Credit repair, checked against the law — not a marketing page
The core violation in this industry is not a gray area. Charging a fee before a promised result is delivered is flatly illegal under federal law. We check real companies against that law and a published standard, and report the aggregate findings honestly — no paid rankings, no affiliate "top 10" lists.
What that means in practice
- No sponsored placements, ever
- Every finding checked against a public record, not a company's own claim
- A failing verdict never named — only a passing one
- Corrections logged in public
Start here
All explainers →New to credit repair
What credit repair actually is
Disputing inaccurate items yourself is free and legal. Paying someone to do it is common, and legal too — as long as it follows one rule almost every company breaks.
Most asked
Can they charge me before results?
No — not lawfully, and not as a matter of interpretation. The rule and the exact fee structures that violate it, explained.
Before you sign
Warning signs to watch for
Ten specific things a legitimate credit repair or debt settlement company will never do.
Where we are right now
The Register →The standard is published and the Register has its first 18 companies checked against it, 7 of them named — see the Register for the current totals and the named, passing companies, and Updates for a dated record of everything that's changed.
Recently updated
All updates →September 13, 2026
2 new Library pages: FICO vs. VantageScore, and debt validation letters
How the two credit scoring models actually differ in practice (minimum history, paid-collection treatment, trended data) and where mortgage lending stands as of September 2026, plus what a debt validation letter under the FDCPA actually forces a collector to do.
September 13, 2026
2 new Library pages: furnisher disputes, secured cards & credit-builder loans
The lesser-known right to dispute directly with the company that reported an item, plus how secured cards and credit-builder loans actually work as a legitimate build-forward alternative to paying a credit repair company.
September 13, 2026
2 more Register assessments logged
Credit Associates (fail) and Better Qualified (pass, held back pending direct verification of its guarantee wording) checked against the standard, bringing the Register to 18 total assessments.