| Entities | |
| Topics and Issues | Credit repair (34) |
In September 2023, the CFPB issued a press release on credit repair, noting its litigation against Lexington Law and advising consumers that they have certain rights and privileges when it comes to credit repair. The Bureau noted that
- Some customers of Lexington Law and CreditRepair.com can cancel their services without penalty
- [Consumers] have the right to see results before you pay. Here, the Bureau told consumers that “[u]nder federal law, when a company uses telemarketing to sell credit repair services, they have to meet certain requirements before they can charge for their services. First, the company must achieve the results it promised you within the time frame they stated. Second, the company must give you a consumer report showing the results, and the report must be generated more than six months after the results were claimed to have been achieved. Only then can the company charge you fees or accept your payment.
- [Consumers] don’t have to pay a company to fix or improve [their] credit. The CFPB advised consumers that they can “dispute mistakes in your credit reports yourself, for free. [Consumers] don’t have to pay a credit repair company to do it for you. The first step is to visit annualcreditreport.com to get…free credit reports from the three nationwide credit reporting companies. [Consumers] can see your credit reports online, for free, each week. Look over the reports to spot errors. [Consumers should look at their credit reports and then] use [the CFPB’s] sample letters, video, and answers to common questions to help with resolving problems.” Also, “[e]rrors can be investigated and resolved, but credit repair companies cannot legally get information removed if it is accurate and timely. If errors on your credit reports are not the problem, the CFPB has tips for building and keeping a good credit score.”