Best Credit Repair Companies: Top 5 Credit Repair Services to Check Out For Bad Credit Score [2021]

A poor credit score can limit your loan options. For instance, you will struggle to get a mortgage, car, or personal loan. Even for the loans that you qualify for, you might end up paying higher-than-average interest rates. It can also affect your insurance premiums, among other areas of your life.

Essentially, it makes things harder financially. The good news is, credit repair companies can help to improve your credit score, especially if there are errors on your credit report. Besides, these credit repair companies can make things easier for you by analyzing your credit, spotting any mistakes and disputing them directly with the major credit bureaus.

When you decide to enlist the assistance/services of a credit repair company, it will work with the credit reporting agencies to identify and challenge the negative items or errors on your credit report. However, you will only benefit from credit repair services if you choose a reliable and legitimate credit repair company. But with hundreds of companies to choose from, identifying the best credit repair company can be a challenge for most people.

The question is, how do you ensure that you choose a reliable and legitimate credit repair company? Well, you hardly need to worry about that. We’ve done the research, identified, and reviewed the best credit repair companies. All you need to do at this point is to kick back and follow us to the end of this piece.

Our Top 5 Credit Repair Companies

1. Credit Saint: Overall Best & Top-Rated For Simple Credit Repair Options
2. CreditRepair.com: Runner-Up For Credit Repair
3. The Credit People: Recommended For Best Credit Score
4. SkyBlue Credit: Best Value Credit Repair Company
5. Lexington Law: Known For Credit Monitoring, Credit Repair

#1. Credit Saint: Overall Best & Top-Rated For Simple Credit Repair Options

Launched in 2004, Credit Saint has grown to become one of the leading credit repair companies in the country. This credit repair company is based in New Jersey and has consistently ranked among the top in the industry. This is based on surveys conducted by third-party firms like Consumer Affairs.

It’s also among the few credit repair companies whose reputation is verifiable by the Better Business Bureau, having earned an A+ rating, the gold standard in the industry.

Credit Saint offers three different options to choose from. This, of course, depends on the level of credit repair that your report needs. They include Credit Polish, Credit Remodel, and Clean Slate.

Credit Polish is an entry-level credit repair package. It features five disputes of inaccuracies on your credit report per dispute cycle, a credit score analysis, challenges to the major credit bureaus, and an ongoing credit score tracker.

For the Credit Remodel package, you will get all the features present in the Credit Polish plan. You will also get inquiry targeting, ten negative disputes, and ongoing credit monitoring via Experian.

The Clean Slate package is an advanced-level credit repair plan and the most aggressive one among the three options. It comes with all the features present in the above packages. You also get unlimited disputes per billing cycle. With this membership, you can also ask Credit Saint to send cease and desist letters on your behalf.

Overall, Credit Saint offers excellent value for your money when it comes to credit repair. You get a panel of credit repair advisors. The company’s services are affordable with a 90-day money-back guarantee, and the entire process is transparent.

Highlights

• Wide range of credit repair services: Credit Saint provides its clients with a wide range of credit repair services. For instance, it can help to remove inaccurate negative items from your credit reports. These include late payments, liens, bankruptcies, credit inquiries, collections, judgments, and foreclosures, among others.
• Personal credit repair advisors: With Credit Saint, you will be allocated a personal panel of advisors. These individuals will constantly monitor your credit score while ensuring all your issues are resolved on time.
• Free initial consultation: Credit Saint offers a free initial consultation. There, you’ll get an opportunity to examine your FICO score with one of its credit repair professionals. This free initial consultation helps to identify the negative issues that may be present in your credit report.
• 90-day money-back guarantee: Credit Saint credit repair services come with a 90-day money-back guarantee. So, if the company fails to remove the negative items from your credit history in 90 days, you can demand a full refund.
• Flexible monthly basis: Another standout feature of Credit Saint is the monthly basis service. With Credit Saint, you don’t have to sign a fixed contract. This flexibility is highly beneficial for most clients. Thanks to this arrangement, you can cancel the services at any time, and Credit Saint will not charge you a penalty.
• Commitment to transparency: Credit Saint is always committed to transparency. Your credit repair advisors will keep you in touch regarding the progress. Also, the entire credit repair process is done in line with the right regulations.

