01
We will never promise you a number
No “100 points in 90 days.” No guaranteed deletions. Anyone who promises a score result is guessing with your money — your file, your history, and the bureaus decide, not us.
Credit repair & debt counseling · Columbus, Ohio
We can’t promise your score will jump. Nobody honest can.
What we can do: dispute what’s actually wrong on your credit reports, build a real plan for what you owe, and tell you plainly when you don’t need us at all. Judgment-free, flat-fee, and billed only after the work is done.
- $0 before work is performed — it’s federal law
- Cancel anytime
- 1 in 4 reviews end “don’t hire us”
What you’ll never hear here
- “Guaranteed 100-point increase”
- “Pay today to activate your file”
- “We can delete anything”
The Steadwell promises
Three things we put in writing before you sign anything
02
We will never charge you before the work is done
Federal law — the Credit Repair Organizations Act — makes advance fees for credit repair illegal. We bill at the end of each month, for the month that just happened. If anyone asks for money up front, walk away. Including us.
03
We will tell you if you don’t need us
You can dispute credit-report errors yourself, for free, and the bureaus must investigate. Some people should do exactly that. Some should see a nonprofit counselor, or a bankruptcy attorney. When that’s you, we say so — at the free review, before any contract.
Why this industry has a reputation
What the ads say, and what’s true
Credit repair earned its scam-adjacent reputation honestly. Here’s the side-by-side we wish every consumer saw before signing anything — with us or anyone else.
The ads say
“Guaranteed 100-point increase or your money back!”
The truth
No one can guarantee a score change — ever. Scores react to your whole file. We show you the honest range of past client outcomes instead, including the clients who saw no change.
The ads say
“Pay $299 today to activate your file.”
The truth
Charging before credit-repair work is performed is illegal under the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act. Our setup fee is $0, and every invoice arrives after the month it covers.
The ads say
“We can remove bankruptcies, late payments — anything.”
The truth
Accurate, verifiable, timely-reported items generally stay. We dispute what’s inaccurate, unverifiable, or past its legal reporting limit — and we tell you which is which, line by line.
The ads say
“Get a fresh start with a new credit identity (CPN).”
The truth
That is fraud, and it can land you — not the seller — in serious legal trouble. We will never suggest it, and we turn away anyone who asks for it.
The ads say
“Results in 30 days!”
The truth
Bureaus get 30–45 days to investigate each dispute round, by law. Honest work usually takes 3–6 months. We put realistic timelines in the contract, not the fine print.
Two problems, two different products
Is it your credit file — or the debt itself?
Credit repair
When the reports are wrong
Accounts that aren’t yours, late marks that weren’t late, collections past their legal window, identity-theft damage. We dispute what’s inaccurate, unverifiable, or outdated — with documentation, through the bureaus’ 30–45 day clock — and we leave accurate history alone, because no honest company can remove it.
$89/month · billed after each month’s work · cancel anytime
What we can and can’t dispute →Debt relief
When the balances are real
If the problem is what you owe, disputes won’t fix it. We chart every honest option side by side — pay-down plan, debt management plan, settlement, and the bankruptcy referral nobody advertises — including what each one does to your credit score and your taxes, before you choose.
DMP from $30/month · settlement fees only after a debt settles
See the options table, downsides included →The numbers we show include the unflattering ones
11,400+
disputes filed since 2014 — every one documented, none duplicated to game the clock
41%
of items we disputed last year were corrected or deleted. 47% were verified accurate and stayed. We publish both numbers.
3–6 mo
typical engagement. When the useful work is done, we tell you to stop paying us.
$0
collected before work is performed — it’s federal law, and it’s also just right
Steadwell is a fictional demo brand — figures are illustrative. But this is how we’d report them: with the 47% that stayed, right next to the 41% that didn’t.
Who we turn away
Sometimes the honest answer is “don’t hire us.”
About one in four free reviews ends with us recommending something other than becoming a client — a DIY dispute kit, a nonprofit counselor, or a bankruptcy attorney. We think that’s the strongest reason to trust the other three.
Read all five ways we say no →-
Your report is accurate and recent
Disputing accurate items is a treadmill someone else profits from. We’ll show you the rebuild math — most of it free — and offer counseling if you want company for it.
-
You need a score jump before a closing next month
The investigation clock alone is 30–45 days per round. Taking your money against that deadline would be theater. We’ll tell your lender-timeline the truth instead.
-
You’re asking for a “credit sweep” or a CPN
Both are fraud. The people selling them rarely face the consequences — their customers do. Hard no, every time.
What clients say
Real-shaped reviews, four-stars included
★★★★★
“They told me NOT to hire them. My report was accurate; my problem was utilization. Tom gave me a one-page plan, a secured-card suggestion, and zero sales pressure. Eight months later I crossed 700 on my own. Who does that?”
★★★★☆
“Docking a star because it was slower than I hoped — round one took the full 45 days and barely moved. Round two with more paperwork did the real work. Every invoice came after the month, like they said. Just know going in: this is a marathon.”
Start with the free review. Even if you never hire us.
Sixty to ninety minutes, all three reports, every line tagged honestly. You leave with a written plan — and about one in four people leave with our advice not to hire anyone at all.
Free means free — no card, no contract, no “activation.” Charging before work is done is illegal, and we wouldn’t anyway.