Who Are the Credit Bureaus?

As you build your credit history with your purchases and bill payments, you might have heard of the credit bureaus as they issue your credit reports. But who or what are the credit bureaus? Keep reading ahead to know all about the credit bureaus and what they do.
 

What Is a Credit Bureau?

A credit bureau, also known as a credit reporting agency, is an organization that researches and gathers your credit information and sells it to creditors for a fee. Credit bureaus help creditors make decisions regarding your credit limit extension or loan grants.
 

How Do Credit Bureaus Work?

Credit bureaus partner with many kinds of lending institutions like banks, mortgage lenders, credit card issuers, and several other financial lending companies to help them make loan decisions.

Their main goal is to ensure creditors have enough information on individuals, so they can determine whether they are eligible for taking out loans and if they are capable of paying them back in a timely manner.
 

Credit Scores

Credit bureaus utilize a range of methodologies to calculate individuals' credit scores. The Fair Isaac Corporation created the FICO scores in 1989, which became the most commonly used scores in the U.S. There are 19 different kinds of FICO scores, but each is calculated differently according to different types of clients, so credit issuers can choose the type that best fits their inquiry.

Credit bureaus then issue credit reports by adding the credit scores to the information they acquired to help credit issuers determine an individual's credit approval and loan borrower's appropriate interest rates. The higher a person's credit score is, the lower their interest rate on loan will be.
 

Major Credit Bureaus

There are many credit bureaus in the U.S, but the three major ones are:

• Equifax
• Experian
• TransUnion

These three bureaus use both the FICO scores, in addition to their own combined credit score known as the VantageScore.

These credit scores are calculated in a range from 300 to 800; here is their range of qualifications:

What is Credit Repair?

Credit repair is the processing of fixing one's credit report to increase their credit score. If you are wondering why one needs to fix their credit reports, well, it is because sometimes their reports can have inaccurate information or invalid negative items that lower their scores, thus disallowing them to make purchases, get loans, and generally be viewed as financially incapable.

These are the kinds of negative items that credit repair can remove:

• Late payments
• Charge offs
• Collections
• Repossessions
• Judgments
• Inquiries
• Foreclosure
• Liens
• Bankruptcies
   

How Does Credit Repair Work?

Credit repair can be a complex process without the help of legitimate credit repair companies. Credit repair companies facilitate the process by contacting the credit bureaus on your behalf to validate your negative items, and if they fail to do so, the items are removed in about 30 days and consequently raising your score.
 

Best Credit Repair Companies

If you are looking for a credit repair, you should beware of frauds on the market who just want to collect your money without providing you any of the services they promise. We took the liberty of researching the best credit repair companies and will present them to you so you choose the best of the best.

1. Lexington Law

Lexington Law is one of the well-known credit repair companies that is also a law firm. It offers several legal services besides credit repair, such as:

• Litigation
• Child Custody
• Bankruptcy
• Divorce
• Criminal Defense
• Property & Water Rights
• DUI Defense
• Pro Bono Cases

Lexington Law offers the following subscription plans for its credit repair services:

Concord Standard: $95.95 per month

This is the basic credit repair plan, and it offers a full range of services that small credit repair companies offer, such as:

• Credit disputes
• Creditor intervention
• Inquiry assist
• ID theft insurance
• Debthandler
   

Concord Premier: $119.95 per month

The Concord Premier plan covers all the services in the previous plan, in addition to the following:

• Credit score analysis
• Credit monitoring
• Alerts when the score changes
   

Premier Plus: $139.15 per month

This is the most comprehensive credit repair package from Lexington Law. Besides all the previously mentioned services, you also get the following:

• Cease and desist letters
• Access to FICO
• Score tracker
• Financial planning tools
• Lost wallet protection
• Junk mail reducer

2. Credit Saint

Credit Saint is our second best recommendation for one of the top credit repair companies in the U.S. It has over 18 years of experience in fixing people's credit and is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating.

Credit Saint offers three plans, each tailored for its clients' specific needs. Each plan also comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee, which promises a full refund if no negative items were removed within that period.

Credit Polish: $79.99 per month + $99 first work fee

This plan will provide you with:

• Challenges to the 3 Credit Bureaus
• Score Analysis
• Creditor Interventions
• Score Tracker
   

Credit Remodel: $99/month + $99 first work fee

This plan will have all that is offered with the Credit Polish plan, in addition to:

• Inquiry Targeting
• Experian Monitoring
   

Clean Slate: $199.99/month + $195 first work fee

This is the full-service plan offered by Credit Saint. It offers all of the following:

• Unlimited Challenges to the 3 Credit Bureaus
• Score Analysis
• Creditor Interventions
• Score Tracker
• Inquiry Targeting

3. The Credit Pros

For our last pick, we present you with The Credit Pros. The Credit Pros was founded in 2009 and has grown to become a nationwide trusted credit repair company that offers the following services:

• Identifying inaccurate credit items and getting them removed to increase your credit score.
• Credit counseling to help you with your credit score.
• Credit education resources and tools to help you better understand how credit scores work.
• Outline of written material that covers credit scores and other valuable info.
• Informing you of your legal rights according to the law.

As for its service pricing, you are offered three plans:

Money management: $69/month + $119 first work fee

This plan will provide you with:

• One-bureau report and scores
• ID Cover® Darkweb monitoring
• TransUnion® alerts
• Real-time account sync
• Bill reminder
• Budgeting system
   

Prosperity Package: $119/month + $119 first work fee

This plan offers everything provided in the previous plan, in addition to:

• Credit bureau challenges
• Creditor interventions
• Cease & desist letters
• Letter of reference
   

Success Plus Package: $149/month + $149 first work fee

This plan is the full-service package from The Credit Pros. It will provide you with all the previously mentioned services, plus:

• Credit Builder Loan
• Three-bureau reports and scores