My mom and my dad both have a credit card. I am authorized user on both of them. If their FICO scores would get damaged, by other factors then those two credit cards, would that hurt me in anyway? Lets say those two cards will be in good standing, they will be used once in a while and they will be paid on time, but my parents credit scores will be damaged by something else, will this impact me in anyway? Should I removed myself from being the authorized user?
My equifax score is 740, report as of 07/21/09 is as follow:
Factors that are hurting me: new account, accounts with balances
Factors helping me: no missed payments, low credit usage, long octant history
credit cards:
Macys Visa: CL=5,000, Balance = 324 (individual account holder)
Macy's Department Card: CL=1,500, Balance 43 (individual account holder)
Care Card: CL 5700, Balance 0 (joint account)
Bank of America Visa: CL=3,500, Balance 1,353 (individual account holder)
Chase Visa: CL=5,100, Balance 905 (Authorized User)
Bank Of America Mastercard: CL=1,200, Balance 331 (individual account holder)
Bank of America Visa: CL=8,500, Balance 0 (Authorized User)
Student loans:
NATL COLEG: Balance 14,385
AES/PNC: 8,547
AES/KEYSTO: 4,909
AES/KEYSTO: 4,764
AES/KEYSTO: 3,032
AES/KEYSTO: 2,274
AES/KEYSTO: PAID IN FULL
NATL COLEG: PAID IN FULL
Car loan:
13,114 left to pay off
Since the day (7/21/09) I checked my credit report I have paid of all of the credit cards. I only use the BofA mastercard with credit limit 12,000 because I get rewords on it, but I do try to pay the balance before the end of the statement so when I get my statement it says 0 balance. Even my parents cards are paid off that I am the authorized user on.
Is there anything I can do to get my score to 760+ maybe around 800? How much do did my score change since I paid of all of the credit cards?
My average age of accounts is 3 years, I had 12 accounts carrying balance (this changed since I paid all of them off), my newest account that was opened was 4 months ago (the two Macy's cards, store department and visa in one).
I would like to thank everyone in advance for any suggestions and comments. Thanks you.
P.S. If there is any other info needed please let me know.
Hi Smikulski49! Welcome aboard. 
Great score. Definitely keep up the good work. Reading Credit Scoring 101 (see the link in my sigline) will help you get a better understanding of what actions might help your raise your credit score.
You've got a pretty good mix of credit. The AU accounts won't hurt you unless your parents were to have derogs associated with those accounts (lates, charge-offs, IIB, etc...), or if they suddenly max out the cards, negatively impacting your utilization. If any of those things were to happen you can have yourself removed as an AU.
At a glance, one thing that might give you a FICO score boost is to have no more than one card report a balance, and make sure that the balance reported is no more than 1 to 9% of the card, and your total revolving credit limit. Time is your friend as well. Keep your utilization low, never, ever, ever, ever, ever be late (...did I mention to NEVER be late?), and you'll see your score start to rise as your AAoA does. You're very close to being a FICO High Achiever!
Thank you for the quick response LiMirth.
Now that I have all of my credit cards paid off I am only using one of them. When I pay the balance on the card before the statements closing date, will that count as not having a balance showing on the card?
I feel better now that even if my parents scores go down it will not effect me as long as the two cards that I am an authorized user on stay in good shape. Do you think I have enough credit cards and other account that even If I removed myself from being an authorized user it will not hurt my credit score that much? How long would it take me to recover from this drop?
Thanks again
These are my caredit cards and dates when I opened them:
Macys Visa: 3/2009
Macy's Department Card: 3/2009
Care Card: 9/2004
Bank of America Mastercard: 12/2003
Bank of America Visa: 10/2003
Credit cards which I would like to remove that I am authorized user on. I will only remove them if it will not hurt my credit score alot.
Chase Visa: 12/2003
Bank of America Visa: 7/2004
What do you guys think? Any more info required? How do you go about calculating the age of credit history?
Below is my up to date information on all balances and dates of all the accounts on my report.
3/2009 Macys Visa: CL=5,000, Balance = 0 (individual account holder)
3/2009 Macy's Department Card: CL=1,500, Balance 0 (individual account holder)
9/2004 Care Card: CL 5700, Balance 0 (joint account)
10/2003 Bank of America Visa: CL=3,500, Balance 0 (individual account holder)
12/2003 Chase Visa: CL=5,100, Balance 0(Authorized User)
12/2003 Bank Of America Mastercard: CL=1,200, Balance 150 (individual account holder)
7/2004 Bank of America Visa: CL=8,500, Balance 0 (Authorized User)
Student loans:
9/2006 NATL COLEG: Balance 14,385
9/2007 AES/PNC: 8,547
8/2006 AES/KEYSTO: 4,909
8/2005 AES/KEYSTO: 4,764
8/2004 AES/KEYSTO: 3,032
9/2003 AES/KEYSTO: 2,274
8/2007 AES/KEYSTO: PAID IN FULL
8/2005 NATL COLEG: PAID IN FULL
Car loan:
1/2008 13,114 left to pay off
Also, am I doing the right thing by paying off my credit cards before the closing of the statment? Do the credit card companies look at this in a negative way? I am trying to use my credit cards but have them report 0 balance when I get the statment.
