With so many new and inexperienced credit repair providers coming onto the scene, many of which are simply turnkey businesses using third party software to power their service, it becomes difficult to determine which services can be trusted with your credit reports. Here are three tips for spotting a quality credit repair provider.

Repairing your credit is something you can do yourself at little or no cost. While this sounds promising, the truth is that self credit repair frequently is not as easy as it first seems. Repairing your credit by yourself will likely take a significant amount of time and education.

The credit repair industry can be a scary place. Given the abundance of news articles, television stories, and "expert" pieces warning of credit repair scams that get pushed out by well regarded media outlets, it can look like the only logical choice is to steer clear of credit repair companies altogether - a course of action many news outlets seem to advocate.

As is the case with mechanics, chefs, general contractors, and every other profession, there are good credit repair companies and companies to steer clear of. Below are some tips for identifying a credit repair company you can trust.

Considering how big of a role your credit score can play in accomplishing so many New Year's resolutions, it makes sense to focus on this one factor before moving to other goals. Then, if you are able to use credit repair to increase your credit score, you will already have a head foundation for accomplishing New Year's resolutions this year and years to come.

Charge offs can take a serious toll on your credit score, so much so that a single charge off could result in denial of credit. If you are looking to increase your credit score, it is worth looking into the steps you can take in an attempt to remove a charge off from your credit file.

Collections accounts can take a serious toll on your credit score, with higher collection amounts taking a large toll than smaller amounts. If you're looking to increase your credit score, it is worth it to look into the steps you can take in an attempt to remove collections from your credit reports.

Late payments can take a serious toll on your credit rating, especially if payments are reported to be of 90 days late or more. If you're looking to increase your credit score, it is worth looking into the steps you can take in an attempt to remove late payments from your credit reports.

The Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) has established guidelines credit repair providers must adhere to that you can use to help select a trustworthy credit repair company and avoid becoming a victim of a credit repair scam.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was created to protect your right to fair and accurate credit reporting, but it is your responsibility to work toward that end. When working to repair your credit by disputing questionable items in your credit reports, you are enforcing this right.