The Federal Reserve’s commentary on the new adverse action notice requirements directly addresses the issue of reporting a credit score when a bank used multiple scores, and it gives banks the choice of “disclosing any of the credit scores that it used” to comply with this requirement. See Final Rule, Equal Credit Opportunity, 67 Fed. Reg. 41597 (July 15, 2011).

Here is the full discussion from the Federal Register notice:

Multiple Scores

Some creditors may obtain multiple credit scores from consumer reporting agencies in connection with their underwriting processes. A creditor may use one or more of those scores in taking adverse action. Section 1100F of the Dodd-Frank Act only requires a person to disclose a single credit score used in taking adverse action.

When a creditor obtains multiple scores but only uses one in making the decision, the creditor must disclose the credit score that it used. Commenters asked what credit score or scores creditors should disclose when creditors use multiple scores in taking adverse action, for example, from different consumer reporting agencies. Section 1100F of the Dodd-Frank Act does not specify what credit score should be disclosed in such cases, but only requires a person to disclose a single credit score that is used by the person in making the credit decision. A creditor would comply with the statute by disclosing any of the credit scores that it used. The Board expects that creditors will have policies and procedures to determine which of the multiple credit scores was used in taking adverse action. For instance, a creditor could have policies and procedures specifying that: (1) When the creditor obtains or creates multiple credit scores but only uses one of those credit scores in taking adverse action, for example, by using the low, middle, high, or most recent score, the creditor would disclose that credit score and information relating to that credit score; and (2) when a creditor uses multiple credit scores in taking adverse action, for example, by computing the average of all the credit scores obtained, the creditor would disclose any one of those credit scores and information relating to the credit score.

Because credit scoring models may differ considerably in nature and the range of scores used, consumers would not necessarily benefit if they receive and try to compare multiple scores. Disclosing multiple credit scores could confuse consumers who do not understand the differences, which might lessen the value of the section 1100F disclosures. Moreover, section 1078(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to conduct a study of the different credit scoring systems, and whether these variations disadvantage consumers. The CFPB’s study might develop a record that could serve as the basis for reconsidering this issue in a future rulemaking.