidelines for what credit repair services can and cannot do. Unlike a personal credit report, if you reach an agreement with a creditor to settle a debt for less than the outstanding balance, you can have it removed from your business credit report.
Send the letter to your creditor and to the credit bureaus, as some creditors don't report information to the credit bureaus. Dun and Bradstreet, Equifax and Experian are the three main credit bureaus that maintain reports on your company's credit. Many of these companies offer legitimate credit repair services, but unfortunately, many more are essentially a scam. If a credit repair company violates your rights under the CROA, you have the right to sue them for your losses.
It's worth noting that even the most reputable and reliable credit repair services can't legally do anything that you can't do yourself. Let's say you request a copy of your free annual credit report from the three major credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. As with personal credit, you can pay a credit repair company to settle your business credit, or you can do it yourself. If a credit repair company has violated your rights under the CROA and you have lost money, you have the right to sue for the money you lost.
Business credit agencies often send you warning notifications when a derogatory mark is going to be added to your credit report.
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