Are you really a Law Firm?
ACIB is not a law firm but provides its members credit reaThis team
of professionals understands how the system works. As a paying association
member these services are always free.
What are the advantages of using a law firm?
While there are many companies who brand themselves as credit repair
organizations, most of them lack the legal clout and experience
necessary to adequately represent your dispute efforts. Some of
the specific advantages of using Consumer Rights Advocates are:
• They enforce your rights under the various federal laws.
• They understand the process and have more the eight years
of knowledge dealing with the credit bureaus.
• They can do everything a non-attorney can do, and everything
they can’t.
• We keep abreast of current consumer laws as well as changes
to, interpretation thereof, and applicability of those laws.
• They govern ourselves according to the rules and principles
of professional conduct.
• We practice the methodologies and structure like any law-practicing
firm.
• Your case will be reviewed and an attorney will impose legal
opinions when and if necessary.
• Your confidentiality is protected by the attorney-client
privilege.
• You will have personal contact and your case will be assigned
to an attorney and paralegal.
• They review each case separately and build the audit and
dispute process around what your needs are.
How long have you been offering credit restoration services?
Many of our staff members have been involved in the credit restoration
industry for more then twelve years. Together as an organization
we have an unparalleled knowledge and understanding on how to get
the results you need.
How the Process works.
The American Credit Information Bureau and their partners are
the nations leading authority on the (FCRA) Fair Credit Reporting
Act and have successfully removed over 200,000 negative items from
their client’s credit reports. These attorneys understand
the laws and what it takes to make things happen.
ACIB understands what a poor credit rating can do to an individual
and family. Without good credit it is difficult to find a place
to live, afford reliable transportation, insurance and many other
necessities of life. We live in a society that requires us to have
good credit and when someone doesn’t, then they can be taken
advantage of by the system.
ACIB mission is to assist and help consumers get back on their
feet and give them equality and freedoms that only good credit can
provide. Our goal is to assist the consumer in education, new credit
opportunities and to assist in removing negative, erroneous and
non-verifiable listings from the consumers credit report using a
team of dedicate legal professionals. This is a process that takes
time, diligence and a dedication to helping people. Over the past
ten years ACIB has helped thousands get the credit they deserve.
Under the (FCRA) section 611, the law states that the credit bureaus
are required by to verify the information on our credit reports.
The law then goes on to outline that if the credit bureaus cannot
verify the information on our credit reports, they have to remove
the negative items. The law then goes on to outline that once a
request is made to the credit bureaus to validate these items, they
are only given 30 days to respond back to the consumer. If they
fail to respond back to the consumer within the 30 day time period
the law states, that the credit bureaus must remove the negative
item no matter what the reason.
The process is outlined as follows; the first thing that we do
is have the consumer obtain a three-bureau credit report. This will
allow us to have a clear picture of everything that is holding the
consumers credit score down. We then have them forward a copy of
the report to the law firm. It is then assigned to one if the attorneys
and their team. One of the attorney’s paralegal will call
the consumer and go over the credit report with them to discuss
any details or relevant information. This paralegal becomes the
client’s personal contact, which they can call at anytime
to find out where the case status is.
The paralegal then begins to send out letters to the credit bureaus
requesting them to validate the information on the clients credit
report. As soon as the credit bureaus receive the request the 30-day
rule starts. After about 45 days the client will generally begin
to receive updated credit reports from the credit bureaus with the
results of their investigation. What we have seen is that most times
the client will see immediate improvement with sometimes as high
as 40% of their negative items being deleted. So if you have ten
derogatory accounts on your credit report you could see as many
as 4 removed the very first time. But this is not all we do; this
is a process, which takes time and diligence. The client is responsible
to forward any correspondence from the credit bureaus to their paralegal
and the quicker the client sends that information in the quicker
the process will go.
The response back from the credit bureaus states that the other
items will remain on the credit report as verified. The hopes that
the credit bureaus have is the client won’t want to pursue
the case any further and that they will be satisfied that some items
were removed.
This is not good enough for our attorneys and paralegal, we understand
the law and the law states that they have to verify the information.
We then send out another round of letters asking the credit bureaus
to verify or prove how they verified the remaining items on the
credit report. Again 30 to 45 days later the client will receive
an updated from the credit bureaus with the results of the reinvestigation.
At that point we generally see another 2 too 4 items removed the
clients credit report. The remaining items may say something like
this. Dear Mr. or Mrs._______ We have reinvestigated the following
items and the have verified these with the original creditor, so
they remain on your credit report. Again the hopes that the credit
bureaus have is that the consumer will be satisfied that a few more
items were removed. Again this is not good enough for us and so
we take it to the next level. We then start to ask for specific
information regarding the accounts and the law allows us to do this.
