What Credit Repair Can and Can’t Do

What our process is designed to accomplish

  • The 4-round process identifies and challenges information on your credit reports that is inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable. It escalates strategically — from Metro 2-based accuracy disputes through attorney-managed legal correspondence and ACDV federal compliance demands — to hold credit bureaus and data furnishers accountable to the reporting standards they’re required to follow.
  • For many clients, that produces deletions, corrections, and meaningful score improvement. The specific results depend on what’s on your report and how the bureaus and furnishers respond, but you can see real examples on our results and reviews page.

What our process won’t do

  • Our process cannot remove accurate, timely negative information that is being properly reported according to Metro 2 standards. If a late payment happened and it’s reported correctly, the bureaus aren’t required to remove it. We won’t tell you otherwise.
  • We do not guarantee specific credit score outcomes. Scores depend on dozens of factors across multiple scoring models, and no company can ethically promise you a particular number.
  • White Jacobs & Associates is not a law firm. We are an attorney-managed credit restoration and education company that works with an in-house law firm as part of the process. If your situation requires legal representation beyond what our process provides, we can supply all relevant documentation to your licensed attorney.

How our Program Works

Our 4-round audit process is designed so that each round does something the previous round couldn’t. Here’s the overview.

Full-scope Metro 2 audit

The Investigative Research team reviews all three bureau reports by hand — pen and highlighter, line by line. Disputes are built targeting specific Metro 2 data fields: Account Status codes, Date of First Delinquency, Payment Rating values, balance inconsistencies across bureaus. Every dispute is mailed, not filed online, because mailed disputes allow specific factual language, supporting documentation, and a paper trail that preserves your FCRA rights.

Targeted follow-up with attorney-written correspondence

The research team analyzes every response from Round 1: what was deleted, what was verified, and how the bureaus and furnishers responded. Items that remain get narrower, more specific disputes based on the patterns the first round revealed — accounts verified suspiciously fast, responses that don’t address the actual issue raised, inconsistencies between what one bureau says versus another. This is also where attorney-written correspondence enters the process. For clients in Texas, Georgia, and Washington, D.C., that correspondence goes out on law firm letterhead from an attorney licensed in the client’s state. For clients elsewhere, the correspondence is still crafted by an attorney and cites the same federal statutes, but is sent on the client’s behalf as a consumer letter.

Continued attorney-managed escalation

The third round builds on everything documented in the first two. Attorney-written correspondence continues, now referencing specific patterns in how the bureaus and furnishers responded (or failed to respond) to prior disputes. The legal citations become more targeted, the documentation trail is deeper, and the correspondence reflects three rounds of accumulated evidence. For clients in the three jurisdictions where our attorneys are licensed, this correspondence continues on law firm letterhead. For all other clients, the correspondence remains attorney-written and grounded in the same federal provisions.

ACDV compliance demands

The final standard round targets the bureau’s investigation process itself. ACDV compliance demands ask the bureau to prove it conducted a lawful reinvestigation: who reviewed the dispute, what documents were examined, how the information was verified beyond an automated response. When the bureau can’t answer those questions, the gap between what the law requires and what they actually did becomes documented leverage for correction or deletion.

Beyond the four rounds

Some cases require additional work past the standard four rounds. When the Investigative Research team identifies potential for further progress, we invest the time at no extra charge. We also connect clients to other services when the situation calls for it: debt settlement for accounts that aren’t dispute-eligible, dispute code removal for clients in active mortgage underwriting, and credit coaching for building positive credit alongside the repair work.

Timelines and What to Expect

Program length

The program runs a maximum of six months. Most clients begin seeing results within the first 45–60 days. The timeline depends on the complexity of your report, how quickly bureaus and furnishers respond, and whether your case requires additional work beyond the standard four rounds.

What affects how fast your case moves

Cases with a smaller number of accounts and clear reporting errors tend to move faster — a paid collection still showing an open balance, a late payment coded on the wrong month. Cases that take longer often involve accounts where the original creditor has sold the debt multiple times (scattering the documentation across multiple entities) or reports with 15+ disputable items across all three bureaus.

