If you apply for a mortgage, the lender has to give you a credit score. However, and this is a neat trick, they don’t have to show you the credit score that they actually used to process your loan. For instance, they could have used the credit score from Experian to qualify you but then turn around and show you the score from Trans Union because that one justifies a higher interest rate.

Mortgage lenders are the only people who are obliged to help you check credit score. Every other method involves paying a fee.

Even when you pay a fee, there are a number of hoops you have to jump through to get this very important piece of data about your financial health.

MyFico is the website that can give you an official report as it is run by Fair Isaac, the data collection company. First you will fill out a fairly complicated form that requires a lot of personal data. Then you will have to look at several offers for products and services before you are allowed to proceed.

Once you have agreed to the terms and conditions and made a payment, you have to confirm your identity by mail.

Fair Isaac offers a monthly or quarterly monitoring service that will update you on any changes in your credit score for an additional fee.

Other companies also allow you to check credit score for a fee. For instance, many companies give a one time report of the three major bureaus for $40 to $75. Shop around for the best rate.

Other companies will give you a “free” credit report if you buy a product or service. These offers are similar to the $100 “free” gift certificates to restaurants or the “free Personal Computer” when you buy things that you probably don’t need or want.

Unfortunately, your score influences many aspects of your life, but you have no good way to check credit score. When Congress passed the law that you are entitled to a free credit report each year, they overlooked the importance of the credit score itself. As a result, consumers are at the mercy of the data collectors.

Consider that Fair Isaac, Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union offer one product – your financial data. This should mean that you have some say in how it is processed. At the very least, you should know what they are doing with it.

By keeping consumers in the dark, they make it very difficult to check credit score.

2. Leasing an apartment – Landlords run your credit when they are deciding whether to lease you an apartment or house. That’s because it is very expensive to evict a tenant. They look at other factors besides your score such as past rental history, but you should know where you fall on the credit score range before filling out a lease application.

3. Getting your utilities turned on – The electric company is interested in whether you pay your credit card bills because that is a good indicator of whether you’ll pay them. If you have a score in the low credit score range, be prepared to pay a hefty deposit to get your utilities turned on at a new place.

4. Obtaining a cell phone – It seems like everyone has a BlueTooth attached to their ears today. But if your score falls into the low credit score range, you can say goodbye to any kind of phone unless you have a co-signer. People can rack up huge bills calling and texting their friends, so the cell phone companies want to make sure that you can pay your bills.

5. Getting life or home insurance – This one is odd. There seems to be an inverse relationship between bad credit and good risk for insurance companies. Nobody is sure why it exists, but insurance companies are starting to pull credit reports to determine if you qualify for their products and at what rates. People who have bad credit sometimes pay 150% more than people with good credit on their car insurance.

6. Starting a business – Many people who start a business need small business loans or personal lines of credit. In this depressed economy, more people want to start their own business rather than risk taking a job with a company. But, if you have a number in the low credit score range, you could have problems getting the loan to start your business.

7. Okay, so you’ve decided that the financing is not there to start a business, so you hit the classifieds looking for a job. But, after you go on several interviews that you thought went well, you still haven’t landed a position. It may be that the economy is tough right now. But it could also be that your low credit score is dragging you down. Employers are increasingly looking at credit scores to determine whether individuals would make responsible employees.

So, there you have seven examples of how high and low credit score ranges can affect your life.

Most economists predict, and it would seem reasonable, that the average credit score is going to begin falling sometime soon. As unemployment rates increase and underemployment becomes more prevalent, and as the downward trend in investments continues, average credit scores are very likely to drop, simply because people who would otherwise be very focused on paying their bills in a timely fashion may simply be unable to do so.

If you can, though, you should work hard to protect your credit rating; banks and other lenders are becoming more and more picky about whom they will allow to borrow money, and the terms for less-than-perfect credit are getting more stringent. For example, six years ago, I got divorced and bought a house. My credit score was slightly below the average credit score at that time – about 685. I qualified, however, for great terms, because at that time, low interest rates were awarded to people with a rating of 680 or better.

Six years later, with all personal circumstances being the same, I would not qualify for that 5% mortgage, as most lenders in my area are requiring a score of 750 or more to get the best rates. That is a jump of seventy points, so as you can see, it is even more important that you keep your credit history clean, make sure your report is accurate, and work to keep your score as high as you can.

So where do you stand? The average credit scores are highest in Vermont, Minnesota, Massachusetts, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Montana. The average credit scores in all of these states is 700 or higher.

The average credit scores are lowest in Texas, Louisiana, West Virginia, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, and Alabama. All of these states have average credit scores in the 660’s and 670’s.

Next, pay down your debts. Unless you use your credit card solely as a convenience and pay it off in full each month, try to find ways to use your credit card less. Part of the formula that determines your credit score ratings includes what is known as the “credit utilization ratio.” If you have less than 50 percent of your available revolving credit used, you are doing good. Anything more than that and it could be hurting your credit. So, decide that you are going to pay cash for more items and put a bigger portion of your budget to paying down existing debt.

Next, you should avoid the mistake of closing old credit accounts. Part of the credit score ratings is how long you’ve had credit. If you opened a credit card account in college but you’re not doing anything with it now because you have cards with better rates or rewards, keep the old college card open. It will show that you have had – and have managed – credit for a very long time. Shutting down old cards also lowers the total amount of credit that you have available which, in turn, lowers the credit utilization ratio.

If you are in trouble with your finances, my next tip is for you. You shouldn’t be afraid to go into credit counseling if you are in over your head. A non profit agency can negotiate with your debtors and set up a debt repayment plan that is actually feasible for you. While working with a credit counseling service used to affect your credit score, 3 years ago, Fair Isaac discontinued penalizing consumers for using these services.

Finally, if you are trying to increase your credit score ratings, do everything you can to stay out of bankruptcy court. One commentator called bankruptcy the “nuclear bomb” for your credit score. Bankruptcies stay on your credit record for 10 years. (Every other type of bad credit mark falls off after 7 years.) Almost always, people who file for bankruptcy end up with credit scores below 620. That means that they only credit they can get is from predatory lenders who know that the people can’t bankrupt again for another 7 years. They squeeze out high interest rates from these people.

So, if you are concerned about your credit, follow these 5 tips and you will soon have better credit score ratings.