credit cards

[Anonymous]

Long time ago my friend add me on his card like an authorized user , now he miss a few payments and its show in my credit report 90 days late. What can i do?

[Anonymous]

Ask your friend to remove you as an authorized user IMMEDIATELY!  This will not remove the late payments but it will at least protect you from more lates or collection showing on your report.

After that all you can really do is send GW to the creditor.. When the new fico algorithm rolls out, piggy backing isnt factored into the score, so even if GW doesnt work you will be fine sometime next year.

[SCF]

You should be able to get yourself removed as an authorized user.  I would start with having your friend call the company and just remove you, but if he won't do that and you have the card number and other information, you should also be able to do it yourself.

I can't imagine a situation in which having a TL with a 90 day late would be better than not having that TL at all, unless this is the ONLY item on your CR or this is a much older account that is increasing the length and average age of your file significantly.  In spite of that though, if your friend continues to rack up lates, things will only get worse for your report.  Now is probably the time to strike out on your own, get this TL removed and start building some positive history that belongs to you.

If this was a fluke or some kind of error, you could also always encourage your friend to come here and get things cleared up with a GW letter.  In today's economy though, even if he can do that, I would feel better not being an AU on any accounts that I didn't need/have too, especially when the card belongs to a friend rather than a spouse or parent.

Message Edited by SCF on 12-14-2008 07:10 PM

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Ask your friend to remove you as an authorized user IMMEDIATELY!  This will not remove the late payments but it will at least protect you from more lates or collection showing on your report.

After that all you can really do is send GW to the creditor.. When the new fico algorithm rolls out, piggy backing isnt factored into the score, so even if GW doesnt work you will be fine sometime next year.

---

depends.

how old and how many lates? how old is the trade line and how thick is your file? from a score perspective it could be helping more than it hurts. asking for an update to remove yourself from the account could result in losing the trade line altogether.

[Anonymous]

I would just ask to get removed, sure its may be helping more than hurting right now.  But if this goes to collection its a whole different ball game.  I would close the risk.

[Anonymous]

since an au has no financial responsibility, i thought it can be removed if disputed

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
since an au has no financial responsibility, i thought it can be removed if disputed

---

yes and the loss of the history of the account could result in a score drop.

[Anonymous]

I still dont think the account age would be worth the risk, but we really need much more info to really figure out what your next steps should be.  Let us know what your credit picture and scores look like.  Why did your friend fall behind? Did he catch back up?  Do you think he will be late more in the future? 

More than likely he would have to remove you from the TL, you can call and ask to be removed, but more than likely they wont talk to you.

I was on my parents gas card for 4 years as an AU, I decided to get off of it (only a $500 TL that was usually 50% util) and the account still shows all past history. 

Another thing to note, although the new FICO algorithm wont calculate your score based on these lates, the account will still be on your report and could hinder you next time you seek credit.

Message Edited by fender on 12-14-2008 07:38 PM