In the eyes of CLF, the Lexington Law Firm’s services can not be considered, or labeled a scam. This is not an endorsement of the LLF’s products and/or services by any means. California Loan Find is an unbiased financial services resource, and we do not take sides.
In our conclusion, which we come to below using hard data by a reputable source, is simply based on math, and not by a stale defense from a corporate PR officer, or a hysterical cry from a customer who feels ripped off.
Lexington Law’s credit repair service can he reviewed here on their web site - you can see by reviewing their web site, that they have been doing this a long time now, and they are still very much in business. There are literally millions of Americans with bad credit ratings that they don’t deserve, but they put up with it for lack of trying to straighten their FICO score out.
Here is the LLF byline for those that may be interested to know their claim to fame (so to speak);
Lexington Law Firm is the oldest and largest attorney provider of affordable credit repair services. When you put into action the specific steps pioneered by Lexington, you join with the most experienced credit repair resource in America.
There has been many different opinions and reviews on the the Lexington Law Firm (credit repair company), and there has been plenty of past LL customers who consider them to be a scam. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misinformation, misunderstanding, and conjecture online “slagging”, or demonizing large firms that process hundreds of thousands of consumers and borrowers who have bad credit ratings.
The fact is that for any big company, you will find much more complaining and bad reviews online than good reviews and opinions in the forums, blogs, and bulletin boards. The moral here is that you can’t trust what you read online, because every borrower and consumer is a different story, and they may or may not have followed the procedures set out by the Lexington Law staff.
To be fair to the attorneys and lawyers at Lexington Law, I have seen and read their process for credit repair and there is nothing in their process that can be considered a scam. With them, like any other credit repair agency, they charge their clients after all their services have been carried out. If the client does not fully read or understand the LL literature, they may be annoyed when they get their bill. It costs money to claim bankruptcy, or hire a law firm to look after your credit rating problems.
On a purely personal point of discussion, I had to use a trustee/law firm to fix my credit rating, after years of financial irresponsibility, and I had to pay their fees at the end of the process as well – just like Lexington Law’s fee schedule for their clients. If I had not read all of the agreement I had with this firm, I would have likely felt like I was being scammed. As it turns out, it was worth every penny for their service.
Labeling Lexington Law Firm a Scam
Unfortunately too many Americans (especially younger) throw the word scam around with impunity. I’ve seen MANY different financial services, financial companies, and even eBooks, searched for in the search engines as scams. It seems that it just takes a few customers to try out a credit report product, and have a bad experience with the service, before they are blabbing on the Internet somewhere calling the whole thing a scam.
The most common thing I’ve noticed is that if a company and/or their products or services are extremely popular, they get tagged as scams. This is not a good thing (so to speak) because legitimate credit counseling services could be maligned in the process.
Lexington Law Firm’s BBB Rating
In further research on the Lexington Law Firm, I was soon referred to the Better Business Bureau web site, where I got a rundown on the LLF. Their BBB rating is an A-, and the following criteria is used in their case.
But first of all I would like to post a direct quote from the BBB site regarding the Lexington Law Firm;
The majority of complaints to the BBB allege that the company charged for services after the customer stopped (cancelled) the service. Consumers should be aware that the company does not bill prior to service, therefore a bill (charge) may be received after cancellation for services that were rendered.
This is also what I’ve seen written in some personal financing forums. Basically, some clients cancel their service with LLF and then receive a final bill in the mail for the credit repair services carried out. This is surely aggravating for LL customers who never had their credit reports fixed to their satisfaction. It’s one thing to still have your credit rating and FICO score messy, but it’s another to have a bill from Lexington Law for so-called failed services.
Regardless of whether or not a customer sticks with Lexington’s process and successfully clears up their credit rating, they do have to pay for services rendered. I know this sounds like a manager talking here (or a white collar type), but it’s just common sense. I’ve heard of LL actually reducing some of the client’s bill due to the misunderstanding, or the pure rage of the person who thinks they’ve been “done wrong by”.
Lexington Law Firm Nature of Complaints
These are the most recent complaints launched against the LLF. Keep in mind the Lexington Law Firm has served over 500,000 clients in an effort to clear up their credit scores and ratings.
Out of these lists of complaints made to the BBB, 270 of them were successfully resolved. These numbers certainly do not support the opinion that the LLF is corrupt or a scam. No corporation (regardless of being accredited by the BBB) that has an A- rating could ever be considered a scam by any reasonable person.
