| According to Fair Isaac Corporation, the creator of the | | | | you can take steps to improve your score. |
| FICO credit score, the most widely used score and the | | | | The importance of credit on score changes cannot be |
| score used by the three credit reporting agencies, "An | | | | over emphasized. For instant, in its publication, |
| important time to check your FICO score is six months | | | | "Understanding Your Credit Score, Fair Isaac stated |
| or so before you plan a major purchase, such as a | | | | that a change in your score from say 720 to 550 can |
| car or home." Doing so "will give you time to verify the | | | | increase your interest rate on a mortgage loan and |
| information on your credit report, correct errors if there | | | | cause your monthly payment to go up by $459.00. |
| are any, and take actions to improve your FICO score | | | | That is a significant change! |
| if necessary." | | | | You should also perform credit on score monitoring |
| Credit score monitoring is required if you are to insure | | | | because your creditors are doing so. Many credit card |
| that when you are ready for credit, your credit score | | | | companies monitor your scores and if there is a |
| will be ready for you. It is important to distinguish | | | | change, the interest rate on your cards can increase. |
| between FICO scores and other scores on the | | | | Such a change can result in your paying more interest |
| market. Your FICO score is generated by Fair Isaac | | | | and less principal each month and that will cause your |
| for all three credit bureaus, although each agency calls | | | | credit balances to increase and probably result in a |
| the number by a different name. It is also the score | | | | further decrease in your credit score. As you can see, |
| relied upon by most creditors. Therefore, the score is | | | | there are critical reasons why you should check your |
| of vital importance but it can change rapidly. In addition, | | | | credit score regularly. |
| if your score goes down, you will need to know this so | | | | |