Husband's credit issues and questions

[Anonymous]

I need some good advice please !!

My husband does not have great credit ( but I have very good credit! ), so we have never mixed our credit yet.  He is on the road to getting his credit back up.

Here is my problem:  before we got married, he was added onto his sister's Chase cc to help improve his score.  He thought he was added as an AU, but supposedly he is a Joint Account holder, I still don't know which one is true.  Anyway, at the time his sister had good credit, now it has gone to hell and she owes about 20K on the card.  My husband and I are looking to buy a house now while the interest rates are still low , if it were not for that card and the huge debt on it, we could get appoved for decent home loan.  Chase will not take his name off until the card is paid.  

(1) If by a miracle, my husband's sister pays off the card,  if we take his name off the card (which I really want to do!) will his credit score go down alot ? Currently, the Chase cc has a 30K limit, but the account has been closed.  Without that card, my husband has about maybe 10K available credit at the most  between 2 other credit cards, so I am wondering if taking his name off the Chase cc will hurt his score and prevent us from getting a home loan ?

(2) If he is actually a joint account holder, can he call Chase himself  and find out about the account and  the balance on the card ? His sister is not telling him the balance or anything about the account.

(3) If he is only an authorized user, then he can demand that his name be taken off, correct ??

Also, what is the rule now regrading an AU or a Joing Account holder's credit being affected by another's credit ? (piggybacking).  

If I eventually add him to my credit, will it hurt my credit ?

Would  buying a house together hurt my credit since his credit is worse than mine ?

Thank you, I'd appreciate any advice/feedback !

[FrugalRican]

I'd be more worried about the 20K balance than if he gets taken off the sister's card.

If he is a JOINT on the account, he doesn't need his sister for a single thing. He can call himself.

But that's also why Chase won't take him off. They are seeing it as him trying to get out of the debt.

It sounds to me like you guys aren't 100% sure on what he is on this account?

[Anonymous]

Correct, at first the sister said he was only an AU, but on my husband's credit reports it shows up as a Joint ...but I'm wondering if they are confused b/c her husband is also on the card as a joint account holder.   She said she tried to take him off but they wouldn't let her.  I want to hear it for myself and am going to have my husband call Chase to find out once and for all.

As for the 20K debt, it used to be over 30K ! We've asked her, demanded her, to pay it off as quickly as possible and finally, she's starting to do it.... she's suppposed to be paying a majority of the rest off in the next couple months (crossing fingers!).  I don't want to get tangled up in her debt problems again so I'm just wondering if when she pays it off, should we immediately take his name off and possibly take a big hit on his score for having a lower available credit, or leave his name on in order to keep is available credit high (to  get qualified for a loan) and just hope she doesn't rack up any more debt.

[FrugalRican]

Then definitely have him call.

If he's a joint, then he can receive information on balance, CL, APR, etc... etc... etc...

But this needs to get resolved ASAP. That 20K balance is killing you, and not softly.

[jamie123]

You should ALWAYS keep your credit separate unless it is a mortgage. You see how tough it is to unwind this 1 credit card between a brother and sister? Imagine how hard it would be to unwind ALL your credit with an angry ex-spouse! This is from a man that has been married three times!

Seriously....Keep your credit separate UNLESS it is a mortgage.

[Fyre800]

Did your husband sign anything?