Whether you’re applying for a job or looking for love, rejection is painful, particularly when you aren’t given a reason for the rebuff. “It’s not you, it’s me” doesn’t count.

But soon, when a lender rejects your request for a loan, it will be required to tell you why. The financial reform bill President Obama is expected to sign this week requires lenders to give customers who have been turned down for a loan a copy of the credit score used to make that decision. Lenders will also be required to give you a free credit score if you’re offered a loan with a higher interest rate than the rate offered to borrowers with excellent credit.

The requirement won’t be limited to lenders. You’ll be entitled to receive a copy of your credit score any time it results in an “adverse action” against you, which could include everything from a higher auto insurance premium to a landlord’s refusal to rent you an apartment.

The law doesn’t require credit bureaus to give you a copy of your credit score when you order your free credit reports from www.annualcreditreport.com. That will disappoint a lot of consumers who want to know where they stand, even if they’re not applying for a loan.

Nonetheless, the new requirement will benefit consumers, says John Ulzheimer, director of consumer education for Credit.com.

FREE REPORT: You can and should check your credit profile for free
NOT-SO-FREE REPORT: Rule helps consumers avoid free credit reports that aren’t

The problem with mandating free credit scores for everyone is that lenders and credit bureaus use lots of different scores to evaluate borrowers, Ulzheimer says.

While the FICO score is the most widely used score, some lenders also use another score model known as the VantageScore. In addition, the credit bureaus have their own proprietary scores, which some sell to consumers.

The law ensures that when you’re turned down for a loan, or suffer an adverse action, you’ll receive the exact score that was used to make that decision, Ulzheimer says.

Once lenders start providing scores, many consumers may be surprised by what they see, Ulzheimer predicts.

“A lot of people make the assumption that as long as they’re making minimum payments (on credit cards) they have good credit,” he says. “I think this is going to remove any shadow of a doubt as far as where they stand creditwise.”

New data from FICO show that in April, 25.5% of consumers — more than 43 million people — had FICO scores of 599 or lower. That’s up from 24.1% in April 2008.

Consumers with sub-600 scores typically have serious blemishes on their credit records, such as foreclosure, bankruptcy or multiple payments that were delinquent by more than 90 days. Once your score falls below 600, it’s nearly impossible to get a loan, and rehabilitating your credit could take years, Ulzheimer says.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy, in which you agree to repay your debts over three to five years, stays on your credit record for seven years. Chapter 7, which eliminates most debts, stays on your credit report for 10 years. Foreclosure remains on your report for seven years.

That doesn’t mean that you’ll be barred from obtaining credit until these items are removed from your credit report, says Craig Watts, spokesman for FICO. Even consumers who have filed for bankruptcy can restore their credit score into the 600s in three or four years by paying their bills on time and maintaining low credit card balances, he says.

“You don’t have a big red B on your chest,” he adds. “You can outgrow the bankruptcy as long as you establish a credit habit that lenders and the credit score model can see.”

If your score has been depressed because of late payments, you can repair the damage in a year or two by scrupulously paying your bills on time, Watts says. The credit score model gives more weight to recent history, so the impact of delinquencies diminishes over time.

The FICO analysis also shows that 11.9% of consumers have scores of 650 to 699, down slightly from April 2008. Consumers in that group can still get credit — although at less favorable rates than borrowers with higher scores — but they’re in the danger zone, Ulzheimer says.

If you’re in that range, it’s important to take steps to improve your score so you’ll have access to credit in an emergency, he says. For most consumers, that means getting credit card debt under control.

“If you’re at 650 or 680, you’re in the frying pan, but you’re not in the fire,” Ulzheimer says. “But you’re one incident or event away from being in the fire.”