Effect of AU

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to get my credit scores up a little more to get a better intrest rate on a mortgage or lot loan.  When I look at my scores here it lists as negatives the age of my accounts the oldest credit card is 6 years the AAoA is 3 years.  It also says that I have been seeking credit which is from getting a pre-approval on a mortgage earlier this year TU and EQ both show 2 inquires 7 days apart.  I can get added as an AU to one of my Mom's CC that was open in '77 it is paid in full every month.

Will this help my score it would increase the AAoA to 9 years?

Will they pull my credit when I get added as an AU will this cause my score to drop?

How long will it take to show up on my credit report?

Thank you.

TU 741 EQ 751  Aug 14

TU 736 EQ 745  Jul 26

[Anonymous]

Hi Kaffine!

If your mother's credit card issuer reports authorized users accounts to the credit bureaus, it'll give a boost to the AAoA. You'll want to make sure that even though your Mom pays in full every month, that the card doesn't show high or even maxed out utilization due to the reporting date.

Message Edited by LilMirth on 08-15-2009 08:51 AM

[Anonymous]

It will most likely increase your score, but that is not guranteed. Depending on what else is in your credit report, you could be scored differently once your AAOA is changed. Most importantly, by having a 30 year old card on your report, just realize your balances will likely be graded more harshly. This might offset some of the gain you get in the age portion of the FICO score.

[MarineVietVet]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I'm trying to get my credit scores up a little more to get a better intrest rate on a mortgage or lot loan.  When I look at my scores here it lists as negatives the age of my accounts the oldest credit card is 6 years the AAoA is 3 years.  It also says that I have been seeking credit which is from getting a pre-approval on a mortgage earlier this year TU and EQ both show 2 inquires 7 days apart.  I can get added as an AU to one of my Mom's CC that was open in '77 it is paid in full every month.

Will this help my score it would increase the AAoA to 9 years?

Will they pull my credit when I get added as an AU will this cause my score to drop?

How long will it take to show up on my credit report?

Thank you.

TU 741 EQ 751  Aug 14

TU 736 EQ 745  Jul 26

---

Yes it can help IF the account is older than any of yours, IF the payment history is long and clean, IF the utilization is very low, and IF it will report to the CRA's. Not all cards will do this. You need to ask the company first. You will inherit the entire history of this account. One caveat however; if this account starts to go south your credit will be affected as well. Keep that in mind.

Your credit will not be pulled because you are an AU.

How long it takes each issuer to report differs from company to company.

[RobertEG]

I won't say too much about AU accounts, at the obvious risk of disdain from most on this site.

I will only say that FICO scoring is based on assessment of individual credit risk, and AU accounts are NOT

When anyone piggybacks on the earned credit history of another, it is no longer the indivual that is being assessed.

When a consumer gets AU credit history that is not earned, it affects us all. 

I would eliminate the whole concept of AU accounts tomorrow, as FICO originally proposed, and yet later yielded to under consumer presssure.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 08-16-2009 01:16 AM

[bigtim]

---

@RobertEG wrote:

When a consumer gets AU credit history that is not earned, it affects us all. 

I would eliminate the whole concept of AU accounts tomorrow, as FICO originally proposed, and yet later yielded to under consumer presssure.

---

I don't want to jack this thread, but I'll make a brief comment to this. First, I am a beneficiary of being an AU.

Without knowing the FICO algorithm, I can only guess an AU account is not scored as high as an IA. Secondy, I think it can be related to something similar as a co-signor on a loan - some people have had that option to help them establish credit, others have had to start from scratch - nearly same thing IMO. Is having a co-signor 'fair' to those that don't? Thirdly, there are many other questionable means of 'manipulating' scores, that IMO, are worse in terms of score manipulation, such as HIPAAs, PFDs, GWs, DVs, disputes on valid derog debts, etc. that end up being removed.

Credit reporting/scoring certainly isn't perfect, but with the good and bad balanced out, it seems to work.

[llecs]

---

bigtim wrote:

Without knowing the FICO algorithm, I can only guess an AU account is not scored as high as an IA.

---

AUs are scores equally as individual accounts.

[bigtim]

---

@llecs wrote:

---

@bigtim wrote:

Without knowing the FICO algorithm, I can only guess an AU account is not scored as high as an IA.

---

AUs are scores equally as individual accounts.

---

Ah, I see. Well, from an objective view, I would say this should be modified. Maybe scoring the AU from the date that the AU was added - I don't think it's 'fair' for a person to be able to gain several years of positive history simply from the click of a mouse. Now, from my own selfish perspective, I'm not complaining for the moment. I've been the beneficiary of an AU on an excellent account with 2+ years history - however, I was added as AU from the day it was opened, and have used and paid on the account as if it were mine - a 'real' AU...

[llecs]

---

bigtim wrote:

---

@llecs wrote:

---

@bigtim wrote:

Without knowing the FICO algorithm, I can only guess an AU account is not scored as high as an IA.

---

AUs are scores equally as individual accounts.

---

Ah, I see. Well, from an objective view, I would say this should be modified. Maybe scoring the AU from the date that the AU was added - I don't think it's 'fair' for a person to be able to gain several years of positive history simply from the click of a mouse. Now, from my own selfish perspective, I'm not complaining for the moment. I've been the beneficiary of an AU on an excellent account with 2+ years history - however, I was added as AU from the day it was opened, and have used and paid on the account as if it were mine - a 'real' AU...

---

I'm with you. Piggybacking has really hurt lenders. Scores are artificially increased and gives a false appearance that the borrower has the ability to repay a loan when perhaps he/she cannot. Lenders are insisting that FICO remove AUs from scoring. I recently listened to a webinar found on FICO's website that talked about the new TU08 vs the TU04 versions. A lender came on and chided FICO for allowing AUs when other scoring systems, like VantageScore, don't include AUs. FICO defended itself saying that there's a law that, as interpreted, prohibits them from blocking AU TLs. Other lenders had chimed in and mentioned that many of their defaults were linked to customers who engaged in piggybacking.

I think, but not sure, that FICO came up with a way recently to filter who's a relative and who isn't in the newer score versions. You certainly won't see it for a while, but hopefully they'll exclude piggybacking for non-relatives.

[Anonymous]

Thank you.  I should have been added as an AU to this card a long time ago when I was actually using it as my own because no CCC would give me a credit card with a high enough limit to do what I needed but I didn't know I could be added as an AU at the time.  Now I have cards with high limits of my own I don't use it anymore.

I see the issues with allowing AU to be counted in the FICO scores.  I would think they would make it so it only counts from when I started being an AU that would make more sense. However I don't make the rules I just try to play by them. 

Message Edited by kaffine on 08-16-2009 01:20 PM