If you are thinking about buying a credit repair book, first look at when the book was published. If it was not published in late 2005 or 2006, then the information may be inaccurate. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides a number of free pamphlets, brochures, and mini-books to consumers. In September of 2005, they published Your Access to Free Credit Reports. If you are attempting credit repair yourself, you may want to visit the FTC website and download this free brochure. As opposed to a credit repair book that you might consider buying, the FTCs publications are just the facts. But, they are the facts that you will need before you begin the process of credit repair yourself.

One credit repair book, written prior to 2005, still indicates that the credit bureaus will charge a small fee to consumers who want a copy of their credit reports. Credit bureaus will charge a fee for credit reports and other information if you do not know your rights. This is why, if you are attempting credit repair yourself, without consulting a law firm, you will need to know your rights. The credit bureau is not going to advise you of them. While not an actual credit repair book, the FTCs brochure will give you all of the information that you need if you have inaccurate information on your credit report, if you have been a victim of identity theft and why you would want to view your credit report in the first place.

There are two things that you must have if you are attempting credit repair yourself, neither of which is a credit repair book. One is time. The other is patience. You will need time to write the letters required to remove inaccurate, misleading, or unverifiable information from your credit report. You will need patience to wait for a response from the credit bureau. If you do not have time or patience, any credit repair book, no matter how interesting and fact filled, will be a waste of money. If you have the patience needed to attempt credit repair yourself, but you work nine hours per day, have a two hour commute, have to do dinner, get the kids to bed...then you may not have the time. Sometimes, even if you have the time and patience, you cannot achieve results. Many people have had to hire attorneys to get negative items removed from their credit reports. Others have turned to credit repair clinics and have been scammed out of thousands of dollars. There are as many complaints lodged against credit repair clinics as there are against credit bureaus.

A credit repair book can only take you to a certain point. The information provided in most of these books is available free from the FTC or it is opinion based. If you can find one that was written after September of 2005 by a lawyer, then you will get the most accurate information and you can be assured that all of the recommendations are legal. If you have attempted credit repair yourself and failed, for whatever reason, you may want to contact a law firm that specializes in credit repair issues. A credit repair book can not do it all for you, neither can a lawyer, you will still be involved to a certain extent, but a lawyer may be able to achieve results where you could not.