Pros

• Free initial consultation
• 90-day money-back guarantee
• Flexible credit repair packages
• A+ Better Business Bureau rating
• Great service

Cons

• Not available in some states

⇒ Visit the Official Website of Credit Saint

#2. CreditRepair.com: Runner-Up For Credit Repair

CreditRepair.com is a renowned credit repair company that was launched in 2012. While it may be relatively new, this Utah-based company has already established itself as one of the top providers of credit repair services.

According to the information on its official website, the company has so far managed to remove millions of negative appearances from its clients’ reports since its inception. When you hire CreditRepair.com to repair your credit report, its credit repair professionals will retrieve your credit report right away and sift through it.

The initial assessment helps identify all the misleading, inaccurate, or invalid entries that may harm your credit score. From there, they will whip up a customized plan for you based on the level of repair your credit report needs.

CreditRepair.com gives you three packages to choose from, depending on your needs. These are the Direct plan, the Standard plan, and the Advanced plan.

The Direct plan is designed for clients whose credit reports need minimal repair work. And while it may be an entry-level package, it comes loaded with handy features. With this plan, you will get 15 negative items disputes per month. You’ll also have three creditor challenges per month.

The Standard plan comes with all the services offered in the Direct plan. It also adds quarterly credit score analysis and 24/7 credit monitoring. If you sign up for this plan, you can also ask CreditRepair.com to send cease and desist letters to appropriate people for you.

The Advanced plan is designed for clients whose credit reports need a lot of repair work. This plan comes with 19 negative item disputes per month and six creditor challenges per month. With the Advanced plan, CreditRepair.com will also send you your monthly FICO score. You will also get identity theft protection insurance of up to $1 million as well as a wide range of personal finance tools.

Highlights

• Simple, flat-rate pricing: One of the main reasons CreditRepair.com continues to attract hundreds of clients every year is its simple, flat-rate pricing. You simply need to choose your preferred package, and you will be paying a single monthly rate for the services you will be getting. So, you don’t have to worry about long-term obligations.
• Free Initial Consultation: Like other reputable credit repair companies, CreditRepair.com also offers a free initial consultation. Also, you will get a free audit of all your accounts, free access to your credit report summary, as well as a free credit score assessment. And after doing all the evaluations, CreditRepair.com will give you a personalized credit repair recommended approach.
• Transparent credit repair process: CreditRepair.com maintains a transparent credit repair process. All the information that you need is clearly laid out on its website. Also, you can get in touch with the company’s customer service team if you have an issue or a query.
• Helpful educational resources: CreditRepair.com also offers a wide range of valuable educational resources. You can use them to learn more about credit scores and the credit repair process. You will also get insights on identity theft, savings, and debt solutions, among others.

Pros

• Free initial consultation
• Great customer support
• Handy library of resources
• Simple, flat-rate pricing
• Feature-packed plans

Cons

⇒ Visit the Official Website of CreditRepair.com

#3. The Credit People: Recommended For Best Credit Score

Established in 2004, Credit People is one of the most reliable credit repair companies on the market today. With no less than 15 years of experience in the industry, The Credit People is well versed in all the intricacies of the credit repair process. So, when you hire them, you can rest assured that you are in safe hands.

Since it was launched, The Credit People has removed approximately 1.5 million harmful items from its client’s credit reports.

So far, The Credit People has served thousands of clients. From that number, 78% have been approved for auto loans, while 81% have been approved for new credit. Also, 71% have been approved for home loans, while 74% have been approved for refinancing.

It’s also among the few credit repair companies that have been featured in reputable publications like the Wall Street Journal, SmartMoney, and the New York Times.

The Credit People offers two main packages to choose from – a monthly membership and a six-month flat-rate membership. The monthly membership comes with a 7-day trial, which gives you the chance to assess the company’s credit repair services.

