Lexington Law Firm, the Salt Lake City based law firm, received an unexpected phone call last Friday.
Ben and Casey Deanwater called to say they moved into their new home…thanks in part to the attorneys at Lexington Law (www.lexingtonlaw.com).
Ben and Casey Moved into Their First Home - thanks to Lexington Law
Less than six months before this married couple was living in a small apartment in a rough part of town. Ben and Casey desperately wanted to purchase a new home, but could not get approved for a mortgage since they both had low credit scores.
“We were so anxious to get out of our apartment and into a home so we could settle down. We couldn’t find any bank willing to approve us for a mortgage since our credit scores were so low. It was a really depressing situation. I was thrilled to discover that there are companies like Lexington Law out there.”
With credit scores in the mid to upper 500’s, Ben and Casey struggled to get even simple credit items like an unsecured credit card.
To complicate matters, they were plagued by some of the most damaging derogatory credit items including credit card charge offs and collection items. Mortgage companies see this as a huge red flag and refuse to approve mortgages with people with charge offs and other similar bad credit.
Ben learned about this the hard way:
“Some of our most humiliating experiences happened while applying for a mortgage. Once the bankers run your credit and see all the negative entries, they look at you like a total deadbeat.”
The sub-prime mortgage and real estate collapse makes it even harder for first time home buyers to get credit. According to mortgage broker Pat Lavell, banks increased the minimum credit score needed just to get an approval. Plus, the day of bad credit mortgages is long gone.
“If you’ve got bad credit, there is only one way to get a mortgage or new credit, and that involves cleaning up your credit report including disputing questionable negative entries like repos, charge offs, collections, judgments, and late payments.”
Ben and Casey needed to repair their credit, but struggled to figure out the best way. They sent letters to the credit bureaus and creditors, but quickly grew frustrated at their indifference to their credit problems.
“Some months I sent in letters which they ignored completely. They claimed that some of my disputes were “frivolous.” I was sinking fast and looking for a solution.”
After researching their options online, they came across the Lexington Law Firm, which is a REAL law firm specializing in credit repair. They liked this option since they were real attorneys who understood the credit laws.
They signed up and began making immediate progress. Lexington was able to help improve their credit scores rather quickly. Ben’s highest score was 763 and Casey got up to 745 in under 4 months.
The Lexington attorneys deleted all of their bad credit including a $2,377 credit card from college. Once their scores had increased, they had no problem getting a mortgage from CitiBank at a 6.25% interest rate and five percent down.
Casey remembers what it felt like to get approved and move into her new home:
“It was such a thrill to finally hear the words…”Your Approved!!!” I was surprised at how quickly lexingtonlaw.com repaired our bad credit. Now that we’ve moved into our new home I am so thankful for the hard work they invested in our case.”
Ben and Casey have since moved into their new home and feel grateful that their bad credit is a distant memory. They feel a debt of gratitude and decided to share their story with others in the same situation. You can see their blog www.creditforcouples.com here.
One of the best ways to check up on a company is by going to the website of the Better Business Bureau and doing a search for that company. We did that for you and here are the results taken from this page:
Better Business Bureau report on Lexington Law
Here’s the basic company info from the BBB site:
“Name: Lexington Law Firm
Phone: (800) 341-8441
Fax: (877) 248-2920
Address: 634 South 400 WestSalt Lake City, UT 84101-2216
Website: www.lexingtonlaw.com
Original Business Start Date: July 1993
Principal: Mr. John C. Heath, Directing Attorney
Customer Contact: Ms. Kristine Whitehead, Customer Service – (877) 248-2920 or kristine2@creditrights.org;kristine@johnheathlaw.com
Entity: Sole Proprietor
Incorporated: July 1993, UT
TOB Classification: Lawyers, Credit Repair Services, Credit-Debt Consolidation Services
BBB Accreditation: This organization is a BBB Accredited business. “
The report lists the DBA ( doing business as ) names which are:
Lexington Law
Creditrights.com
John C. Heath, Attorney at Law, PLLC
Been a member since 2003:
“BBB Accreditation Status
This company has been a BBB Accredited business since March 2003. This means it supports the BBB’s services to the public and meets our BBB Accreditation standards.”
Arbitration used:
“Program Participation
This company has agreed to use special procedures including arbitration BBB Definition:
arbitration – http://www.dr.bbb.org/ComSenseAlt/bindArb.asp
, if necessary, to resolve disputes through their participation in the following programs: BBB Accreditation Identification, BBBOnLine BBB Definition:BBBOnLine – A national BBB dispute resolution program offered to companies who transact business via the Internet and allows the company to display the BBBOnLine Reliability Seal. Refer to https://www.bbbonline.org/reliability/Rel_EN.asp for a fuller description of the program and eligibility requirements. “
Nature of Business
“According to Lexington Law Firm the company provides credit repair along with other attorney services. Only 60% of their work is credit repair, other services are listed on their Web site.
Clients may enroll in the company’s credit repair service by signing up on-line or by telephone. Client’s sign a retainer agreement and pay a one-time set-up fee and a recurring monthly fee. The service may be cancelled at any time.
The company challenges negative items on the client’s credit reports which the client believes to be inaccurate, misleading or unverifiable. The client orders their credit reports initially and then forwards new reports to Lexington Law Firm approximately every 90 days. In turn, Lexington Law Firm creates and signs dispute letters on the client’s behalf which are sent to the credit reporting agencies to communicate the client’s dispute.”
OK, here’s the important part for those of you trying to decide whether or not to use LL:
Based on BBB files, this company has a satisfactory record BBB Definition:
A satisfactory record BBB Definition:
satisfactory record – A business identified in our report as satisfactory has, based on BBB files, been in business for at least one year, and has voluntarily provided the BBB with all information requested about the business and its product or service. If any complaints have been received about the business, their number has not been considered by the BBB to be extreme, given the nature of the company’s business and the volume of business transacted. Complaints are also generally typical of what might be expected for this type of business. A business stated to be satisfactory has not been the subject of any recent law enforcement actions concerning its dealings with the public. If the business has been contacted by the BBB about its advertising or selling claims, it has modified or substantiated its practices to the BBB’s satisfaction. In addition, the BBB has a clear understanding of the company’s business, and the business is not in an industry which has raised significant marketplace concerns.
The company does not have an unusual volume of complaints, or any government actions involving its marketplace conduct. The BBB understands and has no concerns about the company’s products, services and type of business.The majority of complaints to the BBB allege that the company charged for services after the customer stopped (cancelled) the service. Consumers should be aware that the company does not bill prior to service, therefore a bill (charge) may be received after cancellation for services that were rendered.
When considering complaint information, please take into account the company’s size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm’s responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.“
The site goes on to list the complaints and how they were dealt with. So, what’s important here is to usnderstnd that Lexington Law is a large company and with the huge volumn of business they do, they do get some complaints. The BBB says many of these are from a missunderstnding about the billing practice of only billing for work after it’s done. So, just make sure you read the terms of the service.