Quick Credit Fixes Can Be Risky

The people behind the credit-boosting methods certainly cite noble goals as their motivation.

"We are helping them keep their house," says TradeLine Solutions' CEO Ted Stearns; Platinum Marketing's Mike Anderson, who also brokers home loans, says, "My motivation is to help them out and get them their mortgage."

Instant Credit Builders and Seasoned Trade Lines didn't respond to requests for comments.

Stearns adds that many borrowers who got tricked into mortgages they didn't understand now face payment increases of up to 50% and often can't refinance. The borrowers having trouble "are people who a few years ago would never have defaulted."

It isn't just risky mortgages that have created demand for these services, either. Many people believe the consumer credit-rating agencies, such as Equifax(EFX Quote), Experian and TransUnion, have a lot of out-of-date, inaccurate information on credit reports that has the potential to lower a given borrower's credit score unfairly.

The agencies deny that charge.

"It has always been our objective to accurately reflect a consumer's credit health," says David Rubinger, a spokesman for Equifax in Atlanta. TransUnion expressed similar sentiments, while Experian representatives could not be reached for comment.

The process of boosting credit scores is called "piggybacking," and TradeLine uses two different varieties of it, Stearns says.

One method is to add a consumer to someone else's account as an authorized user. Authorized users are normally spouses, children or business partners, but would-be borrowers can be added to a stranger's account via TradeLine, for a fee.