• Equifax

• Trans Union

• Experian

Your individual credit data will usually vary anywhere from slightly to quite a bit between these three companies. Therefore it is crucial that you know your data for all three. Some lenders will tell you which of the scores they use and this gives you an advantage up front since you should already know your score for that company. Other lenders will take an average of all three or some other method that they usually will describe to you if you ask them beforehand. Therefore, it is very beneficial to get a “3-in-1 credit” report with FICO score.

A credit score is created by quantitative algorithm made by a computer from data provided in your credit report. This data is compared and contrasted amongst all the other credit reports in the database. As you may imagine, this is a very large database!

These computer created algorithms combined with very large sample sizes produce scores that are very accurate in determining a person's probability of repaying a loan or not repaying a loan. The credit grade runs from a scale maximum of 850 and down to a low of 300. Most people will fall somewhere between 800 and 600.

According to Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), scores above 700 allow borrowers to get the best deals in terms of financing. Fair Isaac is the company that developed what is commonly called the FICO score and it is this score that has become the standard among lending institutions in determining a person's credit worthiness.

• How many late payments

• How severe were the payment problems

• Type of accounts

• Number  of accounts

• Bankruptcy

• Foreclosure

• Charge-offs

• Age of accounts

• Total debt

• Other public records