Authorized user question

[lpayton]

My aunt is willing to ad me to her credit union credit card.  It is about 6 years old, never any lates, and she does not carry balances on it.  She uses it here and there, and pays in full.  Here are my questions:

1.  Will it help, and please estimate point wise about how much. I am thinking 10-20 points? 

2.  Will the limit of the card go against my debt/income ratio? I don't know the limit.  I forgot to ask (stupid I know).

3.  It is with Cal Poly credit union...would I need to be a member of the credit union too in order to be an AU?

Please any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.  I don't have any debt in my name right now, and according to MyFico, this is hurting me.  I got a Capitol One secured Master Card with a $49 deposit, and a $200 limit but was just told this morning it wont really help me much and that they probably wont increase the limit. 

[Booner72]

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@lpayton wrote:

My aunt is willing to ad me to her credit union credit card.  It is about 6 years old, never any lates, and she does not carry balances on it.  She uses it here and there, and pays in full.  Here are my questions:

1.  Will it help, and please estimate point wise about how much. I am thinking 10-20 points? Yes it will help if they report to the credit bureaus and it could take a while for the AU account to get on your reports - it could be fast and it could be months.  YMMV regarding pointage and how long until it hits.  My dad put me as AU on his credit union card and I had to fax my signature and it took too long to hit my reports so I ended up canceling it before it even did.

2.  Will the limit of the card go against my debt/income ratio? I don't know the limit.  I forgot to ask (stupid I know).  Yes it will help your DTI or it could hurt if your aunt buys something major.  If she goes late or any other negative that will also go on your credit reports but easy to fix bc you just dispute it off as "not mine."

3.  It is with Cal Poly credit union...would I need to be a member of the credit union too in order to be an AU? You would have to ask the CU

Please any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.  I don't have any debt in my name right now, and according to MyFico, this is hurting me.  I got a Capitol One secured Master Card with a $49 deposit, and a $200 limit but was just told this morning it wont really help me much and that they probably wont increase the limit. Since you don't have any other revolving debt this WILL HELP!  Just make sure you keep only a tiny balance - like 10 bucks.  And remember, the amount on the statement is what gets reported, not the amount on due date.  Fico doesn't care how high your credit limit is.  Even small limits like this can help a lot, especially in your case bc you have no other accounts.

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[lpayton]

Thank you SOOO much Booner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MissMia75]

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@lpayton wrote:

Thank you SOOO much Booner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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She is AWESOME!!!! I get the MAJORITY of my CC info from her and she has yet to steer me wrong.

[lpayton]

Great advice for sure.  She is one of the members I hope to see respond when I ask questions.