Negative information on your credit report adversely impacts your credit score, which is one of the factors that credit providers consider when deciding whether or not to extend credit to you, and the interest rate you will be charged.
A debt judgment, debt administration order, provisional sequestration or sequestration order against you is more serious and remains on your profile for five years if no rehabilitation order is granted. Nofal says that in terms of the National Credit Act , you have the right to lodge a dispute with a credit bureau when information on your credit report is inaccurate or out of date – at no cost to you. Once a dispute is lodged the credit bureau must investigate the accuracy of the information.
On its website, credit bureau TransUnion warns consumers to “be very careful of so-called ‘credit repair agents’ who claim to be able to remove valid listings for an upfront fee. This practice is illegal, and you could end up losing your money or paying for a service that you could have done yourself”.
Money asked Credit Clear, a company that says it can assist people with their blacklisting problems, what it charges for this and what it can do for consumers that they can’t do for themselves. After initially clarifying its practices, Credit Clear failed to answer these questions.