Credit Repair Agencies?

any thoughts on these guys?

Credit repair agencies extend their services to customers who wish to clean up their credit files. More often than not, these organizations can charge from $200-$5000. They are not allowed to charge for their services up front; doing so would be a violation of the Credit Repair Organizations Act. They can only receive payment for their services after their duties have been completed.

Credit repair organizations typically search for information that can potentially harm your credit such as late payments or delinquencies, judgments, bankruptcies, and the like. They serve as arbiters between you and the credit reporting agencies. However, you can actually clean up your credit yourself; it may be time-consuming on your end, but why pay when you can actually do it yourself? It will save you hundreds of dollars and you can use the funds towards your bills instead.

Credit repair companies are also required by law to give customers a full and detailed description of their companies' services in writing. Should the customer decide not to push thru with the credit clean-up procedure, he/she can cancel the contract within three days from first applying. They will not be required to pay any pre-termination fees if done so.

And I agree with Karess, You can actually dispute the errors on your credit report yourself. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the opportunity to do so. Credit repair agencies aren't allowed to remove any negative but true information on your credit report. You really need to wait it out until the period is over.

Halo Credit is legit and helpful not to mention reasonably priced!

So I assume they are one of the credit repair agencies that were mentioned in the previous posts? What exactly did they do for you, I am curious?

From what I understand credit repair agencies don't do anything you couldn't do yourself.

Legit, right, but they have an F rating with the Better Business Bureau.

If the charge in advance they are breaking the law, who would trust a company that can't even comply with the very same law tha regulates it's business?
Only o few companies are legit, the only one that I know is not asking for any advance is bcrconsulting, they charge per account deleted, nothing to get started.

Sure you can repair your credit yourself... you can also represent yourself in court. 

First, the credit bureaus are FOR PROFIT corporations and have NO interest whatsoever to help you.  That's why Congress passed the FCRA.  You must understand that any dispute COSTS these FOR PROFIT companies their PROFIT.  Thus, they have created very elaborate systems to frustrate the process and quickly get you to give up.

The real truth is that most people make MAJOR mistakes when they try to resolve their credit issues themselves, like using their online dispute system.  Furthermore, the process is extremely time consuming.  And since most people procrastinate, their results usually suck.

Next, the BBB rating system is total bullsh*t.  ALL credit repair companies start with an F rating.  However, once they pay the BBB "accreditation" fee,  their rating goes up.  Imagine that.

Lastly, let me get this straight... the law requires that credit repair organizations first provide their services free of charge and then try to collect their fees from people who have shown a propensity not to pay their bills.

Okay, that makes a lot of sense.

Believe me, any smart company will find a way to ensure they are going to get paid.

Lastly, let me get this straight... the law requires that credit repair organizations first provide their services free of charge and then try to collect their fees from people who have shown a propensity not to pay their bills.

From what I gather from the FCRA, a credit repair agency is not allowed to charge any fee prior to actual services being rendered. If what you're stating is indeed the case, then that's clearly a violation of the law.