We have found that the credit bureaus do not like to do these investigations,
for one reason, it cost them money! The credit bureaus are multi
million-dollar privet for profit corporations and like are companies
that are in business to make a profit, they hate doing things that
cost them money and these investigation cost them money. We have
found that many times the credit bureaus don’t even do an
investigation they just tell you that they have. This is how we
are able to be so effective in removing these negative items because
we take the credit bureaus to a point where they have to actually
do an investigation. Again they do not like to do this because of
the expense involved and so it is easier to just remove the negative
item from the clients credit report.
This is a process and on average it takes between six and eight
months to complete the process. But if you look at the time compared
to how long the negative item will remain on the credit report,
which can be for up to ten years, there is no comparison to what
would be better.
You have to ask yourself these questions? What does having bad
credit cost you each month or year in interest rates. Could you
get better insurance with good credit, no doubt the answer is yes.
What about a better job, many employers are now requiring you to
have good credit. What about owning the American dream of a new
home? There are hundreds of reasons that you need to have good credit.
You may be telling yourself that you can’t afford it right
now. But the truth of the matter is, that you can’t afford
not to have good credit.
The federal government has written these laws because they want
you to use them and take advantage of them. They do this for several
reasons. They know that the credit reporting system is flawed and
they also want you to have good credit because it means that you
will buy more and that is good for the economy.
The time is now to act while you still can. It’s time to
take control of your life and stop living as a victim of circumstance.
You can get the credit you deserve by letting the ACIB and their
partner teams assist you in taking your credit back. We are dedicated
to helping you and helping your family so you can start to enjoy
the things this country has to offer for those that have good credit.
How do you restore bad credit?
As part of our service you will have personal contact with a trained
paralegal, which will help you in determining which items you wish
to dispute first, and how you want us to dispute them. Once we’ve
received your credit reports we will draft letters to dispute negative
items on your behalf. These letters are designed to communicate
your dispute in such a way that the credit bureaus will accept the
dispute and conduct an investigation.
While this may sound easy, any person who has attempted to dispute
his or her own credit will tell you otherwise. According to federal
law, the credit bureaus can ignore your dispute under a variety
of conditions. In our experience, a large part of dispute letters
sent directly from consumers are rejected under one pretext or another.
At the conclusion of the credit bureau's investigation, a new copy
of the credit report is sent to your home along with any deletions
or improvements. You then copy and send us the new credit report
and the cycle repeats itself at timed intervals.
A disputed credit listing must be accurate and verifiable for it
to remain on the credit report. If the credit listings are only
somewhat inaccurate, the credit bureau may simply change the item
to reflect the accurate status. Very often, though, disputed credit
items cannot be verified: the creditor either no longer possesses
the information or does not wish to go to the trouble of verifying
it. Also, the reinvestigation must be completed within 30 days or
the listing must be removed. For these reasons, properly disputed
credit listings are removed with remarkable frequency.
Each time an investigation is commenced, the odds of receiving
a particular deletion increases.
How do you do this legally?
Although the credit bureaus would like to have you think otherwise,
there is absolutely nothing illegal about disputing items on your
credit report. In fact, it is your explicit right by law to do so
(FCRA). Credit report repair is as legal as pleading "not guilty"
in a court of law. There was a Federal act recently passed into
law called the Fair Credit Services Organization Act, which outlines
the right to have a third party represent you during this process.
How long does it take?
It is inappropriate for any law firm to promise a particular result
within a certain time frame. We can no more do that than we could
promise a client that he or she would prevail in a court of law.
Though we can give you an idea as to how we have performed in the
past your results may vary. If credit reports are received promptly,
many clients see exhilarating progress within the first 60 days.
Statistically, participating clients have received, on average,
9.85 deletions by their third month, 16.15 deletions by the sixth
month, and 23.5 deletions by the end of nine months and if your
case is a difficult matter many that you may have gone through a
bankruptcy, we see dramatic results after a year. A deletion is
a credit item that has permanently disappeared from the credit report
of the client. We have calculated these statistics from years of
experience from clients who had sent copies of all three-credit
reports once every three months (a "participating client.")
Though we realize that these average results are exciting, we must
warn you not to interpret past performance as a guarantee or promise
that we will achieve precisely the same results for you as we have
other clients in the past. Your results may be better or worse.
The progress of your case will depend on your participation (sending
in credit reports on a timely basis,) the nature of your case, and
the level of credit bureau cooperation. It is vital that you stay
involved during the process. If you ever have any questions or concerns
you are welcome to contact your paralegal.
