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. STATE Texas Finance Code Chapter 393 requires a credit services organization to register with the Secretary of State before conducting business. Registration lasts one year.
Why it matters. FEDERAL CROA still applies:
The bottom line. STATE Chapter 393 also requires:
Between the lines. Keep FEDERAL and STATE apart.
Learn more. Texas Finance Code Chapter 393. CFPB: How do I dispute an error on my credit report?. FTC: Fixing Your Credit FAQs.
Every fact below is labeled FEDERAL or STATE.
FEDERAL — CROA. The Credit Repair Organizations Act applies nationwide. A credit repair organization may not take money for a service before that service is fully performed. It may not make untrue or misleading claims. Before any contract, it must give you a separate signed Consumer Credit File Rights statement (15 U.S.C. § 1679c). The contract must be in writing. You may cancel within three business days (§ 1679e). Advance-fee and untrue-claim rules are in § 1679b.
FEDERAL — FCRA disputes. You can pull your files and dispute incomplete or inaccurate information with the bureaus and with furnishers. See How a credit dispute works under the FCRA. Start with How do I dispute an error on my credit report? (CFPB) and Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports (FTC). The FTC’s Fixing Your Credit FAQs repeat the hard line: no one can legally remove accurate, current information.
FEDERAL — free files, not scores. By statute you get one free file from each nationwide bureau every 12 months. The bureaus also offer weekly free reports (not scores) at AnnualCreditReport.com. See Free Credit Reports (FTC).
FEDERAL — CFPB complaint after a bureau dispute. A CFPB complaint is not round one. As of June 24, 2026, the CFPB directs consumers who have a credit-reporting complaint about incomplete or inaccurate information to complete the statutory dispute with the bureau first. Then you may submit a complaint.
FEDERAL — medical debt. There is no nationwide ban. The CFPB’s medical-debt credit-reporting rule was vacated on July 11, 2025. See Prohibition on Creditors and Consumer Reporting Agencies Concerning Medical Information (Regulation V). Separately, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion keep a voluntary industry policy: they generally keep off paid medical collections, medical collections under $500, and medical collections less than 12 months past due. That policy covers medical collections. Ordinary credit-card charges for medical care are not covered. A state rule, if one exists, is labeled STATE below. Do not treat industry policy as a federal statute.
STATE. Texas credit services organizations are governed by Finance Code Chapter 393 and the Secretary of State’s CSO FAQ.
STATE — register with the SOS before business; one year. Before conducting business in Texas, a credit services organization must register with the Secretary of State (Tex. Fin. Code § 393.101). A registration certificate expires on the first anniversary of its issuance and may be renewed. Registration is a filing. The Secretary of State is a filing officer. That office does not investigate business practices, resolve disputes about CSO services, or decide refunds.
STATE — written contract, 180-day estimate, guarantees and refunds in the contract. Each contract must be in writing, dated, and signed. It must describe the services, including each guarantee and each promise of a full or partial refund, and the estimated period for performing the services, not to exceed 180 days (Tex. Fin. Code § 393.201). Texas also requires a three-day cancel notice in the contract (§ 393.202), which sits next to FEDERAL CROA’s three business days.
STATE — charge before completion only with bond or account per location. A credit services organization or its representative may charge or receive valuable consideration before completely performing all agreed services only if the organization has obtained a surety bond for each of its locations or established and maintained a surety account for each of its locations (Tex. Fin. Code § 393.302). This page does not print a bond dollar amount. Ask the Secretary of State’s current FAQ or counsel for the figure that applies to a given location and year.
STATE — attorney exception is Texas-licensed, course and scope. Chapter 393 does not cover an individual licensed to practice law in Texas who is acting within the course and scope of that practice as an attorney (Tex. Fin. Code § 393.002). The person claiming the exemption has the burden of proving it.
STATE — Attorney General does not resolve your individual dispute, and complaints are public. You may file a consumer complaint with the Texas Attorney General at File a consumer complaint if you believe a company used a false, misleading, or deceptive practice. The Office of the Attorney General does not resolve individual consumer disputes. It is not your personal attorney. Complaints are public records under Texas law. Do not put a Social Security number, date of birth, or account number in that complaint.
You can also use the FEDERAL FCRA dispute process and, later, a CFPB complaint.
FEDERAL. No nationwide ban. The CFPB medical-debt rule was vacated on July 11, 2025 (that case was in the Eastern District of Texas). Bureau voluntary policy on paid / under-$500 / less-than-12-months-past-due medical collections. Credit-card medical charges are not covered.
STATE. This page does not invent a Texas medical-debt reporting ban.
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Read your consumer credit file rights before you sign anything.
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