If you are dissatisfied with the company’s services within those seven days, you can simply cancel the membership. Regardless of the package you choose, you will have access to a wide range of vital credit repair services like credit disputes, debt validation, and credit monitoring.

The Credit People will clean up your credit report by removing negative items like late payments, charge-offs, foreclosures, tax liens, bankruptcies, judgments, collections, and repossessions, among others.

Highlights

• Score-driven results: The Credit People markets itself as a company that thrives on score-driven results. So, what exactly does this mean? Well, apart from helping to remove the negative items on your credit report and correcting credit issues, The Credit People will go a step further and actively help to improve your credit score.
• Transparent and straightforward credit repair process: Credit People adheres to a transparent process. When you sign up for its services, you will have 24/7 access to your account. Therefore, you can easily monitor every step and view the company’s progress with the credit repair work.
• No hidden fees: After paying for your preferred package, you will not incur additional charges. This is sometimes the case with some credit repair companies. But, thankfully, once you choose and pay for your package, The Credit People will not slap you with additional fees along the way.
• Free credit reports and scores: Regardless of the package you choose, you will have access to your free credit report and credit score, thus allowing you to assess your current position. From there, you can then discuss with the company how to proceed with the repair process.
• Dedicated credit repair professionals: When you sign up for its credit repair services, this company will assign you a team of credit repair professionals who will be handling your case. You can also choose to work one-on-one with a dedicated case manager, who will be specifically assigned to handle your case.

Pros

• Affordable pricing
• Unlimited disputes
• Numerous educational resources
• Toll-free customer support
• 24/7 account access

Cons

⇒ Visit the Official Website of The Credit People

#4. SkyBlue Credit: Best Value Credit Repair Company

Sky Blue Credit is one of the longest-living and most renowned credit repair companies. It’s famous for its transparent pricing, reliable services, and excellent customer support.

Unlike other credit repair companies, you will have to pay for their services before you get a consultation. On a more positive note, you can end your subscription at any time within six days, and you will not be charged.

Beyond its transparent pricing, Sky Blue Credit also applies an honest approach as far as credit repair is concerned. When you contact and enquire about a particular service, one of the company’s credit advisors will tell you whether it’s possible or not.

Sky Blue Credit offers a single credit repair plan for all its customers. With this package, you can dispute up to 15 issues on your credit reports every 35 days. Some credit repair companies will only dispute items on your credit report every 45 to 60 days while charging you monthly. As you can see, Sky Blue Credit offers better value for your money.

After signing up with Sky Blue Credit, it will undertake a thorough analysis of your credit report and identify issues or items that may be harming your credit score. After identifying those issues, the company’s credit repair specialists will then send disputes on your behalf.

Some of the services you will have access to include professional credit analysis, credit disputes, and score rebuilding.

Sky Blue Credit doesn’t offer optional add-ons. As mentioned earlier, it provides a single, all-inclusive package. However, this single-all inclusive package comes with all the optional add-ons that you may get from other companies at no extra cost. They include debt validation, cease and desist letters, goodwill letters as well as mortgage preparation.

Highlights

• Couples’ discounts: Sky Blue Credit offers a discount for clients who sign up as a couple. Under this discount, the second person will earn a 50% discount on the initial and monthly fees. Its discount is one of the best, compared to those that the other credit repair companies offer.
• 90-day money-back guarantee: Its services come with an unconditional 90-day money-back guarantee. So, if you are dissatisfied with its work during the first 90 days of your subscription, you simply need to notify the company, and you will get a full refund.
• Excellent BBB rating: As much as Sky Blue Credit may not be accredited by the BBB, it has an excellent rating of A+. Also, it currently has a customer review rating of 4.27 out of 5 stars. And this goes to show that most of the people who have used its services have been satisfied.
• Flexible pricing and packages: Sky Blue Credit doesn’t tie down its customers with long-term contracts. Furthermore, its cancellation policy is, without a doubt, one of the most customer-friendly on the market.
• Pause membership. Sky Blue Credit also allows you to pause your membership at any time and resume it when you are ready. Thanks to this option, you will not have to renew your subscription when you continue.
• Reliable customer support team: Sky Blue Credit customer support is available from Monday to Friday during regular work hours of 9 to 5. If you want to contact the company, you can do so via phone or just submit your question online. Someone from the Sky Blue Credit company will reach out to you and discuss your issue.