Your role in the process

The program is a partnership. You’ll need to forward correspondence from bureaus, creditors, and collectors when it arrives, and provide updated credit reports after each round so the Investigative Research team can evaluate what changed. Your analyst will guide you on what to do with everything that comes in, but getting those items to us promptly is what keeps the program on timeline and the strategy on target. We go deeper into why this matters on our Investigative Research page.

Common Questions About Credit Repair

How long does credit repair take?

The program runs a maximum of six months. Most clients see initial results within 45–60 days. The timeline depends on report complexity, bureau response times, and whether your case requires work beyond the standard four rounds. If additional rounds are needed, there’s no extra charge.

Can you remove accurate negative information?

No. Our process targets information that is inaccurate, improperly reported, or unverifiable. If a negative item is being reported correctly according to Metro 2 standards, the bureaus aren’t required to remove it and we can’t change that. What we can do is examine the reporting in detail — because items that appear accurate at a glance often contain field-level errors that affect your score and the item’s reporting timeline.

What do I need to get started?

A free consultation with your credit analyst. They’ll review your reports, tell you what they see, and give you an honest assessment of whether the program is a realistic fit. If it is, they’ll explain what the first round would look like and what you’ll need to provide. If it’s not, they’ll tell you that too — and they’ll still give you credit education and direction you can use on your own.

How much does the program cost?

Pricing depends on the specifics of your credit situation. Your analyst will be transparent about costs during the free consultation. The program is structured as a defined six-month engagement, not an open-ended monthly subscription. You won’t be paying month-to-month indefinitely hoping something eventually works. If you’d like to understand how our pricing and process compare to the industry standard, our WJA vs Traditional Credit Repair page walks through the differences.

Is White Jacobs a law firm?

No. White Jacobs & Associates is an attorney-managed credit restoration and education company. We partner with The Garcia Law Firm (Bar Number 24033528) to supervise our process. We do not provide legal representation, file lawsuits, or act as your personal attorney. If your situation requires legal representation, we can supply your attorney with all relevant documentation from your case file.

What if I’m not a good fit for the program?

Your analyst will tell you during the consultation. We don’t bring people into the program unless we believe there’s a realistic chance of meaningful results. If it’s not the right fit, your analyst will still walk you through what you can do on your own, how to manage your accounts, and how to build positive credit over time. Value is the goal regardless of whether you become a client.

Can I do this myself?

You can dispute directly with credit bureaus at no cost. For straightforward errors with clear documentation, DIY can work well. For complex reports with multiple derogatory items, accounts that have been sold or transferred, or items that keep coming back “verified,” the escalation methodology, Metro 2 analysis, attorney correspondence, and ACDV compliance demands in our process go significantly beyond what most consumers can access on their own. We break this down in detail on our WJA vs DIY Credit Repair page.

How is this different from other credit repair companies?

Most credit repair companies use software to generate dispute letters from templates and repeat the same approach round after round. Our process escalates the methodology with each round — from Metro 2-based accuracy challenges to targeted follow-up to attorney correspondence to ACDV federal compliance demands. Add in manual report review by an in-house research team, a dedicated analyst who knows your file, and attorney supervision built into the standard program, and the operational differences are significant. Our comparison page walks through each difference in detail.

Who This Program Is a Fit For — and Who It’s Not

A good fit if you:

  • Have multiple inaccurate or unverifiable negative items across one or more credit reports
  • Have tried disputing on your own or with another company and didn’t get lasting results
  • Are on a timeline — buying a home, refinancing, applying for a lease — and need structured, accountable credit work
  • Want attorney-managed oversight, a dedicated analyst, and a transparent process with realistic expectations

Not a fit if you:

  • Are looking for a guaranteed outcome or a specific credit score target. No ethical company can promise that.
  • Have negative items that are all accurate and current. The process can’t remove properly reported information.
  • Need immediate legal representation for a lawsuit or regulatory complaint. We can refer you, but we are not a law firm.
  • Prefer to handle disputes yourself, which is your legal right at no cost.