Los Angeles Credit Repair Lawyers
Resolving credit disputes and repairing credit
Credit reporting errors caused by falsely reported late payments, default or wrongful foreclosure can seriously harm your credit and cost you thousands of dollars in increased interest rates. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit reporting agencies and the lender must correct inaccuracies on your credit report. To dispute credit errors, borrowers should send both the creditor and the reporting agency a written dispute letter. The agency must investigate and inform you of the results in writing.
When a credit reporting agency refuses to correct inaccuracies, our attorneys at Advocate Legal provide the assistance you need. Through skilled and aggressive representation backed by decades of experience, our attorneys help clients fight reporting errors and protect their credit scores. We work with a network of professionals to help you collect and prepare financial documents and will work to repair and restore your credit.
Credit repair
Repairing credit is the final frontier in the battle against lenders. Good credit allows you access to money to start a business, get an education, purchase a car, or purchase a home. Without good credit your financial life can be crippled. By alleviating debt problems, securing a payment schedule, or fighting credit errors in court, borrowers can begin to reestablish good credit. At Advocate Legal, our lawyers help clients repair credit through all types of debt settlement actions including negotiation and litigation with lenders and bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy to repair credit
When making payments on a mortgage, other loans, credit cards and bills becomes unmanageable, late payments, default and foreclosure can dramatically harm credit. In many cases, filing for bankruptcy is the best solution because it allows debtors to reorganize their debt so they can start making timely payments or wipe out most debts and start over. Although a bankruptcy remains on your credit record for seven to 10 years, you can start rebuilding your credit immediately by paying your bills on time, budgeting, taking out new credit cards or loans and carefully reviewing your credit score for errors. By eliminating debt, your credit will improve over time.
Debt settlement to repair credit
Late payments, foreclosures, bankruptcy and lender collection actions may stay on your credit record for seven to 10 years. Therefore, it is important to settle debt through loan modification, quiet title, credit disputes, consumer complaints and litigation as soon as practicable. Our lawyers help borrowers act quickly and decisively to end the cycle of late payments and late fees and the harm to your credit score.
How to repair credit
Repairing credit after bankruptcy or debt settlement is an ongoing process that may take several years, but taking certain steps immediately can help borrowers build good credit:
- Review credit reports — Consumers can obtain one free credit report from each of the three major reporting agencies each year. By staggering these reports over the year and checking credit regularly, you can watch for and dispute errors, and prevent identity theft.
- Monitor spending — Creating a budget and sticking to it, making payments on time and making strategically timed payments on credits cards each month can help you rebuild credit and prevent further debt problems.
- Apply for new credit cards or loans — While credit cards and loans can get consumers into trouble, they are also key to rebuilding credit. You may be able to use any cash or assets, or a co-signer in some cases, to take out a secured credit card. After obtaining a secured credit card, you can apply for gas or store cards and eventually upgrade your secured card to an unsecured card. Make sure you look for a secured card or loan with a low interest rate, no prepayment penalties, and low or no start-up fees. Also make sure the card is reported to the credit monitoring agencies.
- Build savings — Building up a savings account is the best way to avoid debt trouble in the future in case of job loss or an emergency expense. Financial experts recommend saving enough to cover six months of expenses.
Seek reliable assistance from experienced lawyers dedicated to results
At Advocate Legal, we care about getting real results for our clients dealing with credit errors and credit repair. To learn more about your options and our services, contact us online or call 800.846.0390 FREE today.