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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK
What is Credit Score?
Aired January 24, 2003 - 06:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if you want to buy a house or take out a loan, the people you're borrowing from usually want to know if you'll be good for the money. They want to know your credit score. Well, what is that and how do you get one?
This morning Clark Howard, our pocketbook protector and author of "Get Clark Smart" fills us in for a perfect 10.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARK HOWARD, CONSUMER ADVOCATE: Annie from California has a question about something that I have talked about, about getting a free credit score. And, Annie, you're kind of an unusual American in that you have no debt account, no credit cards, nothing like that, and at the same time you want to go get your credit score.
Well, the reality is you may not have one. If you don't owe anybody any money at all, you may not have a report card on how you deal with credit. So you're not going to be able to go to that neat site I talked about, eloan.com, and get a free credit score.
And, by the way, remember this trick, if you go to eloan for that free credit score, make sure you only go for the credit score. Don't click for the thing to get a free credit report because it's really not free. Just the credit score is free. And for you, I would suggest, if you ever plan to own your own home or you want to be able to get a car loan, it's a good idea for you to get a credit card, use it responsibly, because you need to start to establish good credit in your name for when you want to apply for a loan. Because most lenders now only go by that three digit score, your credit score. They don't care who you are, just what's your score. And that's why you have to show a good report card in how you've dealt with credit.
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WHITFIELD: And Clark can answer your e-mail questions so send your questions to him here at daybreak@cnn.com. And check out his Web site at clarkhoward.com.
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