Lexington Law Firm vs. Sky Blue Credit

Both Lexington Law Firm and Sky Blue Credit provide consumers with credit repair services. Credit repair services primarily try to help improve consumers' credit scores by disputing derogatory items on their credit reports, frequently disputing even accurate credit listings, in an attempt to have derogatory information removed. Frequently, having an inaccurate item removed from a credit report is a relatively straightforward process, as a single dispute can result in the item being erased. However, if a creditor fights your dispute, having an account removed from your credit report can be a much more difficult and time-consuming process, as it can involve repeated disputes.

In some cases, even the best efforts of an experienced credit repair firm may not result in the removal of a derogatory credit listing from your report, especially if the creditor can show that the information it is reporting is accurate. What this means is that there is no sure-fire answer on if the disputed items will be removed, and there certainly is no clear answer on if they do get successfully removed what the timing of that is. I would recommend that you do not hold your breath, however, since it could be several reporting cycles.

Credit bureaus are only obligated to correct or remove inaccurate listings, not properly reported accounts or activity. This means that if you have bad credit, you probably will not get a loan while you try to improve your credit score.

You could dispute the inaccurate items on your credit report without the assistance of a credit repair firm such as Lexington Law Firm and Sky Blue Credit. However, like most professional services, you pay these firms to do the work for you and to provide professional advice based on their experience in working with other consumers in similar situations. I like to compare this service to people going to a tax preparer to have their tax returns completed; they could do it themselves, but prefer to hire a professional to save them time and to point out ways that they can save more money on their taxes. You certainly can dispute items on your credit report without professional assistance, but many consumers prefer to hire a professional to help them through the debt dispute process.

Generally speaking, the fees charged by these law firms for credit repair assistance are reasonable. Lexington Law charges $99 as an initial fee plus $39 per month. Sky Blue Credit charges $49 per month. Depending the value you place on your time, this is not much money considering the amount of time their services could save you, especially if you have many accounts on your credit report that need dispute.

a) Lexington Law Firm at a glance-
Lexington Law is generally considered to be a reputable firm, but of course each consumer needs to do their own homework. I visited the company headquarters in Salt Lake City to see its operations in action and found it impressive. Lexington Law Firm has been in business since 1991 and they appear to have good systems in place. The company claims to employ 22 attorneys in 16 states, and is responsible for the employment of more than 400 paralegals and agents. Bills.com's readers are active in commenting about their experiences with Lexington Law.

Lexington Law's guarantee is as follows, "If we fail to provide the agreed-upon services to you (as outlined by your selected service level) for any given month, you will not be billed for that month, or will be refunded your fees for that month if your payment has already been processed."

b) Sky Blue Credit at a glance-
I know less about Sky Blue Credit because I have not visited its offices. The company has been in business since 1989, and is based in Florida. One innovative and customer-friendly promise the company offers is a money-back guarantee, whereby it states, "If you are not satisfied we will refund your money in full." It is a a Better Business Bureau accredited business, and currently has no customer complaints on file.

c) Do-it-yourself-
If you decide that you would like to dispute the inaccurate information on your credit report without the assistance of a professional credit repair firm, there are several steps you will need to follow. First, you should obtain a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus–Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. You can request free copies of your reports by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com or apply at Bills.com for your credit report. Once you have received copies of your reports, you should carefully review them to make sure that all listings, especially the listings appearing in the "derogatory" category, belong to you and are being reported accurately. Credit reports are notoriously inaccurate, with consumers frequently finding listings of derogatory accounts that never belonged to them or that were paid off years ago. As many as 70% of consumer's credit reports contain errors. If you find any inaccurate listings, you should dispute them with the appropriate credit bureau.

I cannot state if Lexington Law Firm or Sky Blue Credit offer superior services to the other. I know more about Lexington Law Firm from personal knowledge and by reading the comments offered by Bills.com readers. That is not to say that I recommend one over the other. I invite Sky Blue Credit customers to offer their observations in the comments below.

Generally speaking, I do not think the credit repair services firms are a "rip off." I think they can be quite helpful, depending on your needs and how much you are willing to pay for the time savings and experience these services provide.

I think that the best way to repair your credit is to do it yourself. You are the only one that really cares about your credit report. This process takes a lot of patience and perseverance. Different techniques work for different people and cases. When you do it yourself the process is de-mystified and I believe you will less likely to get yourself back into credit problems. There is no easy way out of credit problems and if you could afford to pay someone to do all the work involved then how did you get into money trouble in the first place?

Not that you won't be spending money to repair your credit. Done correctly, you will spend $100 or so on postage. It will also take time. It should take a minimum of 3 months to make a significant point change in your credit score. You will need to be creative and persistent as well.

