Your credit has already been hit with costly negative marks. Do you really need to pay for credit repair services just to revive your financial health? While investing some dough to build a high credit score is necessary, the majority of services offer little else than what you can do for yourself.

Don’t be tricked into paying for your reports. Federal law states the three credit repair agencies must deliver one free credit report each year upon consumer request. Furthermore, a new Credit CARD Act laws states any credit repair business must make it known the government-mandated site AnnualCreditReport.com is the place to go. Also, remember the report information can vary.

You don’t need professional credit products. Often advertised at an additional fee with repair sites, these services don’t offer much more than what the federal credit laws can do for you for free. For example, no need to sign up for credit monitoring when you can simply request with each of the three credit agencies a fraud alert is placed on your report. When anyone inquires after your credit, you will be contacted, for free.

Debt negotiating or credit counseling is too costly. And expensive in more ways than one with hidden fees and potential damages being made to your report. Don’t believe any agency that asks for up-front fees to call up your creditors and talk the debts down. The cheapest and most effective thing you can do is gather information and handle your accounts using the same strategies a paid credit repair service does.

Do pay for your FICO scores. The only credit service you really need to shell out money for is your FICO score. A trusted site to buy from would be any of the three agencies. Your FICO is only really needed before inquiring about a major loan like a mortgage to determine what kind of interest rate you might be offered. Just be careful of any unnecessary additional services tacked on at checkout time. The Credit CARD Act has some repair agencies skirting new laws by advertising free credit report scores, but don’t believe this.

Trusted credit repair sites give first and ask later. It’s best to visit sites you feel offer enriching credit repair advice free of charge. After much browsing, if a service on the site is explained in its entirety and you’ve read consumer reviews in free forums or elsewhere about their practices, you can feel safe knowing it is credit repair money well spent.