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The credit reporting firm Experian is the target of a California lawsuit that claims the company duped customers by selling them bogus credit scores.

The suit claims the company, through its Consumerinfo.com subsidiary, misled customers by selling them credit scores that are not the same ones used by lenders to evaluate customers for loans. The suit was filed in federal court on behalf of one borrower but is seeking class-action status.   “Consumers pay for these scores so they will know what lenders are evaluating before they apply for a car loan, a credit card, a mortgage, or other credit. It’s a shock when they learn the score they got from Experian was worthless, and not seen by any lender,” said Jason Hartley, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.   Consumerinfo.com operates the FreeCreditReport.com web site, which is widely known for a series of high-visibility advertisements encouraging consumers to keep tabs on their credit scores. The sit Full Post…

It’s a pretty vicious cycle—without a steady paycheck, unemployed Americans’ shaky financial situations can often plummet credit scores, especially since unemployment often pushes consumers to rely heavily on credit, or miss bills here and there, or even declare bankruptcy or foreclosure.

At the same time, employers are increasingly doing credit checks to screen job applicants. So if unemployment is worsening your credit, it may very well be the things that costs you a job.

According to a survey reported by CNN Money, 60% of employers currently use credit checks for at least some of their job openings, a big jump from the 35% of employers reported in 2003.

This is bad timing considering consumer credit scores have been reportedly sinking to new lows. 25.5% of consumers—nearly 43.4 million people—have a credit score of 599 or below. That mean

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