A few days ago I was researching the net and found a company that helps you get a new credit file. I was very interested at the sales pitch on the site.



The company was claiming to give you a new credit report with existing good credit. You pay a fee for a new SSN or other number in place of a SSN, and for an additional fee you could get existing trade lines such as a mortgage, car loan, and personal loan, all in good standing, placed on the new credit file. Without getting into specifics, this whole package costs around a few thousand dollars.





The company providing this info was citing a law from 1974 that basically stated you are not obligated to provide your personal social security number to any company that you are applying for credit with. This information had me floored. It went against everything weve been taught as a society. Our SSN is the basis to weather or not we get credit, now for a few grand, poof it all disappears and we magically have good credit.



I set out to find the truth behind this. I went to the FTC(federal trade commission). The story here was much different. According to the FTC, any company claiming to give you a new credit file isnt telling you that you are liable for fines up to $25,000 and even jail time! To clarify , the company that sold you the credit file doesnt go to jail, you do.



It is possible, however, that you can get an EIN (employee identification number) meant for corporations to apply for credit, for legitimate business reasons.



The bottom lines is, save your money. Dont try to scam the system, instead use the money to get your bills current and get those collections off your report. Everyones credit is repairable.