Get Your Credit Report & Score

What is your credit score?

If you’re like many Americans, you probably can’t name your credit score off the cuff. That’s a shame, because your credit score is one of the most important pieces of information in your financial file. Potential lenders look to your credit score when deciding whether or not to give you a line of credit, including a mortgage, home refinancing, credit cards and other loans. Employers, landlords, insurance companies and mobile phone carriers may also consider your credit score when doing business with you.

Your credit score is expressed as a number, and is based on a specific mathematical formula. Though different lenders may rely on different formulas, each formula is calculated using the information in your credit report. A credit report is a record of your borrowing and repayment history. Typically, a credit score is based on five main factors: your payment history; your total debts owed; the length of your credit history; the amount of new credit you’ve opened; and the type of credit you’re using.

Each of the three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – maintains their own credit report and score. FICO, another common score, is primarily used by mortgage lenders.

Unfortunately, many credit reports contain at least one mistake. Thus, you should monitor your credit report on a regular basis in order to ensure that the information is correct and current. By law, each of the three credit bureaus must provide you a free copy of your credit report once per year. Should you wish to track your credit reports more closely, there are a number of web-based services that provide you additional access to your credit report and score. Many of these also offer different tools to help you track and improve your report.

So...what is your credit score?