Good credit is worth the price?

You decide whats best

This is a real story, it may not be the case today, but it's the truth as to how one man got his dream home.

Only a low credit score and some free grant money stood between Alipopo Estriemamer and a mortgage to buy a $449, 000 Spanish-style house in Weston, ng 100 metro areas for its foreclosure rate last year. Stop your foreclosure! a few miles west of Fort Lauderdale.

Instead of spending several years repairing his credit, which he said was marred by two forgotten cell phone bills and ID theft, the 37-year-old real estate agent paid $1, 800 to a Largo Internet company to bump up his score almost overnight.

The result was a happy ending for Estriemamer, Stop your foreclosure! but the growing practice is sending shivers through the mortgage industry. Federal regulators are reviewing the practice. Fair Isaac Corp., the developer of the widely used FICO score, said it will change its credit scoring system this year in a way it contends will end this little-known but potentially high-impact mortgage loan loophole.

Instantcreditbuilders.com, or ICB, of Largo helped Estriemamer boost his score by arranging for him to be added as an authorized user on several credit cards of people with stellar credit who were paid to allow this coattailing. The pitch to those who are essentially renting their credit history for pay: You don't need to worry about users of this service receiving duplicate copies of your credit cards, account numbers or any of your personal information.

Brian Kinney, 44, a retired Army officer in Glendale, California., pulls in more than $2, 500 a month by lending out 19 credit card spots on two old Citibank cards with strong payment histories. Kinney, whose FICO score is above 800 on the scale of 300 to 850, quit his job and uses the ICB income to tide him over until he starts his own insurance agency.

Lenders are worried, however, that they're taking on greater default risks by unknowingly offering lower interest rates than they otherwise would to applicants who artificially boost their credit scores.

Jason LaBossiere, who founded ICB a year and a half ago, said his company receives 100 to 150 new leads daily - a number that has been growing - and those inquiries lead to 10 to 20 new clients a week.

ICB charges $900 for the first credit card account, with a discount for additional ones. The cardholder allowing the piggybacking on his or her credit history can receive $100 to $150 per slot, depending on the age and credit limit of each card. ICB pockets the rest.

Once the credit card company files an updated report to credit bureaus - leading to a higher FICO score - the credit renter is removed from the account of the person allowing the piggybacking. However, the credit card's payment history remains on the authorized user's credit report forever.

Kinney, the retired Army officer in Californiaornia, said those borrowing his good credit history don't get his personal information, full credit card number or credit card expiration dates. Any sensitive data is handled through ICB, and Kinney adds the users himself by calling his credit card company. ICB destroys any duplicate cards that are issued to the credit renter, according to its contract.

Federal authorities have yet to rule on free grant money the practice. "What I've gathered from attorneys here is that it appears to be legal" technically, said Frank Dorman of FTC. "However, the agency is not saying that it is legal."

Instead of spending several years repairing his credit, which he said was marred by two forgotten cell phone bills and ID theft, the 37-year-old real estate agent paid $1, 800 to a Largo Internet company to bump up his score almost overnight.

The result was a happy ending for Estriemamer, but the growing practice is sending shivers through the mortgage industry. Federal regulators are reviewing the practice. Fair Isaac Corp., the developer of the widely used FICO score, said it will change its credit scoring system this year in a way it contends will end this little-known but potentially high-impact mortgage loan loophole.

Instantcreditbuilders.com, or ICB, of Largo helped Estriemamer boost his score by arranging for him to be added as an authorized user on several credit cards of people with stellar credit who were paid to allow this coattailing. The pitch to those who are essentially renting their credit history for pay: You don't need to worry about users of this service receiving duplicate copies of your credit cards, account numbers or any of your personal information.

Brian Kinney, 44, a retired Army officer in Glendale, California., pulls in more than $2, 500 a month by lending out 19 credit card spots on two old Citibank cards with strong payment histories. Kinney, whose FICO score is above 800 on the scale of 300 to 850, quit his job and uses the ICB income to tide him over until he starts his own insurance agency.

Lenders are worried, however, that they're taking on greater default risks by unknowingly offering lower interest rates than they otherwise would to applicants who artificially boost their credit scores.

Jason LaBossiere, who founded ICB a year and a half ago, said his company receives 100 to 150 new leads daily - a number that has been growing - and those inquiries lead to 10 to 20 new clients a week.

ICB charges $900 for the first credit card account, with a discount for additional ones. The cardholder allowing the piggybacking on his or her credit history can receive $100 to $150 per slot, depending on the age and credit limit of each card. ICB pockets the rest.

Once the credit card company files an updated report to credit bureaus - leading to a higher FICO score - the credit renter is removed from the account of the person allowing the piggybacking. However, the credit card's payment history remains on the authorized user's credit report forever.

Kinney, the retired Army officer in Californiaornia, said those borrowing his good credit history and free grant money don't get his personal information, full credit card number or credit card expiration dates. Any sensitive data is handled through ICB, and Kinney adds the users himself by calling his credit card company. ICB destroys any duplicate cards that are issued to the credit renter, according to its contract.

Federal authorities have yet to rule on the practice. "What I've gathered from attorneys here is that it appears to be legal" technically, said Frank Dormankovac of FTC. "However, the agency is not saying that it is legal."

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