Questions
Twelve answers, including the ones that cost us business.
Grouped by when they tend to come up. The first group is the one to ask every company you speak to, not just this one.
Before you hire anyone
Can you guarantee my score will go up?
No, and neither can anyone else. Under the Credit Repair Organizations Act it is unlawful for a credit repair organisation to make an untrue or misleading representation about what it can do, and a specific score increase or a specific timeframe is exactly that. Anyone who gives you a number is telling you something they cannot know.
Can I do this myself for free?
Yes. Every dispute right we exercise is a right you already hold. You can get your reports free at annualcreditreport.com — the only federally authorised source — and dispute directly with each bureau at no cost. We have written the whole process up, with letter structures and the statutory windows, at /free-diy-guide. Read that first and hire us only if you would rather not do it yourself.
Do you charge anything up front?
No. The Credit Repair Organizations Act prohibits charging or receiving any money before the promised services have been fully performed, and we do not ask for a setup fee, a retainer or a deposit. You are billed after a cycle of work is complete, for the work in that cycle.
What is the three-day right to cancel?
You may cancel your contract with us, without any charge and for any reason, before midnight of the third business day after you sign it. The contract itself carries a separate, detachable Notice of Cancellation form in duplicate. You do not need to give a reason and you do not need to use our form — a written notice sent to us by that deadline is enough.
What can and cannot be done
Can you remove a late payment that really was late?
No. Accurate, verifiable, timely information cannot lawfully be removed from a credit report, and any company that says otherwise is either lying to you or is planning to file a dispute it knows to be false. What we can do is check whether it is accurate — the date, the amount, the status, the account number, whether it is duplicated — because a surprising share of adverse entries are wrong in at least one field.
What happens if the bureau says the item is verified?
Then the item stays. We will tell you, we will send you the response, and we will ask the bureau for its method of verification — the description of the procedure it used, which §611(a)(7) entitles you to request. Sometimes that produces something useful. Often it does not, and the honest answer is that the entry is accurate and will report until its clock runs out.
How long does an item stay on my report?
Most adverse information reports for seven years. A late payment runs seven years from the delinquency. A charge-off or a collection runs seven years plus 180 days from the original delinquency on the underlying account — not from when a collector bought it, and restarting that clock ("re-ageing") is unlawful. Chapter 13 bankruptcy reports for seven years from filing; Chapter 7 for ten. A hard inquiry reports for two.
Will paying a collection remove it from my report?
Usually not. Paying changes the status to paid, which some newer scoring models treat more kindly, but the entry itself generally remains for the rest of its seven-year run. If someone promises you deletion in exchange for payment, get it in writing before you pay — and understand that a bureau is not bound by an agreement between you and a collector.
How we work
How long does a dispute cycle take?
A consumer reporting agency generally has 30 days from receiving your dispute to complete a reasonable reinvestigation, extended to 45 days if you supply additional relevant information during the initial 30. Add mail time either side. That is the statutory clock, and it applies to the bureau, not to us — we cannot make it run faster and we will not tell you we can.
Do you file disputes I have not seen?
No. You approve each item before it goes out, and you receive a copy of everything sent and everything received. If we think an item is accurate, it does not go on the list — we will say so and explain why.
Do you do debt settlement?
No. Debt settlement usually requires you to stop paying so a creditor becomes willing to negotiate, which damages your file on purpose and often produces a settled-for-less-than-full status plus a possible tax consequence. It is a legitimate tool for some people in some situations, and it is the opposite of what we do. If it is what you need, we will say so and we will not sell you anything.
Are you a law firm?
No. Uptick Credit is a credit repair organisation as defined by CROA. We do not give legal advice, we do not represent you in court, and if your situation involves identity theft with a police report, an FCRA lawsuit, or an active bankruptcy, we will refer you to someone who does that work.
What cannot be done
Four things we will never tell you
- That your score will go up. No one can tell you that. Not a number, not a range, not a “typical” figure. Anyone who does is telling you something they cannot know.
- That it will take a specific number of days. The statutory investigation window belongs to the bureau, not to us, and outcomes are not on a schedule.
- That accurate negative information can be removed. It cannot — not by us, not by you, not by anyone. Accurate, current, verifiable entries report until their clock runs out.
- That you need us. You do not. Every right we exercise is yours already, and exercising it costs nothing. See the notice above.
Required notice
Your three-day right to cancel
You may cancel your contract with Uptick Credit, without penalty or obligation, at any time before midnight of the third business day after the date on which you signed it.
Your written contract carries a separate Notice of Cancellation form, in duplicate, printed in the same type size as the contract itself. You do not have to give a reason. You do not have to use our form — any written notice delivered to us by the deadline is sufficient. Nothing is charged.
Credit Repair Organizations Act, 15 U.S.C. §1679e.