Pros

• A reputable, transparent, and well-established company
• Unconditional 90-day money-back guarantee
• 50% couple discount
• A+ Better Business Bureau rating
• No long-term contracts

Cons

⇒ Visit the Official Website of SkyBlue Credit

#5. Lexington Law: Known For Credit Monitoring, Credit Repair

If what you need is a very experienced and reliable credit repair company, then you should consider hiring Lexington Law. Launched in 2004, Lexington Law has decades of experience in financial law. The company has a team of lawyers and paralegals who specialize in consumer law, consumer advocacy, and credit reporting practices.

With offices in Arizona and Utah, Lexington Law serves credit repair clients in almost all the states. The exceptions are North Carolina and Oregon. Apart from credit repair services, Lexington Law also offers legal counsel in criminal law and family law.

Lexington Law has three credit repair packages – Concord Standard, Concord Premier, and Premier Plus.

As the name suggests, Concord Standard is the company’s basic credit repair plan. It comes with almost all the credit repair services that you may need. Some of the services this plan offers include challenging negative items on your credit report and creditor intervention.

The Concord Premier plan features all the services offered in the Concord Standard plan. It also adds monthly analysis as well as ongoing credit monitoring. Concord Premier also has additional services like credit score analysis, TransUnion alerts, inquiry assistance, and report watch.

Premier Plus is the company’s most comprehensive plan. With this plan, you will get all the tools needed for thorough credit repair. It also adds premium services like FICO Score Tracker, cease and desist letters, personal finance tools, and identity theft protection.

Highlights

• Free initial consultation: Lexington Law offers a free first initial consultation. This free consultation offered by Lexington Law will give you a chance to consult with a credit repair professional, who will take you through the company’s credit repair process and the methods applied.
• Faster credit repair process: Lexington Law has established digital partnerships with the three major credit reporting agencies in the country, making the transfer of information faster and easier. And with this approach, it’s able to work more quickly when it comes to challenging credit report errors.
• Handy mobile app: Lexington Law also has a mobile app available on iOS and Google Play. Through this app, its customers can easily follow their credit repair progress.
• Plenty of educational resources: The company website has plenty of educational resources, providing information on various areas such as how credit repair works. You can also find other articles covering topics like building credit, improving credit, fixing credit, and understanding credit.
• Household discount: Lexington Law also offers a 50% household discount on all its plans. So, if both of you sign up for Lexington Law’s credit repair services, your spouse will earn a 50% discount.

Pros

• Experienced legal team
• 50% couples discount
• A reliable credit repair company
• Free online educational resources
• Free initial consultation
• Flexible pricing

Cons

• 24/7 customer support is not available

⇒ Visit the Official Website of Lexington Law

How We Made the List

So, how did we make our list? First, we conducted a simple online search and created a list of some of the most popular credit repair companies.

From there, we took our selection process a step further by examining each of the companies deeply. We checked areas like stability, customer satisfaction, services offered, and costs and fees, among others. Then, we removed several credit repair companies from our list using this approach until we were left with around ten companies.

We narrowed down our list even further and ended up with the top 5 credit repair companies in the US market today.

What We Looked For

When narrowing down our list, we thoroughly examined each of the companies, looking at the following key areas:

• Experience: We checked how long each credit repair company has been in the industry. If a company has a lot of experience, there’s a high chance that you will get the services you paid for before it goes out of business. To this end, we decided to choose companies that have been in the industry for at least five years.
• Customer Satisfaction: For customer satisfaction, we checked the Better Business Bureau rating, online reviews, and customer experiences. With this approach, we were able to determine the level of customer satisfaction for each company. We narrowed our list further by choosing companies that had the highest levels of customer satisfaction.
• Services Offered: We checked the companies’ credit repair services and the number of disputes allowed per month. Using these criteria, we selected the credit repair companies that offered the most reliable credit repair services.
• Additional Services: When selecting the best credit repair companies, those that offer additional services made it to the top of our list.
• Cost and Fees: We finished off our selection process by evaluating the costs and fees that the different companies were charging. We checked various aspects such as pricing structure, upfront fees, monthly fees, discounts, and money-back guarantees. We settled on credit repair companies that appeared to offer the best value for money using these aspects.

