Ascent Home Loans

The internet can be a wondrous thing. You can find information that has never before been afforded to the masses.  You can advertise your services and order almost anything you desire; a new plasma TV, camera, computer, and, oh yes, even a new pay-stub, bank account and credit score.

Entrepreneurship is amazing. New cottage industries pop up everyday. Those above ground and those underground. Let’s take a look at the underground specifically: the new cottage industry that is currently helping those future potential borrowers with bad credit, no savings or pay-stubs. You know the kind; those that wouldn’t be allowed to buy a dog house, yet alone a home.

There are currently sites on the internet that allow borrowers to increase their credit scores by attaching themselves like a Sucker Fish on a Shark to someone elses credit cards, or even artistically creating a pay stub from a bogus company. They can even create a new W2 showing an increase in their earnings with their current company.  There is even a site that will allow someone applying for a loan to falsify rental history for a couple months, and a bank account that is well stocked with nice normal cash, deposits, and withdrawals.

One service mentioned above is growing by leaps and bounds: Piggybacking on someone elses credit cards. For instance, one site will offer to add a person to 4 or 5 different $15,000 credit lines with 10 or 15 years of perfect payments for up to a $6000 fee.  Now, even though these potential borrowers added do not actually have authorization to use these credit lines, being attached could add nearly 200 points to these individuals credit scores in 90 days.  How do these companies add these individuals to someone’s credit line?  Easy, they pay these perfect credit rated consumers anywhere from $1000 up to $2000 per person they add on to their accounts.

Well, it must be easy to prosecute these companies right? No, not really. Lawyers and even fraud strategists both agree that these acts are most likely not illegal. However, it does become fraud when the persons attached to the credit lines apply for a loan. According to Fair Isaac and other credit reporting firms, they will have in place by fall, a system that will not allow these individuals to piggyback off someone else’s credit lines.

As far as the renting of bank accounts?  Although several such ‘businesses’ have vanished overnight, they move around the country like the warehouse telemarketers who prey on the elderly. The problem here is that not only will these companies provide a bank account flush with cash, they will also provide a number for a lender to call and fax a Verification of Deposit to verify these assets. What does this cost? Normally 5% of the value of the assets.

Let’s take a look at pay stubs. There are websites that for $50 or $60 will hire a person as an independent contractor and provide them with a pay-stub. These sites would show earnings based on an advance and for an additional $25 or $30 guarantee verification of employment.  Another company, which is now shut down, was actually creating pay-stubs using ADP’s logo. And there is currently a website that for $50 will conveniently mail you a program that will allow you to create a paycheck and stub at home. However, and don’t laugh,  the website does say their program is for entertainment purposes only.

Even though we in the real estate and lending industries are cracking down much harder on fraud, we must all be aware of the above. We are not only agents and lenders, but in actuality detectives.  You may have noticed that the URL’s for these sites were not mentioned. It is not necessary to promote these companies any further.