Credit repair education: free, plain-language guides
Credit repair education here means free, plain-language guides that explain how credit reports work, how to dispute errors yourself, what affects a score, how to start or rebuild a file, and how to judge anyone offering to help. Every legal statement in them is quoted from federal law or the FTC, with the source named. Start with the guide that matches your situation, or read the two service pages to see how we work.
- Free consultation
- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion reviewed
- Only inaccurate or unverifiable items disputed
- Your rights explained in plain words
What does our credit repair education cover?
It covers the practical questions people most often bring to us: what is on a credit report, how to fix a mistake, what moves a score, how to start a file from nothing, how to recover after bankruptcy, and how to tell a real company from a scam. Each guide answers its main question in the first lines, then explains the details, and links to the related guides when a topic overlaps.
We wrote these for people who want to understand their own credit before paying anyone, including us. Most of what they describe, you can do yourself for free.
Our credit repair education guides
What affects your credit score
Payment history, balances against limits, account age, new applications and mix, plus why report errors count against you.
Credit building credit cards, explained
How secured and credit-builder cards work, what to compare on fees, deposits and bureau reporting, and the risks.
How to build credit from scratch
Thin files, first accounts, credit-builder loans, authorized-user accounts and rent reporting, side by side.
Rebuilding credit after bankruptcy
How long a bankruptcy is reported, what to check after discharge, and the steps that add new history.
How to judge credit repair companies
The FTC's six warning signs, what federal law requires, questions to ask, and where to complain.
Credit counseling vs credit repair
Debt management and budgeting help compared with disputing report errors, and how to tell which you need.
How do the guides connect to our services and your rights?
How credit repair works
Our process step by step: free consultation, three-bureau review, disputes, follow-up, and what we will not do.
Credit report review
How we read Equifax, Experian and TransUnion reports with you, account by account, with a checklist you can use alone.
Your rights
The federal rights statement in full: disputing for free, cancellation within three business days, and more.
In what order should you read the guides?
Read them in the order your situation calls for, but most people get the most out of this path. It moves from understanding your file, to fixing it, to building on it.
- Pull your three free reports and read our credit report review checklist alongside them.
- Read what affects your credit score to see why each entry matters.
- If you find errors, read how credit repair works and decide whether to dispute them yourself.
- Before hiring anyone, read how to judge credit repair companies.
- Then build: start with credit from scratch or after bankruptcy, and compare credit building cards.
If your real trouble is keeping up with payments rather than errors on the report, skip ahead to credit counseling vs credit repair.
Why can you trust the facts in these guides?
Because each legal statement is quoted, not paraphrased from memory, and each quotation carries its source. We rely on the text of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Credit Repair Organizations Act, and on consumer pages published by the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When a fact could not be confirmed from one of those, we left it out rather than guess.
- Free reports
- One from each bureau, every week
- Disputing an error
- Free, directly with the bureau
- Most negative items
- Up to 7 years; bankruptcy up to 10
- Contract cancellation
- Within 3 business days, any reason
"Disputing mistakes or outdated things on your credit report is free."
Source: Federal Trade Commission, Fixing Your Credit FAQs, November 2023.
You will not find score predictions, approval odds or product rankings in these guides. Nobody can honestly promise those, so we do not try.
What will you not find in these guides?
You will not find product rankings, affiliate links or lists of cards to apply for. The card guide explains what to compare, and the choice stays with you. You will not find tips for disputing accurate information either, because that is one of the FTC's scam signs and it can backfire on the person who signs the letter.
The guides also leave out state-specific rules and city-by-city advice. Federal law sets the rights described here for everyone in the country, and that is where the guides stay. For a question about a specific state rule, a lawsuit or a bankruptcy decision, the right person is a professional who handles that kind of matter, not a credit repair company.
What if you want help applying this to your own reports?
Then call us at 832-344-9402 or use the form on this page. The consultation is free, it happens by phone, and nobody is enrolled during the call. We read your reports with you, sort each entry into possibly wrong, possibly unverifiable or accurate, and tell you which steps you can take on your own. People reach us from across the country; our locations page lists the cities we hear from most, and our about us page explains who we are.
If you would rather keep going on your own, that is a good outcome too. The guides above have everything you need to get started, and you can always contact us later with a question.
Questions about our guides
Are these credit repair guides really free?
Yes. Every guide on this page is free to read, with no sign-up and no form to fill in first. They explain what you can do on your own, including disputing errors with the credit bureaus at no cost. If you would like someone to go through your reports with you, the consultation is free as well, and it does not commit you to anything.
Do you offer credit repair classes or courses?
We do not run classes. Our education comes in two forms: the written guides on this page and a one-on-one conversation about your own reports. Many people find the second more useful, because a general class cannot tell you whether the collection on your Experian report has the right date. The guides cover the general rules; the review applies them to your file.
Where do the legal facts in these guides come from?
Each legal statement is quoted from a primary source: the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Credit Repair Organizations Act, or consumer pages from the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The source line under each quotation names the law or page and its date. When we could not confirm a claim from a source like that, we left it out.
Is any of this legal or financial advice?
No. The guides are general education about how credit reports and disputes work. Credit Professional Services is a credit repair company, not a law firm, lender, credit counseling agency or credit bureau. For a legal question about your own situation, such as a bankruptcy decision or a lawsuit, talk to a professional who handles that kind of matter.
Which guide should I read first?
If you have never looked at your reports, start with the credit report review page and pull your free reports. If you have little or no history, read the guide on building credit from scratch. If you are comparing companies, read the guide on judging credit repair companies. If you are coming out of a bankruptcy, start with the rebuilding guide.
Start with what is actually on your reports
The first conversation is free. We sort each account into possibly wrong, possibly unverifiable and accurate, and explain your options, including the free ones.
Not sure what your credit reports say?
A consultation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. We read the reports with you, point out entries that look wrong or unverifiable, and tell you which steps you can take on your own.