Credit scores are not universal. In other words, you could pull your credit score from all three credit bureaus and find that they not only don't match each other, they won't match the FICO score that your lender accesses.

"This is becoming a real problem -- a lot of people simply don't know the difference between FICO scores and other scores," said Ginny Ferguson, co-owner of Heritage Valley Mortgage of California. "They think it's all the same."

Many borrowers meet the lender, only to find that their FICO scores are 50 to 100 points lower than the generic score found online.

Credit scores are often referred to as FICO scores. This is actually a company, Fair Isaac Corp., which developed the scoring system used by the mortgage industry. FICO scores range from 300 to 850. The higher a borrower's score, the less of a risk they pose to the lender.

There are several different types of commercial scoring models available through the internet. However, most lenders will use only FICO scores to price their mortgages and loans.

Many borrowers are surprised when they go to the lender with a generic score, to find the lender says their FICO is much lower.

"The consumer assumes the broker did something to make their scores worse," said Ferguson. "And, of course, that is not the case."

Ferguson says that the typical FICO score is below that of the generic internet score. She says that despite what is found on the internet, the lender will go with the FICO reported by their source.

Fair Isaac has started taking notice of the disparities. In it's own research, it found that FICO scores can be as much as 200 points lower than other scoring models.

Many credit scoring sites contain fine print that points out that the score is not "a FICO score." Others say that they are an example of how you could be viewed by a lender.

Advisors say that keeping track of your credit score is an important aspect of financial management. Consumers should understand that most scores are just an estimate of where they are credit-wise.