Consumers will soon know the (credit) score

More than 160 million Americans would be able to learn their all-important credit scores at no charge — and with no strings attached — under a settlement by credit reporting giant TransUnion Corp. of a long-running class-action lawsuit. The agreement would entitle consumers to at least six months of a TransUnion monitoring service, giving them access to the latest information in their credit reports as well as their current scores at any time. The service also would notify consumers by e-mail of significant changes to their files, including reports of late payments or accounts opened in their names. The latter information could help thwart attempted identity theft. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-credit30-2008may30,0,1312903.story