Additional User/Account Manager questions and adivce?

[Anonymous]

I was wondering if my wife adds me to her existing Amex account (that is in good standing and has a high limit)...will that hurt my score?

Does it help me to be added or will it hurt me (like opening a new account)? 

We're planning on purchasing a home within the next year and I need all the help I can get.  With her score above 730 and mine at the 700 mark, is it in our best interest to combine all the accouts we can with the exception of the ones I already have?  My score has gone up 5 points by paying down alot of my debt and even though there is a balance on her card, it's still under 10% utili.

Any advice or help on this subject would be greatly appreciated!

[oracles]

Hi Sbuket and welcome to the forums

If the account is in good standing, has low util%, no lates, and has long history, this account will definitely help your score.

Do not, I mean DO NOT joint accounts. I never recommend joint accounts. You can get the same advantage by being an Authorized user on the account.

This will help your util% due to its high limit and low balance as well as average age of accounts if, again, the account has a long history.

Hope this helps and keep us updated

[Anonymous]

The account has a pretty long history given our young age...and it's in good standing as far as lates and low util%.

How do I differentiate between joint and additional cardmember/user?  If she orders a card for me or adds me as an account manager does that have the same effect?  What makes it joint? 

Thanks for all the help!  Maybe we can try and then leave an update as to whether or not it helped.  We just want to make sure it won't hurt us because we will be looking for a home in the near future and getting a hit for something like this wouldn't be a good thing.

[haulingthescoreup]

Generally, the only way that you can be joint is at the time of initial application. You're asking the lender to consider both your histories and incomes for the extension of credit. If you call later and say, hey, can a get a card for my wife/ husband/ significant other, it will be AU. (You can also ask for AU at the time of initial application.)

But Stuff happens, and I'd hate to see someone get burned by making assumptions, so I would be very, very clear when speaking with the CSR as to which status you want. And don't ask things like "this won't hurt her credit, right?" because a lot of CSR's say some remarkably ignorant things. Just tell them very clearly that you do NOT want joint status, you only want authorized user status.