Buying Guide – Important Factors to Remember Before Picking a Credit Repair Company

The best credit repair companies can help to clean up your credit report. However, credit repair scams are also common. And if you hire one of the unscrupulous credit repair companies, you will not only lose your money, but your personal information may also end up in the wrong hands.

Also, even some legitimate credit repair companies have been sued for charging illegal upfront fees, making false promises, and other malpractices. So, how do you ensure that you choose the best credit repair company? Here are the key factors to consider:

Company reputation is an essential factor to consider when choosing a credit repair company. When you are working with a reputable brand, you will enjoy professional services throughout the contract period. So, how do you ensure that you choose a reputable company?

First, you should check the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s complaint database. Here, you will find all the complaints that have been filed against a certain credit repair company.

Second, you can check with your state’s corporate commission and the state where the company has its headquarters. Such information will help you to determine whether you are dealing with scammers.

Third, a reputable credit repair company should explain your rights to you before signing the contract. It should inform you that disputing inaccurate information on your credit report is a free legal right, and you can do it by yourself.

Explaining your legal rights is a legal requirement for all credit repair companies. If it avoids or refuses to explain your legal rights, there’s a high chance that it’s a credit repair scam.

You also need to strongly consider customer satisfaction levels whenever you are choosing the best credit repair company. In this regard, customer reviews can help you. They will give you an idea of whether their customers are happy with the services offered or not.

If a credit repair company offers great services and customers are getting value for their money, then the reviews will be mainly positive. On the other hand, however, if most of the reviews you read are negative, it’s a clear indication that the customers are not getting what they are paying for. And it would be best if you avoided such credit repair companies.

Most of the leading credit repair companies usually offer a money-back guarantee. However, the guarantees offered vary from one company to the other. So, ensure that you study the contract carefully.

For example, one company may offer a no-strings-attached money-back guarantee. This means you can opt to cancel the contract at any point and for any reason, and you will get your money back. Another credit repair company may offer a 90-day money-back guarantee if it fails to deliver on the promises it had made.

A reputable credit repair company should give you a well-written and transparent contract. That contract should stipulate the services you will be getting, the contract duration, and the payment terms. If a credit repair company is not willing to provide you with a legally binding contract, you may likely be dealing with scammers.

Credit repair is a specialized profession. So, if you need a credit repair company right now, it will be very advisable to select a brand that has been in business for several years.

While there’s nothing wrong with hiring a recently-formed company, experience matters in this field, an experienced company will know how to handle the entire process and ensure everything goes smoothly. It’s only logical that you go for the most experienced in your search for the best credit repair companies.

Credit repair companies work by identifying and removing inaccurate data, errors or other issues that may be present on your credit report. By doing so, the best credit repair companies may help to improve your credit score considerably.

You should also note that the duration it will take to complete this process will depend on various factors. Examples include your current credit score and the extent of the errors in your report. All things considered, the entire process may take around three to six months.

For such reasons, the best credit repair companies will not guarantee you specific results. Therefore, if you encounter a company that promises to resolve your issue within a day or two, you might be dealing with scammers. The same principle applies if you come across a company that claims it can delete negative credit information from your report to achieve a specific score.

Even if they’re not scammers, they’re clearly inexperienced and do not understand how the industry works. You should stay away from such nefarious companies, regardless of how sweet the offer appears.

The credit repair process takes approximately 45 to 60 days. During this period, customers may have some questions regarding how the entire process is progressing. To this end, credit repair companies should provide a means for customers to contact them or monitor the progress on their own.

Hence, when choosing a credit repair company, you should ensure its contact information has been listed on the site and the customer support team is reachable. Without a means of reaching the customer support team, it will be almost impossible to monitor the progress.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What do credit repair companies do?

