Are debt settlement and credit repair companies actually legit, or should I avoid them?

Seeing a lot of ads for companies that promise to 'settle my debt for less' or 'repair my credit fast.' Are these worth using?

Treat this category with real skepticism. Debt settlement companies typically have you stop paying your creditors entirely and instead pay into a fund, while they (eventually) negotiate lump-sum settlements — but in the meantime your accounts go delinquent, your credit takes a hit, you may face collection calls and lawsuits anyway, and you often owe the company sizeable fees regardless of whether they actually settle anything. It doesn't always work out worse than the alternative, but it's genuinely high-risk and not something to sign up for from a cold ad. Credit repair companies that promise to remove accurate negative information from your credit report generally can't legally do what they're implying — anything they can do (formally disputing genuinely inaccurate items), you can do yourself for free directly with the credit bureaus. A real warning sign either way: any company demanding payment before doing any work is against federal law for credit repair services specifically. A free or low-cost nonprofit credit counseling agency is usually a safer starting point than a for-profit debt settlement or credit repair company.