Credit Assistance Network Review

Credit Assitance Network Overview

In business since 2004, Credit Assistance Network is a small but reputable credit repair company that may appeal to people who only need a couple of negative items removed from their credit report. For some, the company’s smaller size may offer a personalized touch, but others may dislike the relatively low-tech look of the company’s site and the apparent lack of more modern features like mobile apps and real-time credit alerts.

The main thing that sets Credit Assitance Network apart from other credit repair companies is its pricing structure. Instead of paying a flat rate or a monthly fee, you pay a one-time enrollment fee and then only pay if and when Credit Assistance Network successfully removes a negative item on your behalf.

How Credit Assistance Network Works

Credit Assistance Network operates much like any credit repair company by disputing negative items on your credit report with the credit bureaus on your behalf. While you can certainly file disputes on your own, companies like Credit Assistance Network have the resources, knowledge, and experience to handle the dispute process more efficiently and more quickly than the average person.

In addition to disputing negative items, Credit Assistance Network offers help disputing bankruptcies, liens, judgments, charge-offs, and foreclosures. The company also offers cease and desist letters, goodwill letters, and debt validation letters.

Once you’re signed up, a credit repair expert will review your credit reports and identify items the company can dispute. According to the company, you only pay when Credit Assistance Network has successfully obtained a deletion on your behalf.

Pros and Cons

As with any credit repair company, there are pros and cons associated with Credit Assitance Network. Here are the key items to know before you sign up.

Pros

• Free credit consultation – Credit Assistance Network will review your credit reports for free and let you know if you’re a candidate for credit repair. According to the company’s website, if they can’t help you, they will tell you this upfront.
• Money-back guarantee – The company offers a 90-day money-back guarantee. If you’re unhappy with the service, you can cancel for a full refund.
• Pay-as-you-go pricing – You only pay when Credit Assistance Network gets a negative item removed from your credit report. This unique pricing model may be appealing if you only have one or two negative items hurting your score.

Cons

• Can get expensive – The company charges a one-time $179 enrollment fee, and then $50 for every negative item they remove. If you have several negative items that appear on all three of your credit reports, this could become expensive.
• Does not offer credit monitoring – Many credit repair companies also offer credit monitoring so you can keep tabs on your credit score during the credit repair process. Credit Assistance Network doesn’t appear to offer this service.
• Website could use updating – Compared to many of its competitors, Credit Assistance Network’s website is dated looking. However, the site offers a customer portal, where it appears customers can log in and access information about their pending disputes.
• Lack of reviews – There aren’t many online reviews available for Credit Assistance Network, which makes it hard to know if past and current customers are satisfied with the company’s services. The reviews that exist are also old, with no new reviews after 2015.
• Misleading information – On its website, Credit Assistance Network claims to have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB). However, the link is broken, and the company doesn’t appear to have a BBB profile at all.

Who Should and Shouldn’t Work with Credit Assistance Network?

While Credit Assistance Network appears to be a good company with a solid menu of services, it might be better suited to those with one or two negative items on their credit report. This is because the pay-per-deletion pricing structure could get pricey for people with multiple negative items on their reports.

For example, if you have a negative account that shows up on all three credit reports — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — each deletion will cost you $50, which means you end up paying $150 for a single negative entry. Other credit repair companies charge one monthly fee for their services, which makes it easier to budget.

Credit Assistance Network Considerations

If you’re thinking about signing up with Credit Assistance Network, it’s important to do a thorough review of the company’s features and benefits. Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know.

Features

Perhaps the company’s main feature is its unique pricing structure. Rather than offering different tiers of services or one flat-fee package, Credit Assistance Network charges you $50 for every successful deletion.

This pay-as-you-go pricing arrangement can be appealing if you prefer paying for results. With other credit repair companies, you typically pay a monthly fee regardless of the outcome of the dispute.

Benefits

Credit Assistance Network offers a 90-day money-back guarantee, free consultations, and a broad range of educational materials on its website. According to its website, the company also offers 1-on-1 credit coaching, however, it doesn’t provide any pricing information for this additional service.

Pricing/Fees

Credit Assistance Network charges a one-time setup and enrollment fee of $179 and then $50 per successful deletion thereafter. The fee for public record deletions is $75.

If you sign up with a spouse, the company offers a 20 percent discount on your enrollment fee.

Money Back Guarantee

Credit Assistance Network offers a 90-day money-back guarantee. According to the company, it will refund your money completely if it fails to remove a negative item within the first 90 days.

Customer Service

The Credit Assistance Network website lists the phone numbers and email addresses for its customer service department. However, the company doesn’t appear to list any hours of operation on its website, which makes it hard to know when a customer service representative will be available to answer questions or address concerns.

It’s worth noting that third-party sites list hours of operation for the company. On the TrustLink site, the company’s hours are listed as Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. If this is correct, the company doesn’t offer phone assistance on the weekends, which means you’ll probably have to send an email or wait until Monday to speak with a representative.

Ratings

While Credit Assistance Network has a 4.5-star rating out of 71 reviews on TrustLink, its BBB page shows an error. Despite this, the company claims to have an A+ rating with the BBB.

Credit Assistance Network Reviews

Credit Assistance Network gets mostly positive reviews, but there are few reviews available online. The company’s sole Google review gives it a 5-star rating, but the review itself doesn’t say much about the company’s service.

On the other hand, Credit Assistance Network nets mostly positive reviews on TrustLink, with the majority of customers praising the company for its responsiveness and results. However, most of these reviews are several years old, and it doesn’t look like the company has any reviews posted after 2015.

How to Sign Up for Credit Assistance Network

If you want to sign up for Credit Assistance Network’s services, you can do so easily online. To do this, you’ll need to provide your name, address, and phone number, along with other personal and financial information so the company can determine if you’re a candidate for its services.

Once you’re signed up, Credit Assistance Network will email you instructions for obtaining your credit reports. From there, a credit expert from the company will contact you to talk about your credit situation and the plan for repairing your credit.

Credit Assistance Network Alternatives

If you’re in the market for credit repair, there are plenty of excellent options out there. Here are some of the top companies on our list, which we selected based on their combination of fair prices, good reviews, and comprehensive menu of services.

• Credit Saint – Credit Saint is an experienced credit repair company that will file up to five challenges per month on your behalf for $79.99 per month plus a one-time $99 sign-up fee. The company has 1,300+ Google reviews, with an average 4.5-star rating.
• Lexington Law – Lexington Law is a real law firm, so you get access to actual lawyers when you sign up for credit repair services. The company has an impressive 46,000+ reviews for its credit repair app in the Apple App store, and its packages start at $89.95 per month.
• The Credit Pros – If you want credit monitoring and credit repair in one, The Credit Pros offers both for $69 per month plus a one-time $119 enrollment fee. The company also offers higher tiers of services if you need things like budgeting help and bill reminders.

Conclusion

Credit Assistance Network offers per-deletion pricing, which might be a good fit for you if you only need one or two negative items removed from your credit report. If you require more robust help, however, you’re probably better off going with a credit repair company that charges a monthly fee, as this is likely to be more affordable in the long run.