There is an institution in today's society that impacts everything from your ability to buy a house, get approved for car insurance, and land a job with certain organizations. It's an element that affects each and every adult in the United States but it is something rarely addressed during formal education and is not well understood by a huge percentage of the people it affects.

What we're talking about here is the modern credit system. This is the system where credit reporting companies (credit bureaus) receive, organize and store personal and financial information about consumers provided by a variety of sources that is then sold to lenders, employers, and others. This information is then used to make decisions about whether or not you are a dependable, credit worthy individual.

After a short time dealing with banks,credit card providers and other lenders, most people learn the basics of the credit system. They know that their credit files contain information about them and they know it is advantageous to maintain a high credit rating. They also learn through a constant bombardment from credit bureau advertisements that people can order copies of their credit reports. But from there, functional knowledge of credit dropps off and many of the things people believe to be true are in actuality incorrect or flawed representations of the facts.

Many do not know how a credit score is calculated, what steps they can take to raise their credit rating, the myriad of resources they have for disputing questionable credit listings, and how the law protects their right to receive fair treatment from credit bureaus, creditors, collections agencies, and credit repair companies.

Whether by accident or through design, much like how the pigs exerted control in Animal Farm, this lack of knowledge leaves people at the mercy of the organizations whose revenues are connected to consumer credit. When left unchecked, even the most reputable companies will err in favor of generating more money. As a result there are people are paying excessive interest rates that pad the pockets of lenders because these people are not informed enough about credit to do anything about it. They are permitting themselves to be taken advantage of by companies who are taking more of their money than is reasonable.

The more people understand about the credit system, the more empowered they become. Consumer credit is a powerful and necessary tool in today's society, but as with all sources of power, it must be kept in check. Those people who understand how the system works are the ones who will be able to enforce their right to a fair and accurate credit score.

Lexington Law, the trusted leaders in credit repair, believes learning about your credit is the first step in improving it. To assist consumers, Lexington Law has provided credit education resources including videos, lawyer interviews, expert articles and more.