I paid an Arizona based company $1,500 to repair some blemishes on my credit. He had done work for several friends of mine with amazing results. We met in person a couple times and had seen proof of his work. But now after 5 months and no results he's disappeared. Will not return calls, texts, or emails. I know he's still doing business because through cyberstalking I've seen his pictures of his new banners at kids football games. I've not repulled or done anything credit wise in 5 months and am missing out on some low rates at a needed times of the year. What should I do? Small claims? Lawyer? Thanks!
Probably small claims. Not enough money at stake to involve an attorney. The most you can hope for is a refund of your $1500.00.
However, first write a demand letter, send it certified requesting a full refund.
If you factually have a bad credit history, no one can change that. If you did not pay your creditors, the creditors will report the nonpayments to the credit bureaux. The credit bureaux will publish your history to other creditors that request your file.
Credit repair is generally a scam. How it works is that the "repair persons", if they do anything for you at all, file a dispute regarding all negative entries in your file. If the creditor that reported the negative entry does not respond to an inquiry from the credit bureau, the credit bureau is supposed to remove the entry from your file. If enough creditors do not respond or are slow to respond, your credit score suddenly increases. However, if you factually did not pay your debts, the creditors will eventual re-report the debts.
You can check out Chapter 19.134 RCW (CREDIT SERVICES ORGANIZATION ACT) to see how those statutes may apply to your case.
Because the statutes provide that you are paid attorney's fees if you win, perhaps an attorney will take your case if the person appears to have any money to pay.
I agree that as a general rule, credit repair is a scam. However, you're not without recourse. It sounds like the person/company would qualify as a "credit repair organization" and be subject to the Credit Repair Organizations Act (called "CROA" in the industry). I've sued companies in federal court for violations of CROA, and any competent consumer protection attorney should be able to help you. CROA also contains fee-shifting provisions so you should be able to find someone to represent you on a contingency (meaning no cost to you) basis.
Good luck with your case and I hope you get your money back!