Can I restore my own credit?
Given some experience and study, you could do some of what our
staff does. It is much like your right as a citizen to represent
yourself in court.
Most people choose to allow an attorney to represent them because
the attorney understands the legal system better. But, should you
wish, you could represent yourself.
Another factor to consider is the amount of time and follow-up
required to coordinate disputes with all three credit-reporting
agencies. The American Credit Information Bureau and its team
have systematized the disputation of credit through a trained staff
and a custom designed approach to your individual case.
With that said, we encourage consumers to dispute their own credit
if they have the time and knowledge to do so.
Do I need to pay my bills?
If there are delinquent accounts appearing on your credit reports
that have not been paid off, the actual debt behind the listing
remains the same even if we delete the account from your credit
report. You still owe the same money that you owed in the first
place. If you don’t pay the debt, the creditor or collection
agency could always re-report the item. So removing the listing
without addressing the debt is only a temporary solution. So we
encourage you to pay off your debt before we attempt to remove the
negative item.
Does paying my bills restore my credit?
You would think that would be true. But, again, the credit reporting
system just doesn't work that way.
When you pay an old debt, the negative credit listing doesn't disappear.
Once paid, it will appear on your credit report as a paid delinquency,
charge off or collection (whatever the case may be.) Depending on
the nature of the debt it could remain on your credit report for
up to 10 years or more after it is settled.
That is, you won't get very far paying your debts unless you also
work to restore your credit at the same time. The good news is that
we can help you settle those debts and save you a lot of money in
the process.
Can credit repair companies be trusted?
Many "credit repair" companies claim to remove negative
credit with the flick of a wrist. Their advertisements make bold
assertions and money-back guarantees: "Bankruptcy, tax liens,
judgments... no problem!! One hundred percent guaranteed!! Credit
report 100% cleared in 30 days!!" Can they really make such
sweeping guarantees?
While some credit repair companies are outright frauds, others
are not frauds and they use the audit dispute process to obtain
impressive results. In fact, they delete thousands of negative credit
listings every day - regardless of whether or not the listings are
technically accurate.
Unfortunately, it is risky to trust anyone to help you restore
your credit. It is estimated that credit repair companies have bilked
Americans out of more than fifty million dollars. Entrepreneurs
started the majority of credit repair companies with a penchant
for marketing. Consumers have flocked to these "credit doctors"
only to discover that their advertisements proved far more impressive
than their results. Hiring a credit repair company is like playing
Russian roulette. Many of them are effective and legitimate, but
it is difficult to tell a rip-off from the real article.
Working within the credit bureau maze requires substantial background
knowledge - knowledge it takes credit repair companies years to
learn. In fact, U.S. District Court Judge J. Wexler entered the
following legal opinion in the Federal Supplement. "Since allowing
third parties to assist consumers will likely lead to the expedited
correction of credit reports, it will further the purposes of the
[Fair Credit Reporting] Acts."
So, can credit repair companies really guarantee results?
Not a chance! No credit repair company is so good that it can guarantee
a specific outcome. It would be like a defense lawyer guaranteeing
that the jury will find his client innocent. Guarantees are a sure
sign of credit repair fraud.
Not surprisingly, the credit bureaus have declared war against
the credit repair companies and those selling instruction on how
to do-it-yourself. The bureaus lambaste credit repair companies
in the media and send anti-credit repair literature to anyone whom
they suspect of using credit repair services. The bureaus unflinchingly
deny that accurate information can be removed from a credit report.
Some time ago, a couple in the Northwestern United States who were
using the services of a legitimate credit repair company, received
a scathing letter of reproach from their local credit bureau. The
letter chastened them for relying on the "unethical" methods
of credit repair, and pointed out how all their efforts had come
to nothing. "As you can see," the letter chastened, "your
credit reports remain unchanged." The couple was bewildered
because almost all of their many negative credit listings, including
a bankruptcy, had long since been deleted.
The simple truth is that you do not have to endure bad credit for
seven to ten years so long as you feel comfortable challenging the
accuracy or verifiability of your credit listings. If so, it is
possible to restore creditworthiness within a much shorter time.
However you decide to address your credit challenges, realize that
regardless of what you may hear in the news media, thousands before
you have sought help and restored their credit. They can show you
their homes, cars, and credit cards. Despite the newspaper articles,
TV reports, and other credit bureau propaganda to the contrary,
the simple truth remains: you can restore your credit.
How much does bad credit cost?
As you consider retaining our law firm you would do well to look
at the price you are already paying for bad credit. If the cost
of our service can produce much greater savings, you would be wise
to make the investment. Below are just a few examples of the cost
of bad credit.
