Quick questions on becoming an AU...

[OhioCPA]

I would wait and see what happens with your score over the next six to twelve months.

I added my son as an ACM on my Amex last spring. At that time Amex seemed to backdate ACM's accounts, especially if they lived at the same address. His account was backdated and it did raise his AAoA. Just this week he was approved for a Chase Freedom with a CL of $4,900. I doubt he would have received that high of a limit without my Amex showing on his CR.

[Crashem]

(bad iPad formatting) To OP: the Amex au will actually get backdated to your member year. Those two cards are fine. However, if he is actively using Amex and pif, you still need to be concerned about utilization as reported utilization can be high even with pif. Only fico 8 scoring models may discount the au accounts so avoid lenders using it until you have credit file of your own. Also, if you and your brother don't share common address, the cras may not pick up your au accounts as you saw with Citibank, they just asked for your name. Might have to get his address onto your credit report somehow. Give me idea on your current credit file such as current cards and limits, baddies, aaoa, etc.

[Crashem]

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@OhioCPA wrote:

I would wait and see what happens with your score over the next six to twelve months.

I added my son as an ACM on my Amex last spring. At that time Amex seemed to backdate ACM's accounts, especially if they lived at the same address. His account was backdated and it did raise his AAoA. Just this week he was approved for a Chase Freedom with a CL of $4,900. I doubt he would have received that high of a limit without my Amex showing on his CR.

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Ohio, if your son's credit file looks okay, he might want to get Amex of his own to "lock" in that member date. An old Amex account of his own would really help him.

[j_casteel]

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@Crashem wrote:
(bad iPad formatting) To OP: the Amex au will actually get backdated to your member year. Those two cards are fine. However, if he is actively using Amex and pif, you still need to be concerned about utilization as reported utilization can be high even with pif. Only fico 8 scoring models may discount the au accounts so avoid lenders using it until you have credit file of your own. Also, if you and your brother don't share common address, the cras may not pick up your au accounts as you saw with Citibank, they just asked for your name. Might have to get his address onto your credit report somehow. Give me idea on your current credit file such as current cards and limits, baddies, aaoa, etc.

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So would he need to just tell them that my address is the same as his? I don't want to do anything fraudulent...i know "piggy-backing" can been seen as negative, but lying about my address seems is bit much. Unless, they just don't care?? Do people usually just give them the address of the primary cardholder when adding an AU whether they live with them or not? I mean, I won't be getting a card so i don't care if they send me anything anyway.

My current credit file:

Cap1 Plat: 0/750 No baddies 18mo old

HSBC/Cap1: 0/300 No baddies 14mo old

AMEX Zync: $500 hard limit No baddies 1mo old

Student loans: ~$94k (about 12 different loans) A couple have some baddies from 6mo ago. I am going to try to dispute with the lender to get them removed due to computer error. All current and paid each month.

BoA mortgage: ~$65k Perfect except for 5-30 days late back in 2008 when times were harder for us, but perfect since then.

I have a few CO's and a collection still showing on my report that was suppose to be removed in 2006. It was from a cable company that was charging me at 2 different addresses. I was paying the bill at the address i lived at, but had no clue that they were charging me at a second address too. (The address i moved from) They cancelled the fee's and said it was an error on their end, but for some reason they still have a collection showing on my reports.

Oldest account is ~9-10yrs old and current AAoA is ~4yrs.

Current scores are: myFICO- TU 594 7/5/12 myFICO- EQ 571 CK-Transrisk 581 CK-Vantagescore 649

**That is with the Cap1 card still showing ~44% util. Its been PIF for nearly 3wks just waiting for it to report to the CRA's and I believe my score will jump up a bit. Also, my AMEX still has not reported as well.

I think that about sums it up for me.

Thanks,

John

[OhioCPA]

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Crashem wrote:

Ohio, if your son's credit file looks okay, he might want to get Amex of his own to "lock" in that member date. An old Amex account of his own would really help him.

