topic Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her? in General Credit Topics

Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 20:54:31 GMT

So my sister is in a rough spot credit score wise. She was out fo work and has a ton of lates/collections (the collections are all paid, but they did not offer 'pay for deletion' so still on her report showing paid).

She has 3 credit cards maxed out

Amazon 4000/4000

AMEX 10000/12000

walmart 5500/6000

She was paying minimums + monthly interest + 100-200 extra whatever she can afford to.

She owns her home and was never late on it.

She owns her car

She wants to get a new credit card with no interest BT offer or a HELOC but her credit isnt good enough to get either.

I Have like 80,000 worth of credit cards with 0 balance and 100% on-time i can add her as an AU for. that would take her overall utilization from 100% to 20% but i dont think it works the same as an AU.

how much would this realistically help her scores?

Would this negatively impact me (She woudlnt have a card or spend, its just for maniupulation)

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

coldfusion — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 22:18:11 GMT

Adding her as an AU won't hurt you.

However, with 2 cards reporting at over 90% utilization (i.e. considered maxed out) and 1 between 80-90%, adding her as an AU probably wouldn't do an awful lot to improve her scores or odds of obtaining a loan (either personal or CC) either, at least in the short term.

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

sznthescore — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 22:21:08 GMT

No much, if at all. Best advice... pay more than the minimum.

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

Anonymalous — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 23:12:24 GMT

That's probably not going to fix anything. Even with an AU, and even if she pays down those absurdly large balances, her credit's going to be garbage for a long while because of all those lates and collections. Rebuilding is a slow process.

But in the short term, she needs to get those balances off those credit cards. On top of the high interest, she might be balanced chased, with CLDs and cards being closed. Since she owns her own house and car, she has collateral for a HELOC, or a secured loan against her car. If she's having difficulties, try a local credit union. They tend to be a lot friendlier to people in trouble. Just don't do it foolishly... if she defaults, she could lose the secured asset.

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

FireMedic1 — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 15:25:40 GMT

I'll go medical on you. You have a rather large laceration that needs sutures. But you place a bandaid on it instead. Little time passes and the wound is still open with that bandaid and still isnt healing. You finally go to a Urgent Care center and get sutures to close the wound so it can heal. Adding AU wont fix whats still in need of care. Need to find a way to increase income or go on a strict budget and cut out all the non essential monthly spending. Get the cards util down far enough to get a debt consolidation loan or HELOC approval. Just passing 89% or even better 69% aggregate util and it would help score wise to get an approval. Good luck!

While were at it. You mentioned you have $0 balance on all your cards. Your losing points for not having any accounts report a balance. 15-20 pts avg. Have 1 report $50 and PIF each month. Rinse and repeat.

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

disdreamin — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 15:37:42 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
I'll go medical on you. You have a rather large laceration that needs sutures. But you place a bandaid on it instead. Little time passes and the wound is still open with that bandaid and still isnt healing. You finally go to a Urgent Care center and get sutures to close the wound so it can heal. Adding AU wont fix whats still in need of care. <snip>

While were at it. You mentioned you have $0 balance on all your cards. Your losing points for not having any accounts report a balance. 15-20 pts avg. Have 1 report $50 and PIF each month. Rinse and repeat.

I like that analogy - AU isn't going to address the issue, it's going to come down to paying down that debt at least part of the way, and letting the lates and collections age.

As far as the $0 balance on all cards, as long as your credit scores are in a happy place and you're not planning to apply for anything, is there really a compelling reason to bother? I don't worry about that at all, sometimes all my cards report balances, sometimes none of them do. My score might waver a little, but as long as it's in a happy place I'm not going to stress trying to do AZEO

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

FireMedic1 — Sun, 06 Feb 2022 10:01:28 GMT

@disdreamin wrote:
@FireMedic1 wrote:
I'll go medical on you. You have a rather large laceration that needs sutures. But you place a bandaid on it instead. Little time passes and the wound is still open with that bandaid and still isnt healing. You finally go to a Urgent Care center and get sutures to close the wound so it can heal. Adding AU wont fix whats still in need of care. <snip>

While were at it. You mentioned you have $0 balance on all your cards. Your losing points for not having any accounts report a balance. 15-20 pts avg. Have 1 report $50 and PIF each month. Rinse and repeat.
I like that analogy - AU isn't going to address the issue, it's going to come down to paying down that debt at least part of the way, and letting the lates and collections age.

