Authorized user on best buy and care credit

[katrinalbsn]

Will being an auth user on my husband 2 accounts help boost my score? He has a low balance on both cards. We are trying to boost my score so we can buy a house next year.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the totality of your reports and whats holding your scores down.

[katrinalbsn]

I have collections that are two years old on my report. Most of which are paid off.

[lachrymosa]

I have 6 collections on my report that I'm working on, none of them paid. My sister added me as an authorized user to her Wells Fargo card that she's had in good standing for 11 years and it definitely gave me a boost, enough for me to start getting pre-approvals on store cards using the shopping cart trick. After having 2 store cards in good standing myself for 6 months now, I added my husband to those as an authorized user and that gave HIS scores a boost as well. It certainly won't hurt if his accounts are in good standing, and definitely worth a try.

[RobertEG]

Even if it does boost your score, it is an artificail boost, and other creditors are aware of it.

If you app for new credit and the creditor does a manual review of your credit report and sees the presence of an AU, it informs them that your score is not representative of only yur own personal risk.  They have no way ot back out the AU and produce a score that represents only your own credit history.

Thus, if you apply for credit that involves a manual review, the creditor may then give less consideration of your score in their decision making.

Some mortgage lendors wil even require removal of any AUs prior to their credit decision making.

[lachrymosa]

True, but the boost could be enough for her to have the means to rebuild her credit in the upcoming year, if she's in that situation. That's exactly the situation I'm in and it helped me get the ball rolling on improving my credit...also for a house purchase in the next couple years. I'm planning on having me removed from her account once I'm in a better position. Don't know all the details of her situation of course but it can be a helpful tool.

[RobertEG]

Agree

Use of AUs can be very helpful when building or rebuilding, as the level of credit being sought is usually low, which usually results in creditors not investing the time, money, and effort to do a more thorough manual review.

Absent a manual review, the score will not be questioned as not being reprentative of only that consumer's credit history.

However, when the purpose of the boost is to obtain a mortgage loan, it may not be a good move.......

[katrinalbsn]

You all are awesome! Thanks so much for all of the helpful advice.