Before I ventured into real estate investing, my credit was shot. I may have had the worst credit in all of Baltimore. Yes, I mix well, but because of some unforeseen circumstances and my lack of taking care of them, I had to make a down payment to borrow a cup of sugar. Don't get me wrong, when it came to my word, I was on -- at least on a personal level. But when it came to paying back American Express, Visa, and MasterCard, my bond became jelly-like. Well, when I started to receive monthly checks and if I and six figures, my credit score jumped significantly. But what about the woman who won't be getting any $40,000 check next month to pay off the debts? What about the man who became ill and had to let the credit slip to stay alive? Can they see a big jump in there I go score without waiting 10 years for that Chapter 7 bankruptcy to be cleared? The answer is a simple, YES!

The first thing one needs to understand is that it does not take seven to 10 years to clear up your credit. It can actually take as little as 30 days. I'm not talking about sending out letters to the credit reporting agencies and challenging the items on your credit report. Although, that will work, and it is recommended that you challenge the items on your credit report for validity, to complete this process, it may take three months to one year or more.

What I am talking about is the little-known tactic of piggybacking. What is piggybacking? Piggybacking it is, what parents did (and still do) for their children when they wanted them to establish credit while they are young. Maybe the children were in college. The fact of the matter is, the children did not have established credit.

This is how the process goes:

Someone with very good credit will add you as an authorized user to their credit card. Depending on the creditor, it can take as little as 30 days for your credit report, and us your credit score, to reflect the added trade line. Instantaneously, your credit score will reflect the new trade line. And, depending on the trade line's longevity, usage amount, and other things, such as timely payment, your credit score may jump up from 30 to 45 points.

This may give you the added points to drop your mortgage payment down by $100 or more per month.

So what if you don't know anyone who has a trade line in which they would allow you to be an authorized user on? There is still hope for you.

Companies have taken this step to Wall Street. It is no longer only available for people with friends with great credit.

Although I will not recommend any particular companies in this article, there are companies who are in the business of piggybacking. What they will do is match you up with one of their A-credit clients who are more than happy to add you as an authorized user. Just search on Google for "authorized user trade lines."

Some people may be wondering about FICO's attempt in September 2007 to halt this tactic on the credit system. Their attempt is now on hold because of legislation that prevents them from moving forward to changing their credit score algorithm.

So, if you're interested, get it while you can. It can mean the difference between you getting the car or train home that you want with the same price that you would've paid with a lower credit score.

Check out the free credit repair videos at http://creditleaper.com