My situation is a bit different. Can anyone shed some light?

[BigItaly]

I filed for Chapter 7 BK on 10/17/2014, and my 341 meeting is scheduled for 11/18/2014, so here's the deal. I have a credit card through my credit union that has a zero balance, never been late, etc. I am also an authorized user on my friend's Capital One card too. The other cards he was going to add me as an AU to were a Discover IT and an American Express green card. Would it drasticly increase my score once my BK is discharged?

[Scupra]

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@BigItaly wrote:

I filed for Chapter 7 BK on 10/17/2014, and my 341 meeting is scheduled for 11/18/2014, so here's the deal. I have a credit card through my credit union that has a zero balance, never been late, etc. I am also an authorized user on my friend's Capital One card too. The other cards he was going to add me as an AU to were a Discover IT and an American Express green card. Would it drasticly increase my score once my BK is discharged?

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I would be surprised if your CU card survive the BK.. It can happen though so cross your fingers. Being an AU user will give you a fake score bump. It isn't your efforts of rebuilding and future lenders can tell. I believe FICO 08 is very good at figuring out which AU accounts to score. I think FICO 08 looks to see if it's a shared address or same last name etc..

edit: A high score isn't anything without the profile to back it up. So even if the AU accounts get you a higher score it won't matter. Work on building a healthy robust credit file and your score will follow.

[BigItaly]

I spoke to my credit union and they said the credit card "should" survive the BK. That remains to be seen. So, are you saying by my friend adding me to the cards of his would not help? My lawyer seems to think it would help boost my score, a little. Also, we share the same address, he's my roommate.

[0REDSOX7]

Will it boost your score? Absolutely. But the score will be considered fake and lenders know about the AU.

As Scupra mentioned above, newer FICO models know to exclude some AU accounts from scoring.

[ezdriver]

To OP ... I don't see anything so "different" in your situation vs others' that have gone through Ch7. Also, I echo what the previous two posters stated. Please re-read their posts and let us know which part of those sound statements you do not understand.

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

Hi OP.  I would have your friend add you.  No harm, no foul.  Your FICO takes the hit when you file Ch 7, but discharge doesn't impact that score.  It's just noted on our report.  FICO 08 scores AU's differently than FICO 04, but you will see exactly what your "real" FICO score is once you pull your FICO reports after those cards report.  There is no such thing as a fake "FICO" score.  It's true that on manual review an underwriter could see the AU accounts, but that has no bearing on the FICO score.  Since most new credit is issued based on computers reading your FICO score, it stil helps to do anything to raise the FICO.  The only risk is if your firend has late payments on his/her report or is prone to heavy utilization.  You are kind of stuck with your friend's behavior impacting your score at that point.  Do not use your friend's cards - ever.  You can usually (YMMV) challenge away AU accounts should they go bad by having your name removed.  There is no record of you having ever given permission to be added in the first place and so you can't be held accountable for the history.  Still, you could have a fight on your hands getting the tradeline deleted, so again, be prepared for that potential outcome.  I would get added to the friend's accounts (all of them) and as soon as your credit scoes are good enough to get you your own cards, have yourself removed.  At that point the history on the AU accounts will either be completely wiped off your report or else will stop (as if he account were closed) on the date you ended the AU relationship.  This happened to me with three AU accounts from my ex.  Two are AMEX and one is a Capital One account with 40K limits.  YMMV.

[MarineVietVet]

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@ezdriver wrote:

To OP ... I don't see anything so "different" in your situation vs others' that have gone through Ch7. Also, I echo what the previous two posters stated. Please re-read their posts and let us know which part of those sound statements you do not understand.

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That's not exactly a friendly, supportive, or respectful post.

None of us here have all the answers and being helpful should be our #1 priority.

Don't you agree?

[Scupra]

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@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:

Hi OP.  I would have your friend add you.  No harm, no foul.  Your FICO takes the hit when you file Ch 7, but discharge doesn't impact that score.  It's just noted on our report.  FICO 08 scores AU's differently than FICO 04, but you will see exactly what your "real" FICO score is once you pull your FICO reports after those cards report.  There is no such thing as a fake "FICO" score.  It's true that on manual review an underwriter could see the AU accounts, but that has no bearing on the FICO score.  Since most new credit is issued based on computers reading your FICO score, it stil helps to do anything to raise the FICO.  The only risk is if your firend has late payments on his/her report or is prone to heavy utilization.  You are kind of stuck with your friend's behavior impacting your score at that point.  Do not use your friend's cards - ever.  You can usually (YMMV) challenge away AU accounts should they go bad by having your name removed.  There is no record of you having ever given permission to be added in the first place and so you can't be held accountable for the history.  Still, you could have a fight on your hands getting the tradeline deleted, so again, be prepared for that potential outcome.  I would get added to the friend's accounts (all of them) and as soon as your credit scoes are good enough to get you your own cards, have yourself removed.  At that point the history on the AU accounts will either be completely wiped off your report or else will stop (as if he account were closed) on the date you ended the AU relationship.  This happened to me with three AU accounts from my ex.  Two are AMEX and one is a Capital One account with 40K limits.  YMMV.

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So fresh out of BK I am not so sure a little bump from AU accounts is going to make a difference in being approved. Most lenders are going to want to see what YOU have done to rebuild, not how many AU accounts you can add. I honestly think it would be a better plan for the OP to build their own credit profile. YMMV as always

[TRC_WA]

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@Scupra wrote:

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So fresh out of BK I am not so sure a little bump from AU accounts is going to make a difference in being approved. Most lenders are going to want to see what YOU have done to rebuild, not how many AU accounts you can add. I honestly think it would be a better plan for the OP to build their own credit profile. YMMV as always

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I've never understood why lenders put any stock into AU accounts.

Little Johnny can piggyback Mom's 20 year old credit rating but it still has 0 impact on whether or not Little Johnny will pay back his debts.

At least FICO 08 ignores AU accounts for the most part... as it should.  If I have a 550 FICO and my Mom and her 800 score add me as an AU how does that demonstrate my ability to pay back debts?

It doesn't.  Always been baffled by AU factoring into scores at all.

[ezdriver]

Agreeing with two previous posts is contributing an opinion ... don't you agree? Not giving people the answer they want is not being unsupportive....don't you agree? Suggesting that a poster re-read two posts that gave good responses is supportive ... don't you agree?