Free credit score law could help consumers, while debt consolidation can lower credit card bill

Having high credit card debt or being late on payments can lead to lower a person's credit score.

However, the actual affect of these actions may not be known to consumers, as they have to pay a fee to get access to their score. This may change with a law proposed by Mark Udall, a Democratic senator from Colorado.

Through the Fair Access to Credit Scores Act, Udall wants to make scores available to consumers when they gain access to their credit report. Federal law already mandates that people have access to a free report from the three bureaus every 12 months.

"These free reports include information such as the number and credit lines of open accounts, as well as consumers' repayment, loan and employment histories, but not the score number that banks, lenders and even employers rely on so heavily," Udall said.

Consumers who have high credit card debt will find that their credit scores are affected negatively. However, an option they may consider is debt consolidation, which can lower the amount of interest people pay. It can also make it easier to pay off debt by reducing multiple statements into one.ADNFCR-2800-ID-19743092-ADNFCR