Cost of credit repair
How Much Fixing Your Credit Will Cost & How We Get Paid
As your prospective law firm, we feel that is vitally important to be completely candid with you. While we do not charge you for our services, we do charge our fees and costs to the defendants. Sometimes, our clients get confused about the division of funds in these cases.
We want to disclose, as clearly as possible, what our fees and costs are and how the division of funds works. Like our Fee Agreement says, we want no surprises.
How Much Is “Free” Going to Cost Me?
Under the law, we can and do charge our fees and costs to the Defendants that are reporting incorrect negative information about you. We also charge our fees and costs to the Defendants that harass you in connection with collecting debts. Our services are not going to cost you anything.
Objectives of Our Lawsuits for You
The objective of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA” which is the statute that we use to get your credit report fixed), is to fix your credit, provide you with damages and an attorney at no cost to you. Similarly, the objective of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) is the same. Since these laws provide for nominal damages of up to $1,000, no lawyer is going to take such a case on a contingency basis, no one is going to hire a lawyer on an hourly basis without such a fee shifting provision.
The Majority of Our Cases Involve Nominal Damages – How to Tell Which Kind You Have
The overwhelming majority of cases involve “nominal damages.” These are damages to right a wrong and typically are no greater than $1,000. Chances are that your case is also a nominal damages case. If it is, read on. If your case is an actual damages case, then you can expect more than nominal damages. Either way, we will call you and discuss your damages before assessing the value of your case. We will also send you a sheet called “My Impression of Your Case” (hyperlink to a sample page) that will note whether you have a nominal damages case or an actual damages case. From there, we will agree as to the financial objectives of your case. If we do agree, we will proceed with representing you. If we cannot agree, then you will be better served with another law firm.
Fees We Charge to the Defendants
We Reimburse Ourselves for Our out of Pocket Costs
When we settle with a defendant, we typically settle for around $5,000 each. Sometimes more and sometimes, less. When we have settled with the last defendant in your case (many times there is more than 1 defendant), and collect that last check, your “settlement pot” is established. From your settlement pot, we reimburse ourselves for our out of pocket costs such as filing fees ($250 to $400 per case depending on where we file it) and service of process (typically $25 per defendant unless we have to pay to have the defendant personally served, then its more). We will also reimburse ourselves for the cost of any depositions, travel and parking costs.
We Also Take Our Fees from Any Settlement
Our fees, historically, have averaged around $4,000 or so, per defendant. We take these fees from the settlement pot at the end of the case. Our fee structure is:
Attorneys $375 per hour Paralegals $160 per hour Clerical staff $120 per hour
We keep track of our time and deduct these fees at the end of the case. We use a real-time system, in the cloud, for keeping track of our costs and our fees. Any time you want an accounting of our fees and costs, just ask. We can get one to you, pronto!