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He is working on the minimum spend for the Freedom card then he is going to apply for the Amex. From what I understand his member date on any new cards will be the date he became an AU, which is 2011. His score was 760 before the Freedom. I doubt he took much of a hit on AAoA, just the new account and the INQ. The INQ won't effect his EX since Chase pulled EQ.

[j_casteel]

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@j_casteel wrote:

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@Crashem wrote:
(bad iPad formatting) To OP: the Amex au will actually get backdated to your member year. Those two cards are fine. However, if he is actively using Amex and pif, you still need to be concerned about utilization as reported utilization can be high even with pif. Only fico 8 scoring models may discount the au accounts so avoid lenders using it until you have credit file of your own. Also, if you and your brother don't share common address, the cras may not pick up your au accounts as you saw with Citibank, they just asked for your name. Might have to get his address onto your credit report somehow. Give me idea on your current credit file such as current cards and limits, baddies, aaoa, etc.

---

So would he need to just tell them that my address is the same as his? I don't want to do anything fraudulent...i know "piggy-backing" can been seen as negative, but lying about my address seems is bit much. Unless, they just don't care?? Do people usually just give them the address of the primary cardholder when adding an AU whether they live with them or not? I mean, I won't be getting a card so i don't care if they send me anything anyway.

My current credit file:

Cap1 Plat: 0/750 No baddies 18mo old

HSBC/Cap1: 0/300 No baddies 14mo old

AMEX Zync: $500 hard limit No baddies 1mo old

Student loans: ~$94k (about 12 different loans) A couple have some baddies from 6mo ago. I am going to try to dispute with the lender to get them removed due to computer error. All current and paid each month.

BoA mortgage: ~$65k Perfect except for 5-30 days late back in 2008 when times were harder for us, but perfect since then.

I have a few CO's and a collection still showing on my report that was suppose to be removed in 2006. It was from a cable company that was charging me at 2 different addresses. I was paying the bill at the address i lived at, but had no clue that they were charging me at a second address too. (The address i moved from) They cancelled the fee's and said it was an error on their end, but for some reason they still have a collection showing on my reports.

Oldest account is ~9-10yrs old and current AAoA is ~4yrs.

Current scores are: myFICO- TU 594 7/5/12 myFICO- EQ 571 CK-Transrisk 581 CK-Vantagescore 649

**That is with the Cap1 card still showing ~44% util. Its been PIF for nearly 3wks just waiting for it to report to the CRA's and I believe my score will jump up a bit. Also, my AMEX still has not reported as well.

I think that about sums it up for me.

Thanks,

John

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Forgot to add my gross salary is ~$116k

[Crashem]

Op, I would not add the Amex as it will bring down your aaoa and your member date has been set. If you spare the cash, I would add a secured card if you can spare 5k so you have high tl showing. As for address, no need to change it. Let's see if Citibank card shows up on your report.

[OhioCPA]

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@Crashem wrote:
Also, if you and your brother don't share common address, the cras may not pick up your au accounts as you saw with Citibank, they just asked for your name. Might have to get his address onto your credit report somehow.

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Amex does ask for SSN for ACM so it is possible to match on that alone.

Since the OP's brother is going to destroy the cards I see no problem with using his address for the AU. This would give him more control over the account anyway.This would prevent the OP from ordering a replacement card that which would be sent to the address on record.

[j_casteel]

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@OhioCPA wrote:

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@Crashem wrote:
Also, if you and your brother don't share common address, the cras may not pick up your au accounts as you saw with Citibank, they just asked for your name. Might have to get his address onto your credit report somehow.

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Amex does ask for SSN for ACM so it is possible to match on that alone.

Since the OP's brother is going to destroy the cards I see no problem with using his address for the AU. This would give him more control over the account anyway.This would prevent the OP from ordering a replacement card that which would be sent to the address on record.

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I wouldn't do that, but I understand what you're saying.

[j_casteel]

I spoke with my brother and he said he's already made me an AU on both cards and used his own address. Guess we'll see how things go in a month or 2.

Thanks,

John