Credit Scores No a Longer a Secret By: KENNETH R. HARNEY SPECIAL TO THE TIMES WASHINGTON -- Want to know your credit score? Now you can. And, better yet, you can also understand it. Kept secret from home buyers and mortgage applicants for years, individual credit scores became readily available from Equifax for the first time this week. Click Here to Order Your own Credit Report with Fico Score-Check it online NOW! On Monday March 26th, 2001, the developer of the dominant credit scoring system-Fair, Isaac & Co.-teamed online with giant credit bureau Equifax to provide "FICO" scores and other personal credit information to consumers nationwide. FICO scores are what the majority of American mortgage lenders use to evaluate home loan applicants' creditworthiness. The scores are based on statistical models that analyze the electronic credit files maintained on virtually all adults in the United States and other countries. The scores range from the 400's to around 850, with higher scores indicating lower risk. Many lenders reserve their most favorable rates and fees for applicants in the upper FICO score ranges-700 and above. Mortgage applicants in the low 600s and below get progressively higher rate quotes and are charged higher loan fees. FICO scores, in other words, often determine what you pay for the money you borrow. Click here for Credit Report Tutorial Under long-standing contractual agreements among Fair Isaac and the three big national credit bureaus-Equifax, Trans Union and Experian-FICO scores were kept secret from consumers. But mounting consumer pressure-and state and federal legislative moves forced Fair, Isaac to rethink its policies late last year. California mandated disclosure of credit scores to all borrowers who request them beginning July 1. Federal legislation that would do the same thing is pending in both houses of Congress. This week's launch of what the two sponsoring companies call the ScorePower service should eliminate the controversy over FICO score secrecy. For $12.95, charged on a major credit card, anyone can now obtain not only an Equifax credit report online, but a current FICO score--accessible for 30 days! 000000 00 000 Checked your credit lately? Check it online NOW! To access your credit data, you'll have to pass through what Equifax Vice President J. Michael Cummins called an "interactive identity authentication process." The program asks a series of questions involving credit-file information-consumer loan balances, names of lenders, etc.-that only Equifax and the holder of the credit accounts would be able to answer. The authentication system is sophisticated enough to screen out someone holding another person's wallet, credit cards and Social Security number who is seeking illegal access to a credit file, Cummins said. With easy access to FICO scores now a reality, how might consumers use them? Cheri St. John, Fair Isaac's general manager, envisions a new level of consumer awareness about credit issues and improved management of household credit. "What we are hoping is that this will allow people to proactively manage their credit," said St. John. With the guidance available through the ScorePower service, people will know precisely how to raise their scores-by paying off balances on certain credit cards or even expanding their use of credit. The bottom line: At least for the time being, there's only one source for the real thing-the FICO score your mortgage lender uses to evaluate you. Anything else may be interesting and even educational. But it may not be relevant in the real world of mortgage lending.

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