The whole credit score thing is a big mess. I didn’t have to deal with my credit score until I recently bought my first house. Even though my credit score was high, Experian had mixed up all of my sister’s stuff into mine (which actually made my score higher because her credit score is even better). I still fail to see how we were mixed up because we have never shared anything other than the same last name. Regardless, I could not secure a mortgage with this obvious problem on my credit. In the end, I had to PAY Experian to fix it. The whole thing is extortion pure and simple.