Is it important to know your credit score? Do lenders really pay attention to your credit score? The higher the better? The answers are yes, yes, and yes.
FICO (Fair Isaac COrporation) is most commonly used scoring for your credit. If you break the scoring down, 35% relates to paying your bills on time, 30% to the amount of debt you owe, 15% to the length of your credit history, 10% to credit accounts that you've recently opened, and 10%to the various types of credit used. (You can learn more about FICO by going to www.myfico.com. ) Technically you have three different FICO scores from the three major credit reporting groups: Experian, Equifax, and Transunion.
The higher your score, the better the interest rate you may get or bargain for, which could save you thousands of dollars over the life of a loan. You can check your own credit reports by using the free credit report available to all at "annualcreditreport.com". Checking these reports will show you your credit information but in most cases you'll have to enroll to get your credit score number. You may get a report from each of the three credit reporting agencies mentioned above each year for free. It is simple to do and well worth your time.
There are other credit reports online, but most require a fee and some are just scams, so stick with the above mentioned reporting groups.
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