The best credit repair services won’t set unrealistic expectations, but can take much of the hassle out of fixing your credit score. None of these companies perform magic, but the best credit repair services certainly can help a great deal in improving your credit score.

There are hundreds of companies offering credit repair services, but according to the Federal Trade Commission, most of them qualify as scams. Anyone claiming they can simply erase bad credit, or guarantee to raise your credit score, should be considered suspect.

According to the FTC, “No one can legally remove accurate and timely negative information from a credit report.” Many of these companies will advise you to dispute all negative entries on your credit report. In most cases, this is illegal, just as following illegal advice is.

The best credit repair services will not try to charge you to get your credit reports. By law, everyone is entitled to a free credit report from each of the three credit-reporting agencies (TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax) once every twelve months.

Most, if not all of the things these companies will do for you are things you can do yourself, but it may be very helpful for those who may not be aware of what their options are. Doing some of the work on your own might actually lower their fees, or of course you can simply do it all yourself instead.

Besides credit repair services, there are companies called “debt consolidators”. These debt consolidators won’t directly fix your credit, but instead they work with you to help bring your outstanding debt under control – a big step towards long-term credit-worthiness.

They accomplish this by contacting your all of your creditors, and negotiating a ‘settlement’ agreement on your behalf. This will be a small fraction of the actual outstanding debt. Then they add these amounts into a single sum. Based on your budget and ability to pay, you send a single amount each month to the company, who breaks it up and then sends a portion to each creditor.

The best credit repair services can only help those who want to help themselves. They aren’t a “bailout” that erases bad debt like bankruptcy filing, however they can help set you on the road to improving your credit score, and in turn your financial future.