Scam Alerts, Company Reliability Reports, Arbitration Service, Membership Information. People who cannot obtain credit because of bankruptcy or past problems with paying bills may be tempted by claims such as "make bad credit extinct" and "credit repair for $100," to use a "credit repair" company or credit clinic. This report explains what a credit repair company can and cannot do for you, federal and State laws that affect their operations, what you can do on your own to clear inaccurate information from your credit report, how to obtain alternative free or low-cost credit assistance, and what to do before signing a contract with a credit repair company. If you have been refused credit, you should be aware of your rights under the Federal Trade Commission's Fair Credit Reporting Act.

(A credit bureau or credit reporting agency gathers records from your creditors that tell whether you are paying your bills, whether you have filed for bankruptcy, etc. You may obtain a free copy of your credit file from your local credit reporting agency within 30 days of having been denied credit (or for a small fee if you have not been denied credit or if your request is after 30 days). By law, the credit bureau is allowed to report all accurate information for seven years (10 years for bankruptcy). If the credit bureau takes more than a "reasonable amount of time," usually considered to be 30 days, to verify the information, it must drop the entry from your file.