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Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit

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Jessilynndoll
New Member

Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit

I got divorced a few years ago and there was a macy's card that was under my husbands name. I was an authorized user since I paid all of his debts until we got divorced. I have paid off his macy's card (which HAD a 500 dollar limit) and it is reporting to my credit. It was opened in 2009 and has no late payments and 0 current balance. The problem is, he didnt pick up his bills after I stopped paying them so the credit limit was dropped to $100. Should I have this account removed since It is not mine or should I just leave it on there so I have the length of account and on time payments on my report? I only have 7 years of credit history and only 2 other credit cards with $500 limits currently open. 

Message 1 of 9
8 REPLIES 8
dddewdrop
Valued Contributor

Re: Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit

  Hi and welcome to the forums. If it is helping your reports, you might as well leave it on. I would try to "lock in" any boost it is giving your score by applying for the best credit card you can now. Maybe there is a prime card that you are eligible because of your au status now that you wouldn't be eligible without it. Say a Chase Freedom or Citi card. Then if you are approved, whether or not you are an authorized user moving forward, you have used the advantage that it has given you to move your own credit forward in a more perminent way. Beyond that, you might as well stay as an authorized user as long as it is helping you. It is obviously illegal to autorize his account if he doesn't authorize you to do so so i wouldn't do anything without his approval to his account like accessing it with a password that you know from before you were divorced. If you haven't already done so, i would recommend getting free copies of your reports from annualcreditreport.com and purchasing FICO scores from this site. If you know your fico scores and share them with people on this forum, then we can help give you more specific recommendations to improve your credit. Good luck...

Message 2 of 9
Jessilynndoll
New Member

Re: Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit

I was just approved for a discover it card with a 1200 limit and I havent touched the macy's cad since I paid it off. They pulled experian and equifax. I had a fraud alert on experian. I guess what I'm asking is if I remove that to remove the low limit, will that affect my length of account open in a bad way?

 

So it is better to keep the history of the payments and 0 balnce than it is to remove it completely and not have the $100 limit reporting is what i'm hearing from you?

 

Thank you!

Message 3 of 9
calihlove75
Established Contributor

Re: Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit


@Jessilynndoll wrote:

I was just approved for a discover it card with a 1200 limit and I havent touched the macy's cad since I paid it off. They pulled experian and equifax. I had a fraud alert on experian. I guess what I'm asking is if I remove that to remove the low limit, will that affect my length of account open in a bad way?

 

So it is better to keep the history of the payments and 0 balnce than it is to remove it completely and not have the $100 limit reporting is what i'm hearing from you?

 

Thank you!



It depends whether it was the oldest account on whether it would affect you AAOA. Personally I would remove it since you will have 3 cards of your own reporting. Does he still have access to the card to make purchases?

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Message 4 of 9
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit


@Jessilynndoll wrote:

I was just approved for a discover it card with a 1200 limit and I havent touched the macy's cad since I paid it off. They pulled experian and equifax. I had a fraud alert on experian. I guess what I'm asking is if I remove that to remove the low limit, will that affect my length of account open in a bad way?

 

So it is better to keep the history of the payments and 0 balnce than it is to remove it completely and not have the $100 limit reporting is what i'm hearing from you?

 

Thank you!


Welcome to the forums!

 

If there's any negative marks on the tradeline (the credit card history) I would remove it.  

 

A $100 limit, $0 balance does not harm your credit in any way.  If it has positive history, and a good length, and no blemishes besides the awkward limit, I'd keep it as long as possible personally.  If there are lates on the payment history, I'd probably drop it.

 

AU's count funny anyway, but if you have it, and it's positive, might as well keep it.  If that changes in the future, you can drop it at any time.  Odds are if it's not ever used it may get closed anyway, but it's in your best interest as far as FICO goes to keep letting it accrue positive payment history.




        
Message 5 of 9
Jessilynndoll
New Member

Re: Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit

Well, the card is in his name so I assume if he has the card or if he requests a new one then he very well could use the card.

 

Message 6 of 9
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit


@Jessilynndoll wrote:

Well, the card is in his name so I assume if he has the card or if he requests a new one then he very well could use the card.

 


Possibly, but an AU is not like your own tradeline: namely, you can remove it at any time and it completely comes off your credit report.

 

If your ex does something eggregious and stupid, you can remove it then.  It's unlikely from a statistical perspective to come up at a time that it matters at all to you, and there's only so much damage one could do anyway.  The most probable thing that happens is that eventually the lender gets around to closing the card for inactivity.

 

In the meantime, I heartily second someone's previous suggestion that you simply keep it for now, and leverage it to build your own credit report more fully.  You've already started doing that with your Discover card, take a look around at what's available, and there's a wealth of information on this site about FICO and credit reports, and then come up with a plan an execute on it.

 

For now, the AU isn't hurting you from your description, and it may well assist in your building your own portfolio.  You can always remove it later if you so desire, there just doesn't appear to be much reason for doing it right now and you can use it to your benefit at least over the short and mid term (call it 3-4 years).  Beyond that it'll probably be irrelevant to you, your credit report, and the resulting FICO score.

 

 




        
Message 7 of 9
Jessilynndoll
New Member

Re: Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit

Thank you!

Message 8 of 9
jamesdwi
Valued Contributor

Re: Which is better? Long history of on time payments with $100 limit or removal of card from credit

Prime lenders dismiss CL on store cards when they are figuring your new CL on there card, they know most people really don't need more than $200 on a gas card or at a lot of stores and won't penalize you for having them.

 

Some Prime lenders don't even consider AU TL when looking at your credit it only helps your score.

 

 

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