Updated 2026-09-04. Educational. Accurate, current, verifiable items stay.
This page is educational. It is not legal advice. Accurate, current, verifiable information cannot legally be removed from a credit report.
plant money habits is a private company founded by Yordan Marin. It is not a government agency. It is not Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. It is not the CFPB or the FTC.
1 big thing. Before you sign any agreement with a credit repair organization, federal law requires that organization to give you a separate written statement of your rights.
Why it matters. The organization must keep a copy you signed acknowledging receipt. That rule is 15 U.S.C. § 1679c:
The bottom line. Reading this webpage does not replace that signed document.
Between the lines. The graphic below carries the point: a signed 1679c statement before any credit-repair contract, and a 3-business-day cancel. Do not treat website formatting as a change to the law.
Learn more. Statute: 15 U.S.C. § 1679c. Cancel: 15 U.S.C. § 1679e. FTC: Fixing Your Credit FAQs.
Learn more. Also read charge off vs collection.
Learn more. Also read How long credit repair takes.
plant money habits LLC
1650 Limekiln Pike, Ste B19 #223
Dresher, PA 19025
The following is the written statement Congress requires credit repair organizations to provide. It is printed here so you can read the same paragraphs the statute lists. Do not treat website formatting as a change to the law.
Consumer Credit File Rights Under State and Federal Law
You have a right to dispute inaccurate information in your credit report by contacting the credit bureau directly. However, neither you nor any “credit repair” company or credit repair organization has the right to have accurate, current, and verifiable information removed from your credit report. The credit bureau must remove accurate, negative information from your report only if it is over 7 years old. Bankruptcy information can be reported for 10 years.
You have a right to obtain a copy of your credit report from a credit bureau. You may be charged a reasonable fee. There is no fee, however, if you have been turned down for credit, employment, insurance, or a rental dwelling because of information in your credit report within the preceding 60 days. The credit bureau must provide someone to help you interpret the information in your credit file. You are entitled to receive a free copy of your credit report if you are unemployed and intend to apply for employment in the next 60 days, if you are a recipient of public welfare assistance, or if you have reason to believe that there is inaccurate information in your credit report due to fraud.
You have a right to sue a credit repair organization that violates the Credit Repair Organization Act. This law prohibits deceptive practices by credit repair organizations.
You have the right to cancel your contract with any credit repair organization for any reason within 3 business days from the date you signed it.
Credit bureaus are required to follow reasonable procedures to ensure that the information they report is accurate. However, mistakes may occur.
You may, on your own, notify a credit bureau in writing that you dispute the accuracy of information in your credit file. The credit bureau must then reinvestigate and modify or remove inaccurate or incomplete information. The credit bureau may not charge any fee for this service. Any pertinent information and copies of all documents you have concerning an error should be given to the credit bureau.
If the credit bureau’s reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may send a brief statement to the credit bureau, to be kept in your file, explaining why you think the record is inaccurate. The credit bureau must include a summary of your statement about disputed information with any report it issues about you.
The Federal Trade Commission regulates credit bureaus and credit repair organizations. For more information contact:
The Public Reference Branch
Federal Trade Commission
Washington, D.C. 20580
Source text: 15 U.S.C. § 1679c.
Current FTC consumer education, which is not a rewrite of the paragraph above: Fixing Your Credit FAQs.
Separate document, signed receipt. Under § 1679c(b)–(c), this statement must be a document separate from the contract and from other written material, and the organization must keep a signed acknowledgment for two years. A webpage is not that document.
Three-business-day cancel. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1679e, you may cancel any credit-repair contract without penalty by notifying the organization before midnight of the third business day after you sign. The contract must come with a duplicate “Notice of Cancellation” form. Federal law is three business days. Any longer cancel window a company offers is an addition, not a replacement, and only if the signed pack still includes the federal three-day form.
No payment before services are fully performed. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1679b(b), a credit repair organization may not charge or receive money for a service before that service is fully performed. There is no CROA exception that lets a company collect early because the fee is labeled a “recurring monthly payment plan.”
FTC weekly free reports (labeled note — does not rewrite § 1679c). The § 1679c paragraph above still talks about a reasonable fee and the free-file situations Congress listed. Separately, the FTC explains that the three nationwide bureaus have permanently extended a program that lets you check each credit report once a week for free at AnnualCreditReport.com. See Free Credit Reports (FTC). That weekly program does not delete the statute’s reasonable-fee language, and those free files are reports, not scores.
Refunds for performed services. Questions about refunds for work already performed belong in /terms, not on this rights page.
These Fair Credit Reporting Act tools are yours whether or not you ever hire a company. They are not inside the CROA disclosure block above.
Pull your Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion files at AnnualCreditReport.com. Federal law requires at least one free report from each nationwide bureau every 12 months. The FTC’s weekly free-report note is labeled above. A report is not a score.
You may dispute with the bureau and with the furnisher. The bureau generally has 30 days to reinvestigate, may get 15 more days only if you send more relevant information during that window, must notify the furnisher within five business days, and must send you results within five business days after it finishes. Details: How a credit dispute works under the FCRA. Statute: 15 U.S.C. § 1681i.
If the reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute, you may file a brief statement. The bureau may limit that statement to not more than 100 words if it provides assistance in writing a clear summary (§ 1681i(b)).
If information on your file resulted from identity theft, you can ask the bureau to block that information. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2, after the bureau receives appropriate proof of your identity, a copy of an identity theft report, identification of the information, and your statement that the transactions were not yours, it must block the reporting of that information not later than four business days. Start the recovery plan and identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov. The CFPB’s overview is What do I do if I am a victim of identity theft?.
A security freeze (credit freeze) is a free federal right. It restricts new creditors from pulling your file until you lift the freeze. Place and lift freezes with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion separately. See Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts (FTC) and What is a credit freeze or security freeze? (CFPB).
A credit lock is a proprietary product a bureau may sell. It can look similar in an app, but it is not the same as the free freeze federal law guarantees. If you want the federal right, choose the freeze.
A freeze does not stop every kind of pull. Existing-account creditors, and many employment, tenant-screening, and insurance pulls, can still see the file under federal rules. A freeze does not delete negative information and does not change a credit score. The CFPB states that security freezes do not impact credit scores, and that the federal freeze law does not apply to employment, tenant-screening, or insurance requests.
An initial fraud alert lasts one year. It is not 90 days. Federal law changed the old 90-day period. Creditors must take reasonable steps to verify it is you before opening new credit. Place it with one nationwide bureau; that bureau must tell the other two.
An extended fraud alert lasts seven years if you have an identity theft report (for example from IdentityTheft.gov). Creditors must contact you by a method you choose before approving new credit.
Active-duty servicemembers can place an active-duty alert. Details: Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts (FTC) and the CFPB identity-theft Q&A.
Nonprofit budget and credit counseling may be available at little or no cost. You may use those services instead of, or in addition to, any paid help.
You can do this yourself, for free. Done-for-you: https://plantmoneyhabits.com/start/ . Cheaper DIY guides: https://store.plantmoneyhabits.com. Plans: /pricing.
Contract terms, billing, and refunds for services already performed belong in /terms, not on this rights page.
plant money habits LLC
1650 Limekiln Pike, Ste B19 #223
Dresher, PA 19025
Email: pmh@plantmh.com
Phone: 484.246.6676
You can do every step on this page yourself, for free. If you want us to run the disputes, that is the done-for-you service. $0 today. We do not guarantee a credit score number.
Get started · See plans · DIY guides (no done-for-you guarantee): store.plantmoneyhabits.com