Bad Credit Blog

By Dewey Kearney

When my daughter and I started 1-800BadCredit.com it was with the intention of helping people with bad credit get GOOD credit. It can be done and we knew it, but we soon discovered that there was a lot of bad information floating around – in fact there still is.

One classic example is the idea that you can repair your own credit reports easily. It’s true that you can personally challenge the negative items on your own credit report. Will you be as successful and get it done as fast as a company like Lexington Law? Probably not. But if you want to do it yourself it’s not impossible. In fact, Credit Dispute Form that you can use for self-disputing credit items.

Now back to the main topic. In the Credit Reporting business there are several *free* services that you can choose from. But as you are probably well aware, nothing in life is really free. These companies would not be in business if they didn’t sell a service. You can cancel them at any time, but in truth with identity theft on the rise these protection services are very affordable – when you consider the hours and dollars involved in fixing your credit if your identity is ever stolen.

Here’s a breakdown of the top three on our site and what they offer:

Consumer Direct

They have some great features that are not offered elsewhere. Their service is not offered in Arizona where we live, but it is available in every other state. ConsumerDirect enables members to improve their credit score by fixing credit report errors online. Additionally, members can reduce the interest rate on credit cards they already have, declare and recover from Identity Theft, negotiate debt settlements, dispute billing errors, manage privacy options and much, much more. And all without writing any letters or making any phone calls. Just click what needs to be fixed and ConsumerDirect does all the work!

Additionally ConsumerDirect will put a credit lock on your file so no one can apply without your consent, plus they will also provide your insurance score – if you don’t know what that is, neither did we until we did some research. We have an article about that here.

FreeCreditReport.com

This is an Experian company that is simply one of the best around. You can order your credit report and score with a 7-day free trial in their “Triple Advantage” credit protection program.

Being part of the Experian companies is a plus here. Because FreeCreditReport.com can offer you state-of-the-art credit protection and monitoring tools - Triple Advantage. This is their 3-in-1 Credit Report and Score Watch. Due to New York state laws the Triple Advantage credit monitoring is not available in that state. This is currently the only state that restricts this. With FreeCreditReport.com you will get these special benefits:

• Check your report for possible signs of identity theft
• Monitor all three national credit files every day
• Receive email alerts of suspicious account activity
• Enjoy unlimited reports and scores with paid membership

Credit.com

This is a great basic service without a lot of hoopla. With Credit.com you get a 7-day free membership. They also offer a 3-in-one credit report WITH score. Just a few months ago everyone had to pay extra for the credit score. That’s what competition will do. Now they all include the score. This is a very good company to do business with, very reliable and trustworthy. If you only want to check your credit every two or three months, no problem, you can do that.

Are all credit reporting companies alike? Of course not! Otherwise only one would be needed. Think about what you want and whose services can best serve your needs. Of course, there are many more credit report companies on the web, but in our opinion these are the top three in the industry.