Below is a guest column from Jay Robins, who is often referred to as “America’s #1 credit expert.” His opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Foreclosure.com or its staff. He will lead an enlightening webinar later this evening called “How To Save $100,000 On Your Mortgage.” Read below to find out what it’s all about and to register for the educational session.

Over the past 10 years, I’ve worked with thousands of people to get them the credit they need to buy the homes they really want. Today, I start with this warning:

If you’re hoping to qualify for a trustworthy lender’s best-value mortgage in 2011 or 2012, you will need to work at improving your credit score, even if you always pay your bills on time. And if you’ve had a short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy, you will need to work even harder.

But you can quickly build it up again if you know how to play the game like a professional.

Ever since the real estate meltdown, the big lenders and the three major credit bureaus that service them have come up with practices to reduce lender risk at any cost to consumers. This new bag of tricks contains a nasty surprise for home buying or mortgage re-financing— your mortgage credit score, as reported by the “Big Three” credit bureaus, may have been downgraded without your knowledge.

And new rules put you in catch 22 trap that can guarantee one of two outcomes: You will pay more (a lot more) in monthly payments and closing costs and/or you may not qualify for a fairly-priced mortgage at all.

Here are just three of the “Worst 2011 Mortgage Credit Score Traps:”

Trap #1: Your Mortgage Credit Score Is Not Your Consumer Credit Score

You pull your own credit score exactly as the “Big Three” credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — urge you to do, paying them a fee, of course. But the credit score your lender sees is a different, lower number. (A client just referred to me this month by a very decent lending officer was suddenly disqualified for the mortgage she wanted for this exact reason, until I helped her quickly raise her score.)

Trap #2: Creditors Slash Your Credit Lines For No Fault Of Your Own

Banks can panic and cut your credit lines without warning. Say your credit card lines have been cut in half. Now your conservative debt of, say, 30 to 40 percent of your credit lines have jumped overnight to a “dangerous” 60 to 80 percent debt-to-credit ratio. The credit bureaus mathematical “algorithms” respond to this new debt load by automatically lowering your credit score.

Trap #3: Lender Rules Automatically Lower Your Score When It Matters Most

A client had a 660 credit score to qualify for a government-backed mortgage, so was pre-approved. But the lender applied the perfect catch 22. Its rules dictated that his credit report be pulled again five days before the closing. The act of pulling his score again lowered his score by 20 points as a “new inquiry,” which meant the lender rejected him for the mortgage.

You couldn’t make this stuff up. But I have two remedies to offer, right now, to put you back in control of your credit score.

First, join my Webinar this evening, Thursday, June 23, at 8:30 p.m. ET called “How To Save $100,000 On Your Mortgage,” at the invitation of Linda Yates, Education Director for the most authoritative real estate website for consumers, Foreclosure.com.

Be sure to sign up now before the registration window closes — spots are limited and filling up fast. Click here.

You can beat an unfair system.

Because my business — my only business — is showing you exactly how to boost your credit score. This Webinar will help you focus on what you can do, how you can do it legally, and when you should do it for optimal results.

Join me tonight and, together, we’ll get you the credit score you need to buy the home you really want.