Lita Epstein is WalletPop's resident credit score expert. Write to her in the comments box below.

Many of the questions I receive relate to credit scores and how to improve them. There are many myths out there which I debunk below, but first let's take a look at what a credit is and who creates it. Actually there isn't just one type of credit score. The primary driving force behind most of them though is the Fair Isaac Corporation, known by most as FICO.

Each of the three credit reporting agencies has a score developed by FICO. Equifax's is called BEACON, TransUnion's is called FICO Risk Score and Experian's is called FICO II. Each one is tweaked slightly differently, so you'll find your credit score is not exactly the same at each agency, but scores are usually within 20 points of each other. If you find a greater difference, one or more of the credit agencies probably have inaccurate information in your credit file.

In addition to these three types of scores, there are new scores from Fair Isaac called NextGen. The names given to these new scores are Pinnacle (Equifax), FICO Risk Score (Experian) and Risk Score Next Gen (TransUnion).

That's not all. In addition to these scores there is scoring done for insurance companies and others designed for different types of businesses that set up a different set of parameters they want monitored. Insurance companies believe that people with a low credit score tend to file more claims, so in many states your insurance premiums can be higher if you have a low credit score.

I'm not sure how this myth got started, but it's one of the most harmful myths out there. The worst thing you can do to destroy your credit score is to file bankruptcy. A chapter 7 bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 10 years and can reduce your credit score by as much as 265 points.

Credit counseling will not negatively impact your credit score unless you get tied up with a scam artist who says he'll pay your bills and doesn't. The current credit score formula set by FICO (the primary credit scoring company) ignores references to credit counseling, which means counseling doesn't help or hurt your credit score. A successful credit counseling program that reduces your debt will help your score.

Credit counselors can negotiate lower interest rates and work out payment plans with your creditors to help get you out of debt. If you do decide to work with a credit counselor be sure to sign up with a non profit counselor. The best way to find a good counselor is to use the resources of the National Foundation for Credit Counselors. On its website you will find information on what to expect from credit counseling and a tool for locating a credit counselor near you. Even if you don't think you're ready for a debt management program, a good credit counselor can help you get a handle on your debt.

Lita Epstein has written more than 20 books including the "Complete Idiot's Guide to Improving Your Credit Score."

Lowering your credit limits definitely will not help your credit score. In fact in most cases this request will likely hurt your credit score. That's because credit scoring companies use what's called the debt utilization ratio.

The way this works is that the credit card company will total all your credit limits. Then it will total your outstanding debt. Suppose you have $20,000 total credit available to you on four cards of $5,000 each. You carry a total of $6,000 in debt on those cards. The debt utilization ratio would be 30% ($6,000/$20,000).

Now suppose you close one of those cards and your total credit available is $15,000 but you still have $6,000 in debt. Now your debt utilization ratio would go up to 40% ($6,000/$15,000). That move could actually lower your score by 50 to 100 points because it looks like you're getting yourself into deeper credit trouble when the credit scoring agency computers calculates the debt utilization score.

If you want to improve your credit score, don't close cards, but do pay down your debt as quickly as possible. People with a debt utilization score of 10% to 20% get the best credit scores as long as they are paying their cards on time.

You do need to use credit cards even if you pay them off each month. If you don't have a credit history you'll find it very hard to get a major loan when you need one.

Lita Epstein has written more than 20 books including the Complete Idiot's Guide to Improving Your Credit Score.

Sometimes when you apply for a loan for a major purchase, such as a mortgage, you're told you can improve your credit score if you close some of your credit cards. Don't believe it. In fact, sometimes when you close an older card you can actually cause your credit score to go down.

Credit scoring agencies reward people who use credit wisely. As long as you pay your bills on time and don't rack up balances to max out all your revolving credit cards, your credit score won't be hurt by having a lot of unused credit lines. The best scores go to people who use credit moderately over a long period of time, so the older the cards the better.

Also, credit scoring agencies calculate the total credit available to you (the total of all your credit limits). They then calculate the percentage of debt you have outstanding on all those credit cards (total debt/total credit limits). This is called the debt utilization ratio.

In fact you could be someone who pays their cards in full each month, but because those payments are made after the report has been sent to the credit reporting agency your outstanding debt looks higher than it is. If you're trying to improve your credit score, pay your outstanding debt before the credit card company reports. Reports are usually sent monthly right after the end of a billing cycle. So, check out the amount due on your cards and pay the outstanding amounts before actually being billed. If you do this for a few months before applying for a mortgage you should see a nice improvement in your credit score because your debt utilization ratio will be much lower.

If a mortgage lender does ask you to close some cards, close the newest ones not the oldest ones or your score will actually go down rather than up.

Lita Epstein has written more than 20 books including the Complete Idiot's Guide to Improving Your Credit Score.