Canada Credit Repair Scams Rise as Economy Falls

As the economy sinks further and further into recession and Canadians struggle to juggle their bills while fearing for their economic well-being, it looks like in Canada, credit repair scam artists are poised for a big come-back.  Here are a few things for you to consider so you can avoid being caught in their web of deceit.

Legitimate Credit Items Can’t Be Wiped Clean – Your mom was right.  If you did it, admit it, and move on with your life.  Nobody’s perfect, so realize that no credit repair company in Canada can legally wipe legitimate items off of your credit report.  A common tactic used by some of these companies is to shower the credit reporting agencies with so much paper contesting the legitimacy of the debt that they’ll give up and remove the contested item or items.  It’s a pipe dream.  Even if they succeed, your creditor will simply put it back on your report and you’ll be back where you started – minus the money you will have spent on the credit repair agency’s fee.

You Can Repair Your Own Credit for Free – A Canada credit repair agency can help you to remove inaccurate information from your credit report, but so can you.  It’s a pretty simple process of writing a letter (which can be done by email) to the creditor and the credit reporting agency.  Once they verify that there’s an inaccuracy, the item gets removed – and your credit is “miraculously” improved.  Save your money.  Even if you contest the accuracy of your credit report by mail, postage is much cheaper than what they’ll charge you for pushing paper and making idle threats.

Money Back Guarantees are Usually Fraudulent – Canada credit repair agencies will try to buy your trust by giving you an iron-clad money back guarantee.  The devil’s in the details, though, because what they’ll actually promise is that if they can’t improve your credit you’ll get your money back.  That’s a pretty safe bet, though, because almost everybody’s credit report has some kind of inaccuracy on it.  So any removal is a technical improvement to your overall credit report.  Will it make a difference on your next credit application?  Probably not.  Even if they can’t find an inaccuracy on your credit report, they’ll still wind up cutting very few refund checks.

Unless your credit report is loaded with inaccuracies you’ll almost always be better of making your own credit report repairs.  Even still, some Canadians will hire a Canada credit repair agency to remove these inaccurate items.  As long as you know going in what you’re getting and you’re willing to settle for it, I see no reason to stop you.  But go in with your eyes wide open and realize they’re not miracle workers.

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