AU Question.

[RightOn78]

According to USAA one thing hurting my husbands score is that his credit card limits are under $2000. I just recently got approved for a $2000 limit and I wonder if adding him as an AU will help?

[Apinzon2374]

It should help with his utility if I'm not mistaken.

[uswala]

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@Apinzon2374 wrote:
It should help with his utility if I'm not mistaken.

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+1

It will surely help.

[RightOn78]

Awesome, thanks!

[09Lexie]

If the account is older than his current TLs, the util is low and it's free of derog remarks -yes it can be helpful.  The $2000 figure is something that FAKOs mention as a way to help a score.  FICO scores do not consider CL's. 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Average-credit-line-under-2-000-How-much-does...

[p-]

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RightOn78 wrote:  According to USAA one thing hurting my husbands score is that his credit card limits are under $2000. I just recently got approved for a $2000 limit and I wonder if adding him as an AU will help?

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Simply put, the 2,000 doesn't mean anything.  FICO cares how many of his cards have balances, and what percent he is using, not what the dollar amount is.

So... say he has 500 in credit, with a statement balance of 200.  He is at 40% utilization.  Adding 2,000 in unused credit will help that aspect of his score, because then he would be at 8% utilization.  But he could get the same help by paying his own card down to 3-9 percent before statement time.

On the other hand, a brand new card will surely bring down his AAOA.  That will hurt his score.   Furthermore, if you are using this card, and he is using his, it will likely show balances for both at statement time.  Having balances on more than one card is a risk indicator, and will bring down his score.

He is better off if you have a very old card with no balance and a perfect payment history that you can add him to as an AU.

Good luck.

[RightOn78]

Thanks for that explanation! I'm trying not to do anything that will hurt our chances of a mortgage next year. If a brand new card won't really be any help then I won't add him.

[p-]

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@RightOn78 wrote:
Thanks for that explanation! I'm trying not to do anything that will hurt our chances of a mortgage next year. If a brand new card won't really be any help then I won't add him.

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If he has a parent with a perfect history card you might ask if they will temporarily add him as an AU for the Mortgage App...  Good luck!

[RightOn78]

One of you must be a good credit fairy!! Not long after reading all your replies my husband got a document from Capital One with an automatic CLI to $2500, just what we needed for that little boost!!! I can't even believe it yet!

[09Lexie]

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@RightOn78 wrote:

One of you must be a good credit fairy!! Not long after reading all your replies my husband got a document from Capital One with an automatic CLI to $2500, just what we needed for that little boost!!! I can't even believe it yet!

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Congrats to DH!