A sharp rise in the delinquency of subprime mortgages has caused lenders to tighten up their standards and actually reject applications.

Should you attempt to refinance your present mortgage or seek a new mortgage, your credit score has become more critical to your loan approval.

Can it make a difference? Yes, it can make a significant difference in payment.

Fair Isaac, an acronym for Fair Isaac Company which is the most recognized authority in determining your personal credit score, gives this example of how your credit score can affect your monthly payments based on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for a $300,000 home loan:

A FICO score of 760 to 850 gets an interest rate of 6.298% and a monthly payment of $1,857.

A FICO score of 700 to 759 gets an interest rate of 6.520% and a monthly payment of $1,900.

A FICO score of 660 to 699 gets an interest rate of 6.804% and a monthly payment of $1,957.

A FICO score of 620 to 659 gets an interest rate of 7.614% and a monthly payment of $2,121.

A FICO socre of 580 to 619 gets an interest rate of 8.932% and a monthly payment of $2,399.

The difference between the best rating and the worst rating increases your monthly payment by $542, you pay $2,399 rather than $1,857

A credit score is a mathematical model that analyzes information in your credit report. Lenders use credit scores to gauge the likelihood that you will repay your debts.

So what determines your credit score? Payment history is 35%, the amount you owe is 30%, the length of credit history is 15%, new credit is 10% and the types of credit you are using is 10%.

You can obtain all three of your credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion at: http://www.annualcreditreport.com

You are entitled to a free copy of your credit reports annually but will not receive your credit scores for free. You will be pitched to pay for the right to receive your credit scores from the agencies. Many of the sales pitches for free credit reports at other web sites are no more than high pressure attempts to get you to pay for the report by subscribing to any number of services that you neither need nor want.

Should you type in http://www.freecreditreport.com, for example, you will be taken to an Experian web site that will give you a free credit report for their service only IF you are willing to be subscribed to a service they offer for $14.95 a month. Experian invites you to "Join Over 20 Million Customers who have already checked their FREE Experian CREDIT REPORT."

Multiply $14.95 per 20 million per month and it adds up to $299 million in monthly revenue if the cardholders continue the service. Multiply $299 million in monthly revenue times 12 months and it adds up to $1.588 trillion in annual revenue for Experian.

There are two things very wrong with Experian's offer. First, and foremost, the credit report IS NOT FREE unless you subscribe to a service I would neither need nor want.

Experian's marketing formula for writing a sales pitch is hardly unique. Almost any marketer can open his or her e-mail tomorrow and read the same formula repeated in 100 different sales pitches for another opportunity to provide a product, service, or attend a seminar. The pitch will be in English, the language will be in doublespeak.

Second, the large headline above the button to get your report says "GET YOUR FREE CREDIT SCORE AND A WHOLE LOT MORE!" The inducement is misleading. It does not say get your free credit report, it says get your free credit score. You get your report and your credit score and some other services only by agreeing to sign up for the $14.95 a month service.

Someone eager to get their free report will hit the button for their free credit report and unwittingly subscribe to a service they neither need nor want. You must read the fine print on the page to know the difference.

This kind of inducement by Experian is hardly clear, straightforward, honest, ethical or anything else good; it is bad and wrong. The fact that advertisers can even do this legally is disturbing and obviously not regulated.

Do not, I repeat DO NOT, respond to any other online pitches for your free credit report other than http://www.annualcreditreport.com (this is the government-mandated site) or you may be ripped off by an industry that is neither helpful nor trustworthy. Credit card reporting agencies are always giving poor, difficult customer service, making shyster offers and responding poorly when removing incorrect information from your credit report.

They are paid by businesses to only find and record any negative information about you. They could care less whether you drop dead on their front steps as long as they relieve you or your money first.

(Note: This is Part 1 of a 3-Part Series.)