Do Cheap Credit Repair Companies Do A Good Job?

You might not get all the extras when you’re paying a lower price for credit repair. But you can still expect to get the help you need to get your credit on its way up when you go with a cheap credit repair company. Here is a few things that the best credit repair companies offer:

• Credit report review: Every credit repair company should start off their services by talking over your credit reports with you. Most services will do a full review of your reports and help you identify the best items that need to be disputed.
• Fixes to your credit report: Companies can fix any mistakes they find on your credit report during the review process. That’s a big deal, since even a single late payment or collections account that doesn’t belong on your report can make a difference in your score.
• Disputing negative items: This is the main part of what credit repair companies do. Even cheaper credit repair services will send letters to the credit bureaus disputing negative items on your credit reports. Since you are paying less for the service, some companies may send fewer letters each month than some of the more expensive options, but the credit bureaus frown on too many disputes per month, so this can actually be a good thing. Keep in mind that most credit repair companies charge by the month, so the longer it takes to repair your credit the more you will pay.
• Credit counseling: Several of the more affordable credit repair options offer credit counseling to help you repair your credit on your own while also using credit repair. These tips will help you keep your credit healthy even after you stop using credit repair.

Here are some extras that you might not get with affordable credit repair:

• Cease and desist letters: Although most of the affordable credit repair services will include cease and desist letter to debt collectors, some don’t offer it as part of the basic package. These letters don’t help with your credit score or decrease you debt in any way, they only discourage creditors from calling, so they aren’t as important to some people. If they are to you, ask before you sign up if the services include cease and desist letters.
• Credit report monitoring: All legit credit repair companies will monitor the progress of your credit score, but not all of them will allow you to have access to your credit reports and scores to see the progress yourself. Some of the more expensive services offer monthly credit report monitoring updates.
• Identity theft protection: This perk usually comes with the top tier of service with more expensive credit repair companies, but can save you signing up for an individual identity theft protection service. We’ve never individually tested these perks, so we’re not sure how they compare to bigger identity theft protection services like Lifelock.

Even to most inexpensive of credit repair services offer perks that can be a nice incentive with looking for a credit repair company. Here are some perks that cheaper options offer:

Month-to-month contracts: The law actually requires all credit repair services to allow customers to cancel at any time, so while it is a nice perk, it is also a government-mandated perk.

Money-back guarantee: Many of the cheaper options for credit repair offer a money-back guarantee. Sky Blue offers a 90-day guarantee if you are not satisfied for any reason. The Credit People offer a similar service, but extend it to six months. Credit Saint offers a guarantee if it does not remove any negative items from your credit reports within the first 90 days. All of these services charge around $80 per month, which is the cheapest legit credit repair you can get.

Couples discount: Many credit repair options offer couples discounts, but the more inexpensive services tend to offer the best ones. For example, Sky Blue offers 50% off your partner’s contract if you sign up as a couple. The Credit People offers $20 off your first payment if you sign up as a couple. CreditRepair.com offers $50 off for each partner when they sign up together.

Pause your service: Sky Blue Credit Repair is the only company that offers this service, but it is one of the cheapest credit repair services, so this is a nice option to have for a good price. It lets you pause your service at any time and then start up again without having to pay a new initial fee.

As you work on your credit, you might be worried about how much a repair company will cost. Luckily, the cheaper ones don’t usually cost more than $99 per month, with most costing far less than that. Here is a breakdown of the cost for each of the top affordable credit repair companies:

Sky Blue Credit Repair: Sky Blue costs $79 per month, with a $79 initial fee. You can cancel at any time and it includes a 90-day money-back guarantee. To learn more, check out our Sky Blue Credit review.

Lexington Law: The cheapest tier of service for Lexington Law is $89.95 per month, with a $99.95 initial fee. You can cancel at any time, but it does not offer a money-back guarantee. Check out our Lexington Law review to learn more.

Credit Saint: Credit Saint also has multiple tiers of service, but the cheapest only costs $79.99 per month, with an initial fee of $99.95. You can cancel at any time and it offers a money-back guarantee if it does not remove any negative items from your credit reports within the first 90 days.

The Credit People: The Credit People charges $79 per month, with a seven day trial to start at $19. You can cancel at any time and it offers a money-back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied with the service within the first six months.