TransUnion Takes On 'Authorized User' Abuse

TransUnion, Chicago, has announced the introduction of a customized approach to help mortgage lenders identify consumers who may have added "authorized user" accounts to artificially inflate their credit standing.The company said it examined nearly 2 million approved mortgage applicants and developed a set of "highly predictive" credit characteristics. The product is customized based on a lender's credit criteria and risk threshold. "The practice of artificially boosting one's credit score is not just limited to the mortgage industry, and the practice is not going to go away for quite some time," said Dina Anderson, a senior director in TransUnion's Analytic and Decisioning Services. "The key is to help the industry and our customers determine the difference between a legitimate use of an authorized user trade line and provide a meaningful risk assessment when the practice is being abused." The company can be found on the Web at http://www.transunion.com.