Some college students have figured a way around new federal rules restricting their access to credit cards by simply turning to older students for help.

The rules, part of the Credit CARD Act that was implemented in part earlier this year, prevent anyone younger than 21 from acquiring a card without an adult co-signer or proof of ability to pay.

So, students have simply decided to ask classmates or fraternity brothers to co-sign — sometimes for a small fee — in part to avoid the hassle of approaching parents or guardians.

"I don't have bad credit, but I can't get a card because my parents have the bad credit," said Estevan Torres, a 20-year-old graphic arts student at Metropolitan State College of Denver. "For them to co-sign for me makes it guaranteed I won't get a card, so I'm thinking of asking one of my friends."

Several other students at the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver said they were familiar with the practice of asking friends to co-sign for credit cards, though none said they had done so.

Experts say the law's intent was to curb credit abuses — both by the young consumers straitjacketed by their spending misdeeds and the issuers who swarmed college campuses each September with marketing promotions designed to woo the latest class of freshmen.

But that isn't quite working out.

"What does it say of the CARD Act when an 18-year-old can get around it, someone who supposedly can't manage their credit?" asked John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education for Credit.com, a credit information website.



Read more: Students get older peers to co-sign for credit cards - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_16006393#ixzz0yt19u7pr