[crathke]

The thing about organizations which promote "credit repair" or show you how to "do it yourself" is that they aren't very successful. In a nutshell, what they do is take advantage of a loophole in the Fair Credit Reporting Act which allows consumers to "dispute" the information being reported; once you pay these folks their "fee", they basically dispute *everything* on your report. The theory is that they bombard the creditors with disputes that the creditors cannot possibly investigate and respond to within the 30-day time frame alloted them in the FCRA. If the creditor doesn't respond, the credit bureau has to assume that the dispute was valid and remove any derogatory information.

The trouble with that is that it's basically a fraudulent action. In addition, most creditors are on to these organizations and will respond to *any* mail received by them with a "verified as reported" response--which means the organization will come back to you, the consumer, and say "well, we need to refile, and that's going to be another..." $25, 50, 100, whatever. So they make tons of money, the creditors are all (even more) annoyed and you get nowhere.

Additionally, working with an accredited credit counseling service does *not* impact your credit score (it used to, but that has changed in the last year or so)--in fact, if you hook up with a good one and maintain your payment plan, you can be reported as "paid as agreed" on your credit report, and every month that goes by with that standing will positively impact your credit score. Will it take years? Probably. However, as I mentioned before, many creditors will "forgive" (cancel out) late fees, overlimit fees, and/or interest charges in an effort to recoup the principal amount of the debt owed. When you're paying 10, 15, 20% (or more) on a credit card, having the interest forgiven can shave *years* off that repayment plan. And, living within the plan will also give you the opportunity to start rebuilding your savings--which will in turn (as Sharon mentioned) make you more attractive to an agency.

FWIW, my husband and I completed our adoption a year ago in January. I am 41 and he is 43. So, again, Sharon has a *very* valid point in that adoption makes it much easier for "older" parents to fulfill their dreams of adding to their family. Best of luck to you!