Good Credit for Sale

If you've got a bad credit score, don't worry one more minute. TradeLine Solutions, Inc. will sell you a better one. TradeLine's website explains that it will insert your name as borrower of record on a paid up mortgage, or assign to you a shelf corporation that's been aging long enough to have a credit history for scoring purposes.

Is this legal? In the FAQ page on the website, TradeLine explains: "Yes, it’s 100% legal. There are no laws prohibiting this practice. This technique has been used for many years by mortgage brokers, bankruptcy lawyers and real estate agents to help boost their client’s FICO scores. Our goal is to help you increase your score so that you can get financing at better terms and start saving money. " In a LA Times story over the weekend, Ted Stearns, the chief executive for TradeLine was a little more forthcoming. Stearns acknowledged that people will view his business as mortgage fraud. Not to worry, though. Though it's "possible" that his customers might face legal problems, "it is really hard to enforce the law."

Good luck with your business plan, Ted. A whole lotta lawyers read the LA Times and they don't take trash talk from the likes of you.

Hat tip to Consumer Law and Policy Blog for the LA Times story.