During your counseling session we help you get a complete picture of your financial goals.

When you participate in our debt management plan, you will consolidate all your payments to creditors and make just one payment each month to us. We will in turn pay all your creditors, while seeking reductions in interest rates, fees and over-limit charges. Your credit counselor will take care of all the details, including making regular payments to your creditors.

As a nonprofit organization, our fees for services are about as low as they come. But if you are unable to pay, we can reduce fees for financial hardship and domestic violence victims. We specialize working with low income families; therefore, we know most families can't afford to pay 1,000's of dollars for credit repair when nothing is guaranteed.

Our credit coaches complete an intensive training & follow strict policies and procedures to provide the best results possible. We use proven methods that provide the best results. We are persistent and will not take no for an answer until we have the verified proof. We understand the law and use it to the fight for the consumer. We understand The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) which is the act that regulates the collection of credit information and the access to credit reports. It was passed in 1970 to ensure fairness, accuracy and privacy of the personal information contained in the files of the credit reporting agencies. The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a law that provides a set of rules that credit bureaus must follow. The act protects everyday Americans by promoting accuracy, fairness, and privacy when it comes to the information in a person's credit report. The act also designates the Federal Trade Commission as the government authority that enforces it. We encourage everyone to review their rights at: https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/statutes/fair-credit-reporting-act

We understand the importance of protecting your personal information. We hold your personal details in the strictest of confidence. Upon request we can create a binder for each of our clients that includes all your personal records which is kept under lock & key. Upon graduation we will provide you with your binder as a reminder of your success.

Your credit coach will direct you to a variety of tools and educational resources. You will be able to access your coach during normal business hours and by appointment after business hours. We work hard to help you achieve your financial goals We help educate you by providing explanations of many financial terms, like the benefits of a secured vs unsecured loan, for example. We can also provide workbooks for financial planning and budgeting to help keep you on track each month.

Our credit coaches are available to talk with you over the phone as well as in person. Consultations are done by appointment only due to the increased demand. Please contact us to schedule your free consultation. Due to recent events we are only scheduling phone consultations which can be done via zoom if requested. Phone consultations are done by appointment only due to the increased demand.

Credit repair is about improving the information on your credit report. This is what ultimately influences whether you have good credit or bad credit and is the basis of your credit score Checking your credit report is the first thing you should do when you are ready to start working on your credit so you can see the information that's hurting your credit. You can get a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.

Whether you have good or bad credit is based on the information in your credit report. However, it is difficult to look at your credit report and tell whether your credit is good or bad. That's why watching your credit score is useful in credit repair. A low credit score indicates a poor credit history that needs work. As your credit score improves, it's an indication that your credit history is improving. Your credit score is based on five categories of information: payment history, amount of debt, the age of credit history, types of credit accounts, and recent applications for credit. Improving your credit in each of these areas will boost your credit score. Purchasing your credit score each time you want to see where you stand can get expensive. You can use a free credit score service like Credit Karma. Please be mindful how Credit Karma works. VantageScore 3.0 is their credit scoring model. It takes the information in your credit report and turns it into a score. There are many scoring models out there, including ones from FICO and other companies. Each one calculates your score a bit differently, but they all use information from your report. Many home loan companies use FICO. Fair Isaac Corporation, or FICO, creates a variety of credit scores for use by lenders, credit card issuers and other creditors. Your FICO® scores - which typically range from 300 to 850 - could affect whether your credit application gets accepted, and the terms and rates you're offered. FICO® 8 and 9 score ranges Excellent 800-850 Very good 740-799 Good 670-739 Fair 580-669 Poor 300-579 "Despite widespread use of the term 'FICO score' as a single score, FICO is actually the brand, with dozens of scores falling underneath that brand," says John Ulzheimer, a credit expert who worked at FICO and Equifax." When you are signing up for a credit monitoring service, look for one that will allow you to monitor all three bureaus: Experian, Equifax and Transunion.