Credit repair companies work on behalf of the client with the credit reporting bureaus. They may also work with the institution that reported the client to the credit reporting bureaus, mostly financial service companies. During the process of trying to fix your credit score, the credit repair company will examine your credit report and identify any inaccurate or misleading data on the report. The purpose is to have the credit bureaus remove the erroneous data. And if it’s not possible to remove the negatives, then the credit repair company may work with the bureaus. Together, they’ll modify the data in a favorable way to you.

Q2. Are credit repair companies worth it?

Yes. Credit repair companies are worth it. If you’re struggling with a low or poor credit score, you will find it extremely hard to qualify for a conventional loan. And if you do happen to qualify, there’s a high chance it will come with higher-than-normal interest rates. While you can opt to repair your own credit, the entire process can be time-consuming.

Furthermore, you may end up making a costly error, thus worsening the situation. And this is where credit repair companies come in. They will do the heavy lifting for you by handling the entire process. And since they have the experience, they know how best to handle every situation.

Q3. How much does credit repair cost?

Credit repair costs approximately $50 to $100 per month. The actual cost that you will pay will vary from one company to the other. Also, different companies use different pricing models. Some offer a subscription-based plan, where the credit repair company will charge you a fixed fee for services rendered during the previous plan. With this plan, you can cancel any time you want. Other companies offer a pricing model based on the negatives deleted from your credit report. You will only pay the credit repair company when a negative has been removed from your report with this method.

Q4. Does credit repair work?

Yes, a legitimate and reputable credit repair company will work with the credit bureaus to remove harmful items from your credit report. Also, legitimate companies will do it legally and transparently. And after removing the negatives, your credit score will improve. You will find it easier to qualify for a mortgage, car loan, or insurance at friendly interest rates.

Q5. How long does credit repair take?

How long the process will take will vary from one person to the other. It will depend on your current score and the extent of the negatives on your credit report. If your credit report only has a few errors, then the credit repair process will take a shorter duration than someone whose report is full of negatives. But generally, the entire process will take at least 45 to 60 days if you work with professionals.

Q6. Are credit repair services legitimate?

Like any other industry, some credit repair companies are legitimate while others are unscrupulous. Thankfully, there are different ways to sniff out scammers. For example, if a company claims that it can remove every negative from your report, you are likely dealing with credit repair scammers. Also, if a company wants to create a new identity for you, chances are it’s not legitimate. Therefore, you need to do thorough due diligence when you are looking for the best credit repair company.

Q7. Is credit repair legal?

Yes, credit repair is legal. In fact, it’s protected by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which was set up by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, if credit report bureaus cannot verify an item on your credit report, then it must be removed. And this forms the foundation of credit repair.

However, some fraudulent credit repair companies can offer to create you a new credit file or start you on a clean slate. Such approaches to credit repair are illegal and can lead to prison time.

Q8. Can credit repair companies remove late payments from a credit report?

Yes. Credit repair companies can help to remove late payments from a credit report, as long as they are inaccurate. You simply need to prove that the late payments are inaccurate, and the credit repair company will collaborate with the credit bureaus to get rid of them. However, if the late payments are genuine, removing them from the credit report is impossible, regardless of whom you hire.

Q9. Can credit repair companies help with identity theft?

Yes, most of the leading credit repair companies such as CreditRepair.com and Lexington Law offer this service as part of their plans. Other credit repair companies may offer it as an add-on service. CreditRepair.com also offers identity theft protection insurance. So, whether the service will be offered or not will depend on the company that you hire and the package that you choose.

Wrapping it Up

If you find it hard to secure a mortgage, car loan, or personal loan due to a poor credit score, hiring a credit repair company may provide some relief.

While you can repair the report yourself, credit repair companies can achieve faster results, thanks to their experience and expertise. And when it’s time to hire one, you can check out one of the companies we’ve reviewed and choose one that aligns best with your budget and preferences.

If you decide to go for a company outside our list, ensure you follow our handy buying guide.

Gallery