As a well known finance and credit guru I am commonly asked if credit repair really works. Credit repair can be an extremely effective tool if performed the right way.

Be careful which credit repair company you choose because many collect money from consumers for credit services, but the credit services they perform are nothing more than mailing simple dispute credit letters.

Some companies perform minimal disputes only, for example it might be disputed that the item really does not belong to the consumer or that the consumer never really went late on the derogatory item. The hope is that the creditor will not respond to the dispute and the items will be removed off the credit report as a result. These types of credit disputes depend on creditor ignorance or human error to be effective.

Over the last few years the credit bureaus have gotten smart to these credit repair methods. To counter them the bureaus now use complicated computer systems named E-Oscar and OCR.

The credit bureaus E-Oscar and OCR computers sniff out letters which appear to come from credit companies and then automatically respond to those disputes calling them frivolous. The credit bureaus E-Oscar computer then electronically processes the dispute nearly eliminating human error.

The credit bureaus E-Oscar computer now renders these older types of disputes minimally effective. Some negative items will get removed to only be put back on the report a little later. Typically the only accounts that will be permanently removed are old accounts which have no real effect on the credit score anyway.

BUT, all is not lost

TRUE credit repair is actually very effective, but it also is time consuming. Accounts have to be disputed to the credit bureaus in a mythological manner and the most effective disputes are done direct with the creditor themselves.

There are hundreds of consumer protection laws designed to protect consumers such as FACTA, The Fair Credit Billing Act, The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, HIPPA, , and many more which can be used to get your negative credit items deleted.

Many creditors blatantly violate multiple state and Federal laws with the hopes that you do not challenge them.

Truthfully, most consumers do not possess the legal knowledge to defend themselves. You would have to spend endless hours learning all of the hundreds of consumer laws to know enough to challenge your creditors successfully.

Using Federal and state law violations as leverage to force creditors to delete negative items is a VERY effective repair tactic. Credit companies who do this and participate in direct creditor disputing typically see deletion rates of 70% or higher.

The drawback is in order to delete your negative accounts; you will spend countless hours learning how to dispute your credit items. Or you can find a highly recommended professional company to do it for you instead. But make sure you find a reputable credit repair company.

There are only a few 100% legal credit companies in the U.S. One of the most well known companies who produce the strongest and fastest results is Elite Credit Inc out of the Tampa Florida area (www.perfectcreditfast.com.) I have personally seen their dispute methods and results, and even I am impressed. You will not find faster or stronger results at such a low price anywhere else that I have seen.

Or you can visit online credit forums and start learning how to try to fix your credit your own. Whatever you decide to do, do not decide to do NOTHING at all when it comes to your credit. Credit issues are estimated to cost an individual consumer over $1,000,000 over a 30 year time period.

Strong dispute methods could remove most of your negative credit items, and this could be the difference between you just struggling living paycheck to paycheck or living your dram life.

Get started now with fixing your own credit, or hire a professional to do it for you. Whichever you chose, stop delaying and get started today on rebuilding your credit profile and your financial security.