Note the emphasis on accurate. Credit bureaus are only legally obligated to remove inaccurately reported information from your credit report. It does not matter whether those inaccuracies are positive or negative. It is the fact the information is inaccurate that allows you to remove it from your credit report, not that it is negative. When accurately reported negative information hurts your credit, it is tougher to remove this information because the credit bureaus are within their rights to report this information. In fact, the integrity of the credit system depends on credit bureaus reporting all accurate information, even information that is negative. There are some strategies to remove accurate negative information - like a collection account for a debt you legitimately owe. These strategies may take more time and effort than a simple credit report dispute. For these types of accounts debt validation (for collection agencies), pay for delete, and goodwill deletion requests are the best options.

Negative information will not stay on your credit report forever. Most negative information will only stay on your credit report for seven years. There are a few exceptions. Chapter 7 bankruptcy and unpaid tax liens can stay on your credit report for up to 10 years. Unpaid judgments can remain on your credit report through the state's statute of limitations for that type of debt if the statute is more than seven years. If an account is nearing the credit reporting time limit, waiting for it to fall off may be less stressful and time-consuming than trying to remove the account with dispute letters or similar strategies. Contrary to popular belief, taking an action on a negative account does not extend the credit reporting time limit. So, if you pay off a six-year-old debt collection, for example, it will still drop off your credit report after year seven. Some newer versions of the FICO and Vantage Score do not include paid collections in your credit score.

There's a widespread belief that only open accounts are included in a person's credit report, that closing an account will remove it from their credit report. Sorry to disappoint you if you were hoping that you can save your credit by closing an account that is giving you problems. In some cases, closing an account can hurt your credit score. Closing an account will not remove it from your credit report. All the details about the closed account will continue to be listed on your credit report as reported by your creditors. "Before closing accounts, consumers should take into consideration other factors that comprise credit scores, such as the length of time the account has been opened," says Nancy Bistritz, Director Public Relations and Communications of Global Consumer Solutions at Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus. "If you've exhibited the right kinds of behavior for an established period of time with an account (i.e., paying on time every time), then closing that account may not make sense." If the account is in good standing or can be brought back into good standing by catching up on the past due balance, leaving the account open can help you repair your credit. You will need open, active accounts with a positive payment history to improve your credit score. Opening new accounts with a bad credit score can be difficult so rehabilitating the accounts you already have open can be much easier.

Credit repair companies do a great job of promoting their services to vulnerable consumers who want better credit but also do not completely understand how credit works. Many credit repair companies make lofty promises - often promises they cannot fulfill - charge upfront fees and fail to deliver on their services. All these are prohibited by Federal law, but consumers who are unfamiliar with the law would not realize they were being taken advantage of until it is too late. Over the past several years, the Federal Trade Commission has pursued dozens of credit repair companies who have broken the law. These companies are often required to pay hefty fines and in some cases are banned from doing business in the credit repair industry. A few signs you're dealing with a shady credit repair company: they ask you pay upfront before any services begin, cite an affiliation with the government or special relationship with the credit bureaus, promise a specific credit score, promise to delete accurate information from your credit report, fail to inform you of your right to dispute information directly with the credit bureaus, or ask you to waive your rights under the Credit Repair Organizations Act.

It takes time to rebuild a bad credit history. Your credit score considers your most recent credit history more significantly than older items. A good credit history typically has a minimal number of negative entries and lots of recent positive credit information. A few months of on-time payments is a step in the right direction, but it will not give you excellent credit right away. As time passes and the negative information falls off or gets older, and you replace it with positive information, you will see your credit gradually improve. Repairing bad credit takes time, so it is important to be patient with the process. The amount of time it takes can vary from person to person depending on the information on your credit report and how you are going about credit repair. You might see immediate boosts when something is deleted from your credit report. Furthermore, your credit score may fluctuate during the credit repair process as the information in your credit report changes. Do not be alarmed by drops in your credit score. Focus on the general trend of your credit score over a period, rather than the daily fluctuations. Typically clients are with me 6-12 months depending on how much work needs to be done.

Many people go through credit repair so they can borrow money, for a mortgage or auto loan, for example. There is nothing wrong with this. Many people, unfortunately, find themselves back in the same situation because they do not borrow responsibly, ending up with more debt than they can handle and slip back into habits of missing payments. If you want your good credit to last, you must adopt habits that will maintain good credit. This means borrowing only what you can realistically afford to pay back (and maybe even a little less). Paying your bills on time is perhaps one of the best things you can do for your credit.