Credit repair training programs provide a helpful learning experience. Students of these credit repair courses learn everything there is to know about the business. Many courses exist online, but it’s not so common in local schools. If a lecture and test based platform helps you grasp the subject better, definitely partake in a credit repair course. Just be selective when picking between the different providers – some cover more ground than others.
Best Online Credit Repair Courses
Online credit repair courses give you the chance to learn the ins and outs of the practice during your own schedule. This approach works perfect for anyone in the process of setting up their own credit repair business. You can get through the fundamentals and upgrade your knowledge with advanced courses, without interfering with your availability.
Many online credit repair courses exist. It’s important to carefully pick from the various options that are available. Some are better than others, and many are not worth the time or money. If you want the best results, we suggest you consider one of the digital credit repair classes listed below.
Here’s our list of recommendations…
ICFE Certified Consumer Credit Care Specialist
ICFE stands for the Institute of Consumer Financial Education. They offer possibly the most advanced consumer credit repair course on the web. ICFE’s credit repair training is broken down into four separate courses. They are as follows:
- Credit Report Reviewer
This credit repair course looks at how to build a consumer’s credit report. The lessons given here will help a credit repair specialist know how to properly review consumer files. This course teaches you not only how to read a credit report, but also how to keep it clean.
This level of comprehension requires diving into the consumer credit report laws. In particular, credit repair students learn about the FCRA Act and what it means for their clients. They walk out of the course with a better idea on what can be a credit report error and what to do next.
- Credit Scoring Specialist
This credit repair course was the first of its kind in the country. Students here have background knowledge on credit reports and repair. They learn more about how credit scores work, behind the scenes. This education helps them with providing advice to clients and even helping them build credit in some cases. The intriguing part of this course is that it shows how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau manages FCRA and FACTA laws.
This course also divulges into how credit scoring models differ between consumers and creditors. Upon completion, a credit repair specialist will know how all the different credit rating models work. Graduates also obtain insight on how the different scores came to be throughout the years.
- Credit Repair Specialist
This credit repair course is the big difference maker. Students learn how to handle credit repair in every way imaginable. To put it simply, the credit repair specialist course provides training on credit report error management. Students are provided with the knowledge necessary to know how to get inaccuracies fixed or deleted. The course touches on how to deal with identity theft cases as well.
- Debt Compliance Specialist
This credit repair course teaches debt collection compliance. The material is heavily backed by content found in the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. Students gain knowledge on how to make sure their credit repair clients are kept protected from illegal debt collection tactics. The content here helps students understand how to support their credit report error disputes. Think of it like how a lawyer learning all the technicalities of a law. A credit repair specialist becomes well-versed in their disputing abilities through this course.
More Info on ICFE’s Credit Repair Courses
The cost for each ICFE credit repair course is $375 with their intro offer you can pay $995 if you sign up for all four classes. They also have another course in their online store section, which is ICFE Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist. This class is not included in the package deal, instead you must pay $399 to take it.
Wondering if this company is legit? ICFE stands for Inchicore College of Further Education and is located in Inchicore – a suburb in Dublin, Ireland. The school first came into existence in 1957 and runs both offline and online credit repair courses. According to Google, ICFE is home to approximately 850 students.
Find out more about ICFE’s credit repair training programs by checking their website.
American Credit Repair Academy
American Credit Repair Academy is a program offered by Credit Repair Cloud. This company created the first ever cloud-based credit repair software in 2012, called Credit-Aid. In 2002, their founder also built the world’s first credit repair software. The business is legitimate and has a rich history in the credit repair industry.
This credit repair training program differs from ICFE in one key way. The ICFE courses teach credit repair specialists how to do their jobs. Meanwhile, Credit Repair Cloud’s program teaches people how to run a credit repair business.
The credit repair business training program is broken down into three categories. Take a look below to learn what each of these sections will cover.
- Learn
This part serves as an introduction to the program. You will get answers to basic questions that are likely to come up for anyone just getting into this business. You will also learn how to get your client’s credit reports, identify errors to dispute, the methodology behind such disputes and how to select what credit repair letters to send.
- Run
This category gets into detail on the business side of things. Students will learn how to start the business, multiple credit score building tips, understanding date of last activity (DLA), goodwill deletion and working with credit bureaus. This part of the course will also give detailed insight on what to do when the credit bureaus make the dispute difficult and what advanced tactics can be used to combat them.
