As parents, my husband and I are constantly setting examples for our two young children. While we both want to instill values like kindness and integrity, neither of us had thought about financial responsibility until we decided to move from our rental in the city to our first home, and realized that our credit score wasn't exactly where we wanted it to be. Both of us were employed full-time and were still paying off college and grad school loans. We were generally responsible people, but with so much debt to handle who wouldn't be late on a payment now and then? When we tried to take a closer look at our credit report to figure out how to get back on track, we got even more confused. We wondered if we should wait on our dream of owning our own home. Thankfully, my sister told me about Lexington Law, a credit repair firm that addresses credit issues and represents clients in fighting for fair and accurate credit reports. If we were going to show our kids how to take charge of their finances, this seemed like a good first step.

I assumed that a credit report would of course be completely accurate, but when I consulted with a Lexington Law attorney, I learned that nearly 80% of credit reports contain errors. I had always thought that credit reports were static, so was also surprised to learn that these errors can be addressed and corrected. I was astounded! Apparently, credit reports are often riddled with inaccuracies or contain credit listings that are unclear or misleading, all of which can have a negative effect on your credit score and your ability to secure the best loans for a home mortgage or car. While anyone can dispute their credit listings, the system is so complicated and specialized that many people don't get very far before hitting a wall or simply giving up. Neither my husband nor I work in law or finance, so knew we would benefit from expertise.

So, we decided to have Lexington Law look at our report, and they gave us a credit score improvement analysis with ways to improve our score over time. They also managed to dispute negative items on our report, and after just 4 months, we got 8 items removed —which made a huge difference. The whole process was incredibly easy, and the Lexington Law experts really did the heavy lifting for us. What my husband and I appreciated the most was the professionalism and knowledge of our attorney. She was easy to deal with over the phone and explained everything we needed to know clearly and competently. We walked away learning more about how to plan for our family's financial future.

Plus, with a much stronger credit score and a concrete plan to continue improving, my husband and I are well on our way to securing a home mortgage with an interest rate we can feel good about. We've even started meeting with real estate agents to look at homes in our dream town, in an amazing school district. Now, when we teach our kids about the importance of credit, I'm confident that we'll have some wisdom of our own to pass down.

Update: Lexington Law is offering our readers a free credit repair consultation, which includes your FREE credit report summary and score. You can follow this link, or call 1-844-572-9254to take advantage of this no-obligation offer.

Call anytime between 7am and 11:59pm EST to get your free credit report and score!