Mom has terrible credit, AU question

[Anonymous]

Hey there guys, 

So.... My mom has terrible credit and is just generally not very good with her money. I've been thinking about adding her as an AU on one of my cards, partially to help her but mostly beacuse it would be convient for her to be able to buy things for me that I am paying for. I am fairly certain that adding her would be great for her score but my uestion is, will adding an AU with terrible credit hurt my score? I feel like it won't but I don't want to do it and then be burned later. 

Thanks in advance for your answers to my stupid question. 

[marty56]

As long as she doesn't use the card without your perm ission I don't see any issue in doing that.

It also me help her outside of FICO score in that she may get motivated to improve her score because you are helping her.

[DollyLama]

Just adding her as a user will not hurt your score. So long as she does not make her own personal purchases to which you are the sole person responsible for payments, and potential for the card utilization to exceed thresholds that ding your credit, or get maxxed out and possible adverse action (ie. closing account, or decrease your credit line). If you have any hesitation that this might be plausible, do not add her. 

I would honestly help guide your Mother in credit, understand scoring, responsibility, try to clear up derogs on her report. After a year of responsibility, if you then wish to add her for items you need purchased, then do so.

[HeavenOhio]

Adding your mom won't hurt your score as long as the card's utilization is kept in check. And as long as utilization is low, it'll help her score.

Adding her because she buys things for you that you pay for is actually the "right" reason for having an AU. We see so much about scoring advantages here on the forum that sometimes we forget that the main reason for AUs is the convenience factor.

The bottom line is to proceed with caution. If you're certain that she'll be better with your money than her own, go ahead with your plan. If you want to help her score but decide that it's too risky to give her access to your money, add her as an AU without giving her the card.