6 Complaints Regarding Advertising Conflicts
1 - Ad misrepresented a product
2 - Ad misrepresented a service
3 - Ad Complaint Issue
89 Complaints Regarding Billing or Collection Issues
7 – Failure to correct billing errors
6 – Failure to substantiate charges
4 – Improper collection practices
26 - Credit, Billing or Collection Complaint Issue
19 - Unauthorized bank debits
27 - Unauthorized credit card charges
17 Complaints Regarding Contract Issues
10 - Failure to honor a contract or agreement
1 – Invalid or false contract
3 – None of the Above – Contract Complaint Issue
2 – Unauthorized changes to the contract or agreement
1 – Work performed outside the terms of the contract or agreement
25 Complaints Regarding Customer Service Issues
12 - Didn’t provide promised assistance or support for products or services
3 – Didn’t respond to calls or written requests for assistance or support
4 - Inappropriate behavior by customer service personnel
6 - Customer Service Complaint Issue
3 – Delivery Issues
3 – Non-delivery of services
22 – Complaints Regarding Guarantee or Warranty Issues
5 – Disputed warranty coverage and/or terms
12 - Failure to honor money-back guarantees
1 – Failure to honor service under the terms of warranties
3 – Failure to provide promised written warranty or guarantee
1 – Guarantee or Warranty Complaint Issue
1 Complaint On Product Issues
1 Product Quality Complaint Issue
69 Complaints Regarding Refund or Exchange Issues
10 - Failure to honor promised refunds, exchanges, or credit
24 - Failure to honor refund, exchange or credit policies
35 - None of the Above – Refund or Exchange Complaint Issue
4 Complaints on Repair Issues
1 - Failure to honor a repair estimate or agreement
1 - Improper or inferior repair
1 - None of the Above – Repair Complaint Issue
1 - Repairs resulted in additional damage
7 Complaints Regarding Sales Practice Issues
1 – Sales Complaint Issue
3 - Sales presentation misrepresented the product
1 - Sales presentation misrepresented the service
2 - Sales presentation used dishonest sales practices
As you can well see by the statistics used above, the LLF has it’s biggest problem when it comes to the billing of customers after the fact. It would be wise of LLF to bill their customers up front – at least enough to recoup some of their time for services rendered.
I know that some people exclaim that you can’t trust a credit repair company that asks for money (payment) up front before services are rendered, but I disagree. Hundreds of clients and customers who have bad credit skip out on their agreements with the Lexington Law Firm. Then they complain that they got a bill. Hmm….
So closing this review on LLF, it’s certainly safe to say the Lexington Law does deliver on their promise, but you need to be upfront with them, understand what your responsibilities are in the process as far as payment for their services, and the timetables of arrears.
Just make sure you tell the LLF’s customer service reps, and their attorneys the whole truth and nothing but the truth. You have to put all your cards on the table when you clean up your credit rating, or else you will be gravely disappointed , and LLF will ultimately fail in clearing up your credit score.
Lexington Law Firm Contact Information
| Official Business Name: | Lexington Law Firm |
| Telephone: | 800 341 8441 |
| Fax number: | 877 248 2920 |
| Street Address: | 634 South 400 West |
| Salt Lake City, UT 84101-2216 | |
| Web Domain Name: | www.lexingtonlaw.com |
| Corp Date: | June 1993 |
| Main Principal: | Mr. John C. Heath – Directing Attorney |
| Contact: | Ms. Kristine Whitehead 877 248 2920 |
| Classification: | Sole Prop |
| Corp Inc. Date: | July 1993, UT |
| Business Classification: | Credit Repair Services |
| BBB Accred: | Lexington Law Firm is NOT a BBB Accredited business. |
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6 Comments
Thanks for the great and objective article. I run a large rent to own company, and many of our clients have used Lexington Law to help repair their credit. Their results, overall, have been good. I think where some people get upset (in addition to what is mentioned above) is that when something is successfully removed via dispute that it frequently can reappear later. This isn’t LL’s (or any other credit repair service) fault – it is just the way the system works.
Yes Wendy, I do agree with this. Large companies have employees which are “people” working for them, and they are not perfect. They make mistakes, have bad days, and some cases even go out of their way to ruin a customer’s day.
Once we calm down, truly look at the facts, and do our best to understand the other person’s point of view, we can clearly make a judgement.
Lexington Law Firm is just one example of MANY companies that get labeled as scamsters.
Good blog by the way.
Well I did that too, but they didn’t really seem to have much interest in following through
and the customer service person I spoke with was grumpy. Not impressed.
Well, if we are doing a review of a credit repair company, we have to find out the facts and the stats on them.
I used Lexington Law for credit repair, and I did what you said I was completely factual when I was speaking with their attorneys. I made sure that EVERY debt was disclosed.
They had it all cleared up in a few months.
Rambler – did you provide full disclosure of debts, payments, and debtors, so the LLF attorneys can have a half-assed chance at least of helping you.
If you get a “grumpy” service rep, just drop the call and call back for another one. You can complain if you have a rude person on the line.
The goal here is to get your credit rating cleaned up – not add someone else to your Christmas card list.
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