These seven steps presume that your credit problems are in the past and that you are current on your obligations at this time. Resolving and disputing current debt is a separate stage. No company is going to delete an entry if they reasonably believe they are owed money and may be able to collect it.
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Get copies of your credit report from all four agencies.
Equifax
Experian
Transunion
Innovis

Never heard of that last one? It is the "secret" credit reporting agency most people don't know about. Innovis is not included in your basic 3-way online credit report service, so you will have to contact them separately.

It is nice to have access to your credit report online. Online reports can show contact information for each company that has a line entry in your credit report. Technically it is not necessary to pay for monthly credit alert service, but it will give you the ability to check your credit scores every day.
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Read your reports. Read them again. First check your identifying information. This will include your name, address, phone, date of birth, and the last 4 digits of your social security number. Make sure this information is correct. If it is wrong then write a letter to the CRA (Credit Reporting Agency) asking them to correct this information. You will need to send supporting documentation of your demographic information. Usually this will be a copy of your driver license and a utility bill.

I have a scanner and I scanned these records into my computer and erased my license number and account numbers from the records before I sent them to the CRA. They have plenty of information about you, no need to give them freebies.
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Identify the negative entries in your report. Every line is not negative. The negative entries are listed first. There are many kinds of possible problems. Charge offs, collection accounts and late payments.
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Usually people advise you to contact the CRA and dispute the negative entry. 99% percent of the time, this changes nothing even if the entry is in error. When CRA's receive a dispute, they check to see if the company in question sent them this information on you. This is all automated. The company that offered you credit reports the status of your account on a monthly basis. It is stored online. Basically, all the CRA does is run your credit report online (just like you did). NOBODY REALLY READS OR VERIFIES ANYTHING.

There is a theory of credit repair that involves catching the CRA's violating federal law and threatening/suing them into correcting your report. Let me tell you now, one or all of the CRA's will violate federal law while you try to repair your credit report. You will take it personally but just focus on fixing your credit.

I believe that the best thing to do is contact the company directly and dispute the negative information. There are number of good templates for credit disputes available online. Read the templates carefully and personalize them for your problem. Send the company a letter by Certified Mail with Return Receipt. It is important to include the identification number for the certified mail in your letter. This is the legal proof necessary to establish that letter was sent. The USPS tracks the letter online and you can download and printout this information. Technically, you only need to use certified mail, but I find that the having the green return receipt is a good visual. Generally, it is necessary to send several letters and you can include copies of your return receipts in subsequent letters.
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Sometimes (almost never) a Credit Granting Agency (company responsible for the negative entry) will immediately send you an apologetic letter stating that this entry has been deleted/corrected and all three/four CRAs have been notified. If so, congratulations, move on to step 7.
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If the CGA ignores/denies your dispute, then discover the regulating agency for this company. For instance, most credit is granted by banks. Banks are regulated by several federal agencies.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Office of Thrift Supervision
Federal Reserve

Dentists, Doctors and other service providers are licensed by state, city or federal agencies of various types. Look it up on the internet and contact them with your complaint. This is the area where some creativity is needed. This will generally get things moving.

The desired result is a letter from the CGA stating that although the company admits no wrong doing, the negative entry has been deleted/corrected and that all three/four CRA's have been notified.
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Write a letter to the CRA disputing the entry in your credit report and send a copy of the aforementioned letter in this dispute. You will ask that credit report be corrected immediately and a copy of your corrected credit report be sent to you immediately.

Hi abu,

It is better to try and repair your credit on your own. You need to first get hold of a copy of your credit report. Check all the details and then try paying off all those accounts on which you have been delinquent. Negotiate "Pay for delete" agreement (PFD) with all your creditors and collection agencies. However, not all creditors and colelction agencies agree to PFD.

Dispute wrong listings (if any) with the credit bureaus. You can then try to get a secured credit card and use it to make small purchases. Then make on-time payments on the card. This will help you in improving your credit.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Aaron

Hands down, Blue Sky. I have been working with them for nearly 2 months and have seen 1 charge-off and 5 collections removed. Ask for Sabrina. She's very knowledgeable in credit repair, credit reporting laws and aggressively responding to CRAs negative investigation responses which you can generally expect in the first round of disputes. My credit score increased 51 points - from 657 to 708.

I chose them over Lexington simply because of the number of complaints filed with the BBB against Lexington. Google search "Lexington Law Complaints' you can read and decide for yourself. Blue Sky has a sterling BBB file - no complaints.

You can certainly try a do it yourself method but I don't advise it. I would leave credit repair up to the proven professionals. Just be sure to check their references before giving any of them your hard earned $$$.

Either way, I wish you much success.

if blue sky was really that good, they would only take money per point of improvement.