- Grow
This section gives students more direct information on how to run their credit repair company. At first, detailed steps will be provided to help get the business in order. Next, students get to learn how to handle their clients – from document intake to consultation. This part of the credit repair business program will give guidance on how repair specialists can educate their clients. The next part of the course will give insight on marketing, how to use credit repair software and setting up a website.
More Info on American Credit Repair Academy
This course costs $59 and has a no questions asked refund policy. Their website claims the total value is $892 for all the courses. In comparison to ICFE’s offering, the price-point for this course is much lower. The difference is that students do not divulge into exceptional levels of detail in this course. Since most of it focuses on how to start and run a credit repair business, it’s best to combine this with a training program that specializes on credit repair practices.
Interested in their credit repair course? Check out the American Credit Repair Academy website to learn more before making your decision.
Udemy Credit Repair Courses
Quick online courses can be very beneficial. Udemy offers a wide variety and is a trusted online education portal. Some of their more popular credit repair courses include:
- Credit Repair: The 2017 Total Guide to a Great Credit Score
This Udemy course has had more than 4,000 enrolled students. The course surfaced years ago but gets updated each year to remain relevant. The course is over five hours long and breaks down into more than 50 separate lectures.
The most time consuming sections include discussions on how to get credit files, understanding reports and scores, disputing with bureaus, unique strategies like “the squeaky wheel,” and dealing with issues like medical bills, tax liens, bankruptcies and foreclosures. The course is delivered through on-demand video and contains some other helpful resources as well.
- How I Boosted my Credit Score from 520 to 765 in 19 Days!
This Udemy course has had more than 2,500 enrolled students. The course features more than six hours of on-demand video plus other resources. It starts with an intro section, then proceeds to discuss how credit report errors are pretty common. This is followed by more than four hours of effective guidance. The two longest videos go over credit score management strategies from Experian and credit management tips from Experian and Wells Fargo.
- Smart Credit Repair Wolf
This Udemy course has had more than 1,000 enrolled students. The course consists of roughly 1.5 hours of video lectures. The focus points here include how to improve credit score, credit score repair and debt management. This course is highly tailored toward consumers and touches more on how to budget for credit success. For a credit repair specialist, it gives some perspective from “inside the shoes of their clients.”
More Info on Udemy Credit Repair Courses
Udemy courses are not advanced enough to serve as a one-stop source for credit repair business owners. These credit repair training programs are best for consumers. You could recommend them to your clients. Further, your credit repair business could promote training as part of your service – by bundling any of these courses with your own offering. Check out the Udemy for Business section to learn how you can provide courses to many people, while getting a discount.
Teaching Yourself Credit Repair
The ins and outs of credit repair can be learned without paying for a course. The worst thing about investing in a credit repair training program is that you’re limiting your knowledge. All you will learn depends on what’s provided in the class. When you teach yourself, it’s possible to gain insight from more angles which leaves less unknown.
A good place to start is How to Write a Credit Dispute Letter That Works, a TurboDispute blog post. This article will give you a basic walkthrough on how report errors are disputed. From there, if you plan to run a credit repair business, decide on software. This small investment will dramatically change your company’s bottom line. Check out our Finding the Best Professional Credit Repair Software piece to learn more on this subject.
Some other resources:
- Credit Repair Manual – com
- Credit Repair: How to Help Yourself – FTC.gov
- The Ultimate Guide to Credit Repair – aaaCreditGuide.com
- How to Start Your Own Credit Repair and Debt Settlement Business – Chron.com
Take the time to read up all you can. Maybe even pick up some books, such as this one on removing negative items from your credit report. The resources are out there and much of the information on this subject is redundant. While credit repair courses can help, chances are with the right effort you can teach yourself just as much.
Conclusion
Credit repair is a detailed subject. For a newcomer, learning the ins and outs will prove to be a challenge. You need to know where to start and what not to miss. Taking part in a credit repair training program helps you make sure you don’t skip a beat. With that in mind, be selective when choosing which course is right for your needs. Some are more consumer focused, while others will help specifically with growing and working as a credit repair business.
Also, do not expect to learn everything you need to know from any book or course. The most valuable knowledge comes from actual experience. You gain intuition as you start disputing errors for your clients. The more you do this, the sooner it becomes natural. The negative items you will dispute will soon be categorizable. With your fundamental knowledge gained from credit repair courses, and a few clients under your belt, your expertise will flourish.
