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Updates
Every new Library page, every Register round, and every correction to already-published content, in one dated feed — also available as RSS and JSON.
2 new Library pages: FICO vs. VantageScore, and debt validation letters — September 13, 2026
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.
2 new Library pages: furnisher disputes, secured cards & credit-builder loans — September 13, 2026
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.
2 more Register assessments logged — September 13, 2026
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.
Companies that pass, by name: a new public directory — September 13, 2026
The Register now names the 7 companies that have passed every point on our standard, grouped by category, with a direct link to each. The anonymous-only policy for failing companies is unchanged and permanent — a passing verdict is a positive, checkable claim, not an accusation.
New: state-by-state credit-repair bonding and registration, explained — September 13, 2026
CROA doesn't require any state to register or bond a credit repair company. Most states added that layer themselves, one bans the industry outright, and some have nothing at all.
3 more Register assessments logged — September 13, 2026
DMB Financial, Century Support Services, and National Credit Federation checked against the standard, bringing the Register to 16 total assessments.
Correction: an FTC disclosure-requirement date was off by a month — September 13, 2026
The FTC's debt-relief disclosure requirements took effect 27 September 2010, not 27 October 2010 (that date is actually the separate advance-fee ban, which took effect a month later). Corrected on the debt-settlement explainer and retroactively on the already-published advance-fee-rule page.
New: what to actually expect from debt settlement — September 13, 2026
The dedicated account, the credit damage it requires before it can work, the tax bill many people don't see coming, the lawsuit risk, and how many people actually finish.
3 more Register assessments logged — September 13, 2026
CreditFirm.net, ClearOne Advantage, and New Era Debt Solutions checked against the standard, bringing the Register to 13 total assessments.
New: nonprofit credit counseling and debt management plans, explained — September 13, 2026
What real NFCC/FCAA accreditation requires, what a DMP actually costs, what it does to your credit, and how to spot a fake "nonprofit."
2 more Register assessments logged — September 13, 2026
The Credit People and Pacific Debt Relief checked against the standard, bringing the Register to 10 total assessments.
First 8 companies checked against the standard — September 13, 2026
5 credit repair and 3 debt settlement companies assessed against the 9-point standard for the first time — 3 passed. Per our anonymous-only policy, findings were reported in aggregate only at this stage.
5 new Library pages: the foundation — September 13, 2026
What credit repair actually is, the advance-fee rule that governs it, how credit repair compares to debt settlement and nonprofit consolidation, why "CPN" credit-profile-number schemes are a federal crime rather than a loophole, and ten warning signs to watch for before signing anything.
The Credit Record launches — September 13, 2026
A 9-point standard tied to federal law (the Credit Repair Organizations Act's advance-fee ban, the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule Advance Fee Rule), a public Register that reports findings honestly, and a Library of plain-English explainers — no paid placements, no affiliate links, no proprietary ranking algorithm.