Can I, and Should I, Remove an Authorized User Account From My Report?

[adorax]

All 3 of my reports are still showing an account that I was an AU on, even though was removed as an AU from the card nearly a year ago. I just disputed all 3 so we shall see...

[Anonymous]

If I apply for a credit card, not only am I an authorized user, I am also liable for the charges placed against the account.  I can add an authorized user to my account, but the authorized user is not liable for the charges placed against the account.  On the other hand, if I and another apply for a joint account, then not only are both of us  authorized users but both of us are liable (individually and jointly) for charges placed against the account as well.  If you are merely an authorized user and not liable for charges placed against the account, then why is the information being reported to the credit bureau's?  I didn't think a mere authorized user had to disclose his or her social security number.

[Lel]

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@Anonymous wrote:

If I apply for a credit card, not only am I an authorized user, I am also liable for the charges placed against the account.  I can add an authorized user to my account, but the authorized user is not liable for the charges placed against the account.  On the other hand, if I and another apply for a joint account, then not only are both of us  authorized users but both of us are liable (individually and jointly) for charges placed against the account as well.  If you are merely an authorized user and not liable for charges placed against the account, then why is the information being reported to the credit bureau's?  I didn't think a mere authorized user had to disclose his or her social security number.

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Authorized users quite commonly have these accounts appear on their credit reports.  In many cases, it can be a good thing, because it can add credit history and available credit to someone who otherwise might have a thin credit file.  This has led to abuse of the system, however - some illegal credit repair companies (for a fee) will offer to have someone with spotty credit be added to a stranger's account as an AU.  Legitimate AU accounts would be parents or spouses or other close relatives, for example.

DW and I each have individual CC accounts and we are AUs on some of each other's accounts.  This was done for convenience - we didn't want two Sears or Home Depot accounts - and we each benefit from the other's credit history.  It's been a while since we added each other as AUs, but I'm certain that we had to provide SSNs every time we added an AU.

By the way, when two persons open an account together, they would be considered "joint owners" rather than authorized users.  An authorized user is someone who is not an account owner, has the ability to make charges on the account, but is not liable for the payment of the account.  Joint account owners share responsibility for the payment of the account.

[Anonymous]

Just want to clear up a few things.  It was not a joint account, it was my wife's account that she has had for years (before I meet her).  She had recently added me as an "Authorized User" in case I needed to contact Capital One about that account for any reason.  I don't really have a problem with that, it's just that I'm trying to raise my credit score over the 740 mark, and to do this I'm paying off my revolving accounts one at a time.

When I pulled my score, I had 9 accounts showing with balances.  Of those 9 accounts, 6 are my personal accounts and 3 are accounts that I'm Authorized to use.  Of those 6 accounts that are actually mine, 5 are revolving (credit cards).  Since I pulled my report I've already paid off two accounts, so now I'm down to 3 revolving accounts that are mine.  Hopefully by the end of next month I can knock of another one.

So, if my wife's account comes off, which it should, I should have 6 total accounts showing with balances on my next report.  My Balance to Limit ratio should go down from 52% to 24%.  So hopefully the 713 score I saw on my report will go up to reflect that.

[RobertEG]

Have the authorized account holder instruct the creditor to withdraw the AU status under the account.

AU status was legally granted by the account holder to so designate the AU status to another, and no acceptance by the AU was legally  required.  Of course, it has safeguards.

But If I knew Barack Obama's financial data name, address, and SSN, I could put myself into his CR tomorrow.

Get the acccount holder to delete the status with the creditor, and to then update this with the CRAs,

It only becomes legally sticky if the account holder wont so instruct the creditor. The easy way is to get the account holder to instruct deletion with their creditor.

[Anonymous]

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Lel wrote:

By the way, when two persons open an account together, they would be considered "joint owners" rather than authorized users.  An authorized user is someone who is not an account owner, has the ability to make charges on the account, but is not liable for the payment of the account.  Joint account owners share responsibility for the payment of the account.

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Thanks for the clarification.

Based on the bits of information I was getting, I hadn't in my mind completely eliminated the possibility that he could have been the victim of identify theft, so I was probing for additional details to eliminate that possibility.  I see now that his wife added him as an authorized user for convenience purposes (which is perfectly fine).  I just couldn't piece together before knowing that how in the world the credit bureau obtained his social security number. 

I added an authorized user to an account that I owned, and I didn't have to divulge the social security number of the authorized user.  They didn't care.  In this case, I'm supposing the credit card company asked his wife for his number, and because her activity is showing up on his credit files, I can't help but conclude that she gave it to them.  Of course, I'm certainly not arguing against doing that; after all, there can be good reasons for doing it, but until I knew how the credit bureau got the number, and especially considering we didn't know it was his wife's account at the time, I couldn't rule out at least the possibility of foul play by another party.

This thread has been enlightening.  Good thread!