After your weight and income, the most important number in your life is your credit score. So why is it so tough to come by?
If you want to use a credit card buy a car or a home, your credit score matters.
"The score is like the GPA, the grade point average of what is in your report," Consumer's Union spokesperson Norma Garcia said. "Not everyone is able to read their credit report and get an understanding of how that translates into that shorthand score that creditors are more likely to see than that whole credit report."
You are entitled to one free credit report a year from each of the three major agencies. They are available when you log on to annualcreditreport.com. Your credit score is a number based on those reports.
Most lending decisions are made because of the credit score, not the information behind it. That's why Consumer's Union has launched an effort to get you a free score along with your free report.
"We are talking about a free report from each of the free bureaus and the three bureaus have their own credit score produced from each of those bureaus whatever that score might be," Garcia said.
The credit card companies keep close track of your score. When it drops, your credit limit can drop too.
Credit.com told us then, par for the course
"They can come back and see that your credit score has gone down and apply even more negative changes to your account," Credit.com spokesperson Emily Davidson said.
Consumer's Union has set up a webpage with information on the effort to get a credit score for consumers and why it is so important.