As far as the $0 balance on all cards, as long as your credit scores are in a happy place and you're not planning to apply for anything, is there really a compelling reason to bother? I don't worry about that at all, sometimes all my cards report balances, sometimes none of them do. My score might waver a little, but as long as it's in a happy place I'm not going to stress trying to do AZEO

AZEO is 50/50. Some live by it like me since I started over 6 yrs ago. Some dont. Different strokes for different folks. The majority like having higher scores and thats why I said what I did. Some are happy where they're at like yourself and dont practice it. The majority here want higher scores, better cards, more perks, and whats best for them to move on up the credit ladder. Thats my posting style. I cant get to the nozzle on top of the ladder truck unless I climb to get to it. I just help people get there. If I stop half way. The job wont get done.

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

disdreamin — Sun, 06 Feb 2022 15:07:22 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
@disdreamin wrote:
As far as the $0 balance on all cards, as long as your credit scores are in a happy place and you're not planning to apply for anything, is there really a compelling reason to bother? I don't worry about that at all, sometimes all my cards report balances, sometimes none of them do. My score might waver a little, but as long as it's in a happy place I'm not going to stress trying to do AZEO
AZEO is 50/50. Some live by it like me since I started over 6 yrs ago. Some dont. Different strokes for different folks. The majority like having higher scores and thats why I said what I did. Some are happy where they're at like yourself and dont practice it. The majority here want higher scores, better cards, more perks, and whats best for them to move on up the credit ladder. Thats my posting style. I cant get to the nozzle on top of the ladder truck unless I climb to get to it. I just help people get there. If I stop half way. The job wont get done.

Understood, that's why I mentioned scores being in a happy place a couple times. My FICO 8's are all >800 without putting any effort into AZEO, and I have yet to be denied for a loan or cc I wanted due to my credit scores, so I'm okay with not putting effort into optimizing. If my scores were different and I wanted them higher, I'd 100% jump on the AZEO opportunity.

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

SoCalGardener — Sun, 06 Feb 2022 23:45:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Would this negatively impact me (She woudlnt have a card or spend, its just for maniupulation)

Others have already given you some great advice, so I'll just address this ^^.

It's my understanding that banks don't like AU accounts that don't actually get used. In other words, they're on to the 'manipulation' tactic and don't like it.

If you don't want your sister actually using the account, you could still go ahead and add her as an AU--which will trigger having a card sent in her name. Take that card and use it occasionally. They won't know you're the one using it, they'll just see charges on the AU card and be happy.

Kindly note that I've never actually *done* this, so my thinking is hypothetical. Maybe someone with actual knowledge about it will say differently!

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

CYBERSAM — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 19:05:45 GMT

She owns her house! That is the best way to refinance for lower APR and get some cash back.

Given she was never late on the payments for the house she should still get a decent rate. To me that would be the quickest way to bring her score up and consolidate her debt.

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

Kforce — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 19:32:07 GMT

@Anonymalous wrote:
That's probably not going to fix anything. Even with an AU, and even if she pays down those absurdly large balances, her credit's going to be garbage for a long while because of all those lates and collections. Rebuilding is a slow process.

But in the short term, she needs to get those balances off those credit cards. On top of the high interest, she might be balanced chased, with CLDs and cards being closed. Since she owns her own house and car, she has collateral for a HELOC, or a secured loan against her car. If she's having difficulties, try a local credit union. They tend to be a lot friendlier to people in trouble. Just don't do it foolishly... if she defaults, she could lose the secured asset.

^^^ This

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

RSX — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 21:02:26 GMT

Agreed with all - the Utilization drop won't help her enough to matter - she just needs to start crushing that debt - extra payments of even $20 here and there will add up - don't need to wait until the payment date - she needs to throw everything at them - drop all extras until they are well under control

@SoCalGardener i do this with my Amex BCP - GF is on there as an AU - i swap the card out monthly and put spend on it so that some activity shows up under her name

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 21:10:35 GMT

Is there a way to add her as a AU and then transfer ownership of the card to her?

Really the interest is whats killing her. being able to BT to a no-interest for 12 months promotion would go a long way for her. I'd like to avoid doing that while the card is in my name. My cards are:

BoA

Amex/Elan financial

Citi

FNBO

CapOne

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

FinStar — Sun, 20 Feb 2022 19:58:18 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Is there a way to add her as a AU and then transfer ownership of the card to her?

Really the interest is whats killing her. being able to BT to a no-interest for 12 months promotion would go a long way for her. I'd like to avoid doing that while the card is in my name. My cards are:

BoA
Amex/Elan financial
Citi
FNBO
CapOne

You'll have to check with each specific issuer about transfer of account ownