Lexington Law: What you need to know
If you've already gone through all the best personal loans and have worked your way along the path of debt consolidation only to find yourself in need of a credit repair, then Lexington Law could be a good option for you.
Lexington Law was the first law firm to begin credit repairs in the US and it's still one of the best. By removing negative credit items, the company is able to fix credit scores allowing customers to begin taking loans once again.
It's worth noting that in May 2019 the company had a suit filed against it by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for requesting and receiving payment of prohibited upfront fees as well as making deceptive marketing representations.
That pending case aside, Lexington Law has served over half a million clients since its inception in 1991. The company claims to have helped remove over 10 million negative credit items from customer's credit reports since 2017 alone.
Is this the firm to fix your credit? Read on to find out everything you need to know about Lexington Law.
Cost: How much does Lexington Law charge?
- Basic: $89.95 per month
- Premier: £109.95 per month
- PremierPlus: £129.95 per month
Cost: From $89.95
Customer service: 24/7
Contact: Phone, email, online chat
Credit report: $14.99
Lexington Law is quite up front about its costs with three package options. The first is called Basic which will cost you $89.95 per month and gets you Bureau Challenges & Creditor Interventions - which are mostly all you need to repair your credit.
The Premier plan, at $109.95, also gets you these self explanatory features: InquiryAssist, Score Analysis, ReportWatch and TransUnion Alerts.
The top deal, at $129.95, is PremierPlus which also gets you Cease & Desist Letters, a FICO score tracker, Identity Protection and Personal Finance Tools.
Lexington Law: Personalized support
- 24/7 contact points
- Individual assigned to you
One of the most attractive features of using Lexington Law is the personal touch. This is thanks to a personal account representative being assigned to you. This is great for a few reasons, one is that any embarrassment about the situation stays between you and that person. Another is that you don't have to keep explaining yourself every time you get in contact, as your representative knows your case.
This should also mean you have a person keeping an eye on your case so it keeps moving, helping avoid stagnancy and getting you your monthly payment's worth.
The fact that there is a way of getting in contact 24/7 is also a nice addition - spanning phones, email and online chat.
Lexington Law: Learn your power
- Credit education
- Expansive blog
You could save your money by doing some research online and sorting your credit rating yourself. But if you don't want the hassle then a firm is the way to go. Lexington Law likes to help you get the best benefits of both by providing resources to educate you on how credit repair works.
As such the Lexington Law site features a Credit Education section which has eight main topics filled with information as well as a blog with hundreds of articles. The main topic areas are:
- Credit 101 (including information on credit reporting laws)
- Credit repair
- Credit bureaus
- Improve credit score
- Negative items
- Life events
- Loans
- Credit cards
Lexington Law: What can be removed from your credit history?
- Collections
- Late payments
Lexington Law can remove lots of black spots from your credit history in order to get you back on the loan ladder. Since the firm has a working relationship with all three of the major credit bureaus, it is well placed to help. Negative items it can challenge and potentially remove are:
- Collections
- Late payments
- Charge offs
- Judgments
- Bankruptcies
- Repossessions
- Foreclosures
It's worth noting that the firm can't remove actual debts or actual inquiries.
Lexington Law: Sign-up and service
- Contact within 24 - 48 hours
- Credit checks carried out
Once signed up you can expect a paralegal to contact you within 24 to 48 hours. You will then need to give some details so that they can retrieve your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. You will then be contacted to let you know your situation.
Then any correspondence will be worked up and sent to creditors and reporting bureaus. At that point the issues are hopefully resolved.
Expect this to take months and realistically you'll want to give four months before you start thinking about going elsewhere. Don't expect much to happen within the first two months. Of course this varies from person to person but it's best to set expectations low.
You will get email alerts if there are any changes to your credit reports which could positively or negatively affect your score.
Lexington Law: What users say
- 3.1 stars on ConsumerAffairs
- BBB rating of C
Despite not being BBB accredited the company has a rating on the site but it got a C thanks to just over two stars out of five based on 314 customer reviews.
Head over to ConsumerAffairs and it's a 3.1 stars out of five based on 326 reviews with 180 giving five stars, 108 giving one star and 38 in between.
Lexington Law: Verdict
Lexington Law is a very well know firm that has great connections with the three major credit bureaus and a well established process of fixing credit.
The personalized service and 24/7 customer care makes this a stand out choice. While the results can take time, varying based on your case, this huge firm is likely to offer positive results on at least some level.
Regular credit monitoring and alerts are nice additions which help keep you in the know as do the educational resources which can help you with your case. A fee for a credit report and hold times can be annoying but with discounts available for families and a long history of winning, this is a good choice.
All that said is presuming the legal case against the firm doesn't prove accurate, in which case the reputation will be badly damaged making it a difficult firm to trust.
