DENVER -- If you are buying a car, getting a mortgage, or looking for a loan of any kind you are likely to hear three words that will give you pause.

Consumer Champ Bill Clarke says "Your Credit Score" is a lot like "double secret probation" from the movie "Animal House."

It all boils down to how deeply in debt you are. Credit cards, charge accounts, and mortgages tell the story.

Some years ago, a company called Fair Isaacs created something called the "FICO score." It has since become a standard of the lending industry.

FICO gives a number for certain details of your credit history. How many accounts you have, the credit limit on each one, and any late payments in the last few years.

The trouble is, the way the score is computer is a deep, dark secret.

Timely payments count for 35 percent of the score, total debt load is another 30 percent. But the FICO score is based on your credit reports gleaned from the big three credit-reporting agencies.

But, according to one study, about one in three credit reports has information that's wrong.

Clarke paid $45 to check his FICO score and to get the three credit reports on which it is based. Two reports showed a score of 772 and the third score was 758. All three showed charge accounts that have long since been canceled.

Rule number one: check all three credit reports for errors. Then, pay down your credit card bills so they're below 30 percent of the limit. And, if some accounts show you maxxed out, check the store or bank to find out what their credit reporting policies are.

To take some of the mystery out of your credit score, visit www.myfico.com or read an informative report on your credit rating.