Unlike the law governing credit reports, lenders are not required to disclose credit scores to prospective borrowers.

The most widely used credit-scoring system is the"FICO"method, named for its provider, San Rafael-based Fair, Isaac and Co.

Fair, Isacc's stastical-modeling software crunches numbers from your credit report data to come up with a score, which represents a statistical evaluation of how likely you are to default on a loan. Scores range from a low in the 300s to a high above 800. The higher the score, the lower the probability you'll default.

The lender requests the score as part of the credit report it obtains from one or more of the three national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.

Some lenders rely more heavily upon credit scoring than others. Better lenders consider other factors. While credit-scoring can speed up your loan application, it can also cause it be be rejected -- when you least expect it.

Let's say you've never missed a mortgage payment, you've never been late on your credit cards and are generally considered a no-risk, A-1 credit consumer.

To make your loan application bullet-proof you decide to "fix" your credit rating by paying off some small balances on high-limit credit cards. You cancel those cards and shift the balance, thousands of dollars, onto fewer cards in an effort to show meaningful consolidation.

Your application is denied.

Suddenly canceling many cards with small balances and then shifting all the debt to fewer cards effectively raises the ratio of your unpaid balances to the maximum credit lines available on fewer cards. To the bloodless credit-scoring software, it appears as if your financial situation has tightened.

Likewise, you could score low for not having enough credit cards or for paying off a loan too quickly, but your credit report won't reveal how your credit behavior affects your credit score.

To the contrary, while your credit report appears pristine, you could have to pay a higher interest rate or, worse, you could be denied a loan -- all because you don't know the score.

"Credit scores affect how much consumers pay for a mortgage," noted Gail Hillebrand, staff attorney for Consumer's Union, which is co-sponsoring the legislation.

"Consumers deserve to know how lenders are evaluating their loan applications," she added.

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