Credit repair companies are notorious for making grand promises that they can’t legally fulfill. The Federal Trade Commission has warned that none of those companies are legitimate. Experts say that people with credit blemishes would be better off saving their money and trying to repair their bad credit themselves. One path to better credit involves the writing of so-called goodwill letters. A goodwill letter in this context is a formal message to individual creditors asking them for compassion and requesting that they stop reporting negative information such as late payments on one’s credit report. Discuss why writing such goodwill letters instead of calling or sending an e-mail might be a good strategy.