Privacy and security · Free practice
Credit Repair Scam Warning Signs: What the Law Requires
One useful skill to practice.
Ask for the disclosure federal law requires before you sign. Its own text admits nobody can remove accurate information. Here is what else to check first.
Read the full guide on CheckDispute Guides (opens a new tab)Check what you know.
3 questions. No sign-up. Your answers stay in this page.
When must a credit repair organization give you the Consumer Credit File Rights statement?
Review all questions and explanations
- When must a credit repair organization give you the Consumer Credit File Rights statement?
Answer: Before any contract is executed, as a separate document
15 U.S.C. 1679c requires the written statement before any contract is executed and requires it to be separate from the contract.
- A company charges $79 a month starting immediately. Does the subscription structure make that lawful?
Answer: No; the CFPB states all forms of upfront payment before services are completed are illegal
Section 1679b(b) bars charging or receiving money before a service is fully performed, and the CFPB addresses the monthly-plan workaround by name.
- What does the statutory disclosure itself say about accurate information?
Answer: That neither you nor any credit repair company has the right to have accurate, current and verifiable information removed
Congress wrote that sentence into the required handout, which is why asking for the document is the fastest test of a sales pitch.
Your take-away checklist
- Request the separate written statement headed "Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law" before signing anything.
- Confirm it arrived as its own document, not as a clause inside the contract.
- Read its sentence about accurate, current and verifiable information, and decide whether the sales pitch matches it.
- Get the written contract: services, total cost, how long results take, guarantees, and a written cancellation form.
- Check when money is charged; payment before the service is fully performed is prohibited, monthly plans included.
- Note whether anyone suggested disputing accurate information or filing an identity theft report you know to be false.
- Note whether you were told not to contact the credit reporting companies directly.
- Pull your own free reports through AnnualCreditReport.com before deciding you need help at all.
Read the source, keep the context.
Original questions and worked examples from CheckDispute, checked against the full guide and primary sources below. Use the explanations to understand what each record does and does not establish.
- law.cornell.edu: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1679b
- law.cornell.edu: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1679c
- law.cornell.edu: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1681i
- consumerfinance.gov: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-can-i-tell-a-credit-repair-scam-from-a-reputable-credit-counselor-en-1343/
- consumer.ftc.gov: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/fixing-your-credit-faqs
- consumer.ftc.gov: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/disputing-errors-your-credit-reports
General education, not personalized legal advice. You can dispute errors directly for free. A practice score does not predict a credit or dispute result.