Guides to reading the public record sources that appear in every company research guide — BBB profiles, Trustpilot ratings, federal court records, and CFPB complaints.
Quick Answer: CourtListener.com is a free federal court records database run by the nonprofit Free Law Project. RECAP is a free browser extension that automatically adds PACER documents to CourtListener so everyone can access them at no cost. Together they give you searchable access to millions of federal lawsuits, class actions, government enforcement actions, and …
Quick Answer: PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) is the U.S. federal government’s official court records system. Registration is free at pacer.gov. Searching case dockets is free. Downloading documents costs $0.10 per page, capped at $3.00 per filing — and new accounts receive a $30 fee waiver. PACER is the authoritative source for every …
Quick Answer: A BBB letter grade measures whether a company follows the BBB’s complaint process — not whether the company actually delivers good service, resolves problems to customer satisfaction, or has been sued. Consumer lawsuits carry zero weight in the grade formula. A company can have an A+ rating with hundreds of complaints and billions …
Quick Answer: Trustpilot scores are routinely manipulated. Companies pay Trustpilot for tools that let them selectively invite happy customers to review — while unhappy ones are ignored. The real signal is in the 1-star reviews, the timing patterns, the reviewer profiles, and what sources that actually can’t be gamed — the CFPB complaint database and …
Quick Answer: Before signing with any debt relief company, verify their physical address, state licensing, and owner backgrounds. Demand written performance data, compare contract terms to verbal promises, and check for complaints with the CFPB, BBB, and your state attorney general. If a company won’t answer these questions, walk away.📅Last Updated: February 2026 — licensing …
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