Credit restoration is a process that consumers can use to address and correct information listed in their credit records that do not meet the standards of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Federal Trade Commission requires that credit bureaus report information according to policies and standards that the commission sets.

You, the consumer, also have the protection of your State Attorney General's Office to assist you when it comes to protecting yourself against companies and individuals attacking your creditworthiness. Contrary to what most consumers believe, credit bureaus do not collect information about your use of credit; they report what they are paid to report by creditors, also known as subscribers, with whom you established credit.

This is where the chain of information could be corrupted. People make mistakes; that is a fact, and some mistakes are worse than others are. To protect yourself from a mistake that could affect your credit in a negative way, you should check your credit records. Some obvious reasons there are mistakes are if you are a senior or junior, if you have the same name as someone in your family that may have lived at the same address, or if you have moved and noticed that all of your mail is not being forwarded.

Then there are the not so obvious reasons like your parents or siblings are using your name without your knowledge, which is fraud, but in most cases, you will not file fraud charges against your family. Credit restoration will aide you in removing information from your credit records that you did not establish, and aide you in correcting information listed inaccurately about your use of credit with the reporting subscribers. By taking, the time to review your credit records you are insuring yourself of the best possible credit profile and credit scores associated with your use of credit. We have found that consumers exercising their rights to challenge information that they do not agree with are often mailed letters from the credit bureaus suggesting that they are wasting their time and that nothing can be done to delete or correct information in their credit records.

What consumers have to keep in mind is that the letter is coming from a company that is trying to protect their income and creditability. You have the right to do the same!