Conducted jointly with the National Credit Reporting Association, the Consumer Federation's study is by far the largest independent investigation of its type yet performed on credit file data in the U.S. Its findings ae expected to lead to new scrutiny by federal and state regulators on the quality of data maintained by the giant repositories.

Credit scores--typically called FICO scores after their developer, Fair, Isaac & Co., Inc--not only are used to evaluate mortgage applicants but also play key roles in credit card applications, auto insurance, real estate rental applications and employment applications.

The frequently large disparities in scores "reveals the importance of consumers being able to quickly learn and correct inaccuracies," said J. Robert Hunter of the Consumer Federation. "Creditors should be required to provide to consumers charged anything other than the best available rate, or denied credit, a copy of credit reports free of charge, and then reconsider their (rate quote) decision based on the corrections."

In an analysis of a sub-sample of files, the CFA found that 78 percent of all files were missing information on at least one credit account that had never been paid late, and 33 percent of all files were missing information on mortgage accounts that had never been paid late. Such omissions of positive information tend to depress mortgage applicants' scores artificially, and raise the interest rates they are asked to pay for their loans.

The study urged consumers to obtain their three repository files at least once a year--and well before any planned loan application--to make sure omssions and errors are corrected. The trade group that represents the three repositories--the Consumer Data Industry Association--agreed that the new study raises some 'legitimate issues' about credit scoring, but said it would need to review the degree of variability of information on file at the repositories on its own.