Credit Cards
Most if not all, prime credit cards are entirely out of reach to
consumers with bad credit. And the few credit cards that are available
to them (known as “sub-prime” cards) typically require
exorbitant setup fees or recurring monthly fees, offer very low
credit lines, often require cash deposits, and in most cases do
not even report your positive credit activity to the credit bureaus.
Automobile Financing
If you are making payments on a car, you are probably paying between
$5,000 and $9,000 more just for having bad credit. This added interest
shows up every month in a higher payment. Take a look.
Home Mortgage
Bad credit in auto financing can really hurt, but it is nothing
compared to the cost of bad credit when a home is involved. A typical
home can cost between $50,000 and $130,000 more in interest if you
are buying the home with bad credit.
$100,000 home paid over 30 years:
Does paying off past-due accounts neutralize their negative status?
No. Paid, once-delinquent, debts still show up as severe negatives.
It's important to note that credit reports don't just show your
current credit situation, but they also show what your credit situation
has been in the past. Therefore, past delinquency, collection activity
or charge off does a great deal of damage to the credit score even
if it was paid off. This is one of the great ironies of the credit
reporting system; paying your past-due debts does little to immediately
increase your credit score.
However, paying off past due debts is an important step in working
with a credit report repair lawyer. We usually suggest resolving
debts while we work on your case.
Will deleted items just reappear on the credit report?
The credit bureaus have cleverly spread this myth through the news
media and government agencies. The truth is, credit bureaus will
often temporarily delete a negative listing if they haven't heard
from the credit grantor after approximately thirty days. If the
credit grantor reports late, say after six weeks, and then verifies
the negative listing, the credit bureau will often reinsert the
negative listing on the credit report. This is commonly known as
a "soft delete."
Usually however, the creditor simply fails to respond and the negative
listing is permanently deleted. If the credit grantor verifies the
item, either before thirty days or after, the account may still
be challenged at some future time.
Are items such as bankruptcies and foreclosures impossible to remove?
There is not one type of negative listing that cannot be removed
from a credit report. While negative items such as bankruptcy or
unpaid debts are certainly more difficult to remove from the credit
report, this has more to do with the operational systems of the
credit bureaus than with the severity of the bad credit item. For
example, judgments and tax liens are severely negative listings
yet are considerably easier to remove.
We have removed everything from bankruptcies down to late payments.
Should consumers try credit repair on their own?
Disputing the credit report is easy. Getting results from the credit
bureaus is amazingly difficult, complex, and infuriating. It is
not a coincidence that the Federal Trade Commission receives more
complaints against credit bureaus than any other type of business.
Remember, the credit bureaus are primarily interested in protecting
their profits. Investigating your challenge consumes these profits.
Short of sparking a mass number of lawsuits, the credit bureaus
seem to do everything in their power to discourage consumers from
making progress in their restoration efforts.
Restoring your own credit is like repairing your own transmission
or representing yourself in court; it is possible, but you must
decide if you are willing to take the time and assume the risks
of doing it yourself.
Does bankruptcy wipe the slate clean for a second chance?
Many bankruptcy attorneys do not adequately understand or explain
the effects of bankruptcy to their clients. Stated simply, bankruptcy
is to the credit rating what the nuclear bomb is to war. When you
file for bankruptcy, every credit account that you decide to include
in bankruptcy will become an "included in bankruptcy"
account. Additionally, a bankruptcy filing and bankruptcy discharge
listing will appear in the court records section of your credit
report. Because so many negative items are attached to the bankruptcy,
it becomes very difficult to remove all trace of the bad credit.
If at all possible, you should avoid bankruptcy.
Does enough good credit offset any bad credit?
Any amount of bad credit is devastating to your chances of being
approved by a credit grantor. Most credit grantors never actually
look at your credit report. A computer pulls your credit report,
rates your credit standing, income, indebtedness, and stability,
then spits out an acceptance or denial. Even one or two slow pays
will usually trigger a credit card or personal loan denial. The
slightest amount of negative credit will cause the interest on an
auto loan to skyrocket. You will probably find that even a little
bad credit, regardless of how much good credit you have, is an unacceptable
barrier to credit approval.
Do negative items remain listed for at least 7 years?
When you speak with credit grantors, collection agencies, or credit
bureaus, their typically under-educated staff may tell you all manner
of such pseudo-legal nonsense. The law demands that negative listings
appear on your credit report for no longer than seven years. The
credit grantor or the credit bureau can choose to delete the negative
credit listing whenever they see fit.
