Credit Scores: The SATs of Adulthood

1. Your credit score does not just affect loans. Check all of the following that are impacted by your credit score.

• Renting an apartment.

• Getting utilities without a deposit

• Getting a cell phone.

• Being seen by a doctor or at a hospital.

• Getting some jobs.

2. A credit score is:

• a ranking of all the credit card companies in which APRs are compared.

• a list of all the credit cards you are eligible for.

• a snapshot of your credit worthiness at one point in time.

• the sum of all your outstanding balances from any loans or credit cards that you have.

3. Which of the following is not a step that the credit rater takes when your score is requested?

• Adding or subtracting points from your score for each item that makes you more or less likely to repay a debt.

• Interviewing you to get a clear picture of your income, expenditures, and your future goals.

• Comparing your credit history to the credit history of consumers with similar profiles.

• Collecting information from the three major credit bureaus.

4. Check any of the following that are one of the major credit reporting bureaus.

• TransUnion

• Experian

• Transpiring

• Exterium

• Equifax

5. Why is it possible to have three different scores at one time?

• Experian and Equifax only collect data for the last 90 days.

• Some creditors do not report to all three agencies.

• Transunion only looks at credit card history and does not look at mortgages or installment loans.

• All three credit bureaus are trying to be the number one company for obtaining credit scores and therefore each do things differently to stand out.

6. True or False: Everyone is guaranteed one free report a year from each of the three major credit bureaus per the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

• True

• False

7. Which website is the only site authorized to provide you with your free credit report?

• www.creditkarma.com

• www.freecreditreport.com

• www.freecreditscore.com

• www.annualcreditreport.com

8. True or False: You can see your FICO score for free.

• True

• False

9. What is the range of the FICO score?

• 300 to 850

• 450 to 800

• 400 to 850

• 350 to 800

10. Which of the following is not important to the score of a typical borrower?

• How many accounts to you have and how much do you owe?

• How many and what types of credit accounts have you recently opened or applied for?

• Whether you come from a family that has bad credit?

• How many of each type of credit account to you have?

• How long have you had a credit report?