Results
Here’s the chart most firms won’t show you
Averages flatter; distributions tell the truth. Below are outcome ranges the way we’d actually report them — the wins, the “verified accurate” pile, and the clients whose scores didn’t move. Every figure on this page is illustrative: Steadwell is a fictional demo brand.
Dispute outcomes · 2025
3,184 items disputed. Three honest piles.
Corrected or deleted
41%
Updated (fixed but stayed)
12%
Verified accurate — unchanged
47%
Read the clay bar first: nearly half of everything clients suspected was wrong turned out to be accurate — and stayed. Any firm reporting only its deletions is showing you the numerator and pocketing the denominator.
Fictional-brand disclosure
Steadwell Financial Counseling is an invented company on a sample website. These statistics are constructed to show how honest reporting should look — ranges, denominators, dropouts — not to describe any real firm’s performance. Results always vary with the individual file.
Score outcomes
What scores did — the whole spread
Among clients who completed six months of credit repair in 2025 (n = 214) — illustrative figures:
+23 points
the median change at six months — half did better, half did worse
+6 to +41 points
the middle half of outcomes — your honest expectation lives in this band
18%
saw no meaningful change (±5 points or less)
−8 to +64
the full range: the least fortunate client finished 8 points lower — scores move for reasons beyond disputes; the best outcome was +64 — an identity-theft case, which is exactly the kind of file disputes fix fastest
Debt-side outcomes
Settlements and plans, after-fee honest
Among settlement clients whose first settlement executed in 2025 (n = 96) — illustrative figures:
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Median settlement: 52¢ on the dollar before fees — about 61¢ after our fee
The before-fee number is the one settlement ads quote. The after-fee number is the one your budget lives with — and neither includes the possible 1099-C tax bill, which we estimate per offer.
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11 months to the first executed settlement
Nothing settles until savings accumulate. During those months, accounts stay delinquent, interest grows, and some creditors sue. That risk is real and we put it in writing before enrollment.
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9 additional clients were referred to bankruptcy attorneys instead of enrolling
When the math says a legal reset beats years of settlement grind, our job is a referral, not a pitch — even though referrals pay us nothing.
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Debt management plans
DMP clients: median APR on enrolled cards fell from 24.1% to 9.4%; typical payoff runs about 48 months; 63% of clients who start a DMP finish it — industry-wide many people drop out, and we won’t pretend otherwise.
Your file won’t match the median. Let’s read it.
Distributions describe crowds. The free review reads your three reports line by line and gives you a plan scoped to your file — with our honest odds attached.
Free means free — no card, no contract, no “activation.” Charging before work is done is illegal, and we wouldn’t anyway.