Your report is a document other people read about you.
Most people have never been taught to read it themselves, let alone challenge what is wrong on it. That asymmetry is the whole problem, and it is fixable.
The part nobody in this industry wants to lead with.
You can do all of this yourself, for free. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute anything on your credit report directly with each bureau at no cost. You can pull all three reports free at annualcreditreport.com, today, without talking to anybody.
That is said first on purpose. People work with a professional for the same reason they use an accountant for a return they could file themselves: knowing which items to challenge, in what order, and what to do when a dispute comes back "verified" with no explanation. Not because the right is exclusive.
Four steps, and the third one is where most people stop.
Pull all three reports
Equifax, Experian and TransUnion do not share data. The same account can sit on one and not the others, so all three get read.
Identify what is challengeable
Inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable entries. Duplicates. Collections the agency may not be able to prove it owns. Not everything negative qualifies, and pretending otherwise wastes your disputes.
Dispute, then follow up properly
The bureau has roughly 30 days to investigate and must delete what it cannot verify. When something comes back "verified" with no detail, a method of verification request is the legitimate next move. This is the step most people never take.
Rebuild underneath it
Removal alone does not build a score. Utilization, on-time history and account age do. Deletions buy you room; behaviour is what fills it.
This is a household decision
Credit work rarely affects one person. The plan has to survive the actual month you are both having, which is why the conversation usually happens at a table rather than on a form.
Expect to be asked what you are actually spending, not what you meant to spend.
What restoration can and cannot do.
| Situation | RealisticHonest | What you may have been told |
|---|---|---|
| An account that is genuinely yours, genuinely late | Stays until it ages off, usually seven years from first delinquency | "We remove anything" |
| A collection the agency cannot verify | Frequently removable through the dispute process | Presented as guaranteed |
| A duplicate entry across bureaus | Often correctable, one bureau at a time | Counted three times in "items removed" |
| Your score after removals | Moves, sometimes substantially, but depends on what else is on the file | A specific promised number |
| How long it takes | Depends on bureau and creditor response. Nobody controls this | "30 days to 700" |
| Paying an old collection | Usually updates to zero balance; entry commonly remains | "Pay it and it disappears" |
Your investment into your future is a real asset.
Straightforward numbers, stated up front. No discovery call required before you can find out what something costs.
Personal Credit Client
then $99 / month
Or pay $497 on the semiannual plan.
Credit Monitoring
then $29.97 / month
Required for everyone whose credit needs repair, restoration or rebuilding. It is how progress is tracked.
Mailing of dispute letters
Mailing them yourself is highly recommended, and costs you postage. If you would rather not, the company’s mailing service runs approximately $9 for all three bureaus.
What federal law guarantees you.
Worth knowing before you work with anyone in this industry, including Lynden.
A written contract
Any paid credit engagement is in writing, states what will be done, and discloses your rights before you sign.
Three days to cancel
You can cancel any credit repair contract within three business days, for any reason, without paying anything.
No guaranteed outcomes
Nobody may lawfully promise you a specific score or a specific removal. Anyone who does is telling you something they cannot know.
About credit restoration.
How long does it take to fix my credit?+
There is no honest single answer, because it depends entirely on what is on your file and why. Inaccurate items that a bureau cannot verify are generally resolved within a 30-day investigation window, while rebuilding thin or damaged history is measured in months of consistent, on-time behaviour. Anyone who gives you a guaranteed timeline before seeing your report is selling you something.
Does paying off a collection remove it from my report?+
Not automatically. Paying a collection usually updates the entry to show a zero balance but leaves the entry itself in place for the rest of its seven years. Some newer scoring models ignore paid collections, but many lenders still see them, which is why any pay-for-delete arrangement should be agreed in writing before money moves.
How long do negative items stay on my report?+
Most negative information stays seven years from the date of first delinquency, including late payments, collections, charge-offs and repossessions. Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays ten years. Hard inquiries are visible for two years but generally only affect scoring for one.
Will closing an old credit card help my score?+
Usually the opposite. Closing a card removes its limit from your utilization calculation, which can push your ratio up overnight, and eventually it stops contributing to your average account age. If a card has no annual fee, the usual advice is to keep it open and use it lightly rather than close it.
Why is my score different on every app I check?+
Because there are dozens of scoring models and three separate bureaus that do not share data. The score in a free app is often a VantageScore, while most lenders pull a specific version of FICO, and auto and mortgage lenders use different versions again. The free number is useful for tracking direction, not for predicting a lender's decision.
Have someone read it with you
Book a call. Lynden will go through your actual report and tell you what he sees, what is worth challenging, and what you should simply leave alone.