Biography I was born and raised in New England, where I worked for many years as a real estate paralegal handling mortgage closings and all the complexities that come with buying, selling and refinancing homes. I once carried the belief that if I paid my mortgage on time, just as I did my other bills, my credit rating would paint a true and accurate picture of who I was –a hardworking ordinary person who always paid her bills on time. I would soon learn that that belief was just a myth. Read details I also believed that if there were errors on my credit report, all I had to do was provide proof that a debt was paid, or not owed, whichever the case may be, and it would be cleared up. That belief was soon shattered. I also came to realize that I wasn’t alone –it just felt that way. My countless attempts to correct my erroneous credit reports were futile and I was forced to turn to the judicial system for remediation and to other victims for the support and strength to wage this battle. When I discovered the real scope of the problem and its far-reaching effects, I knew immediately that the credit reporting system was seriously flawed –but I didn’t know quite how flawed. The problems within the credit reporting system itself have flourished over the years, along with their profits. Something is wrong with this picture. I was encouraged by consumers and advocates to write a book about the high price paid by consumers due to a broken credit and debt collection system and weak and eroding consumer protection laws. I never really understood the importance of doing so –until now. I hope that by sharing my story, it will inspire others to share theirs, in order to validate and humanize the true consequences paid by innocent consumers. For many years, I have been an outspoken advocate, committed to raising awareness to the plights of innocent consumers who, like me, have been forced to do battle with formidable adversaries. For those who have thus far avoided being caught up in the credit reporting system -and don’t yet see how big the problem really is, I hope that my life lessons will help to prevent this from happening to them, or at least lessen the impact if it does. I willingly admit that we, as a nation need both a credit reporting system and a debt collection system as well. But we need systems that work for us and not against us. I believe that our only hope is to stop the powerful –deep-pocket lobbyists from pushing through laws that protect their corporate clients’ profits, release them from accountability and ultimately, deny us the necessary consumer credit protection laws we deserve. Sloppy accounting practices by banks, department stores and credit bureaus have led to an epidemic of identity theft that has led to skyrocketing revenues for the credit industry. Victims, on the other hand, spend an average of 175 hours clearing their names of false or fraudulent information that causes them to be denied their rightful credit identity. My passion is to shed light on the truth – that our consumer protection laws and our rights are being ripped out from underneath us – and no one is noticing. My passion is fueled each day by heartbreaking letters from consumers who suffer enormous losses and who find themselves powerless to make their problems go away. After enduring a decade of mortgage accounting errors and erroneous credit, I mistakenly thought my troubles were over. But if that were true – Give Me Back My Credit would never have been written. Just when I thought my epic 10 year battle had come to a close and my credit had been restored, I soon discovered that bogus collection accounts were reflected on my credit report. That set off another grueling five year battle to restore my credit. It wasn’t until the enormity of the problem hit me that I finally decided to tell my story of the 15 consecutive years I spent trying to reclaim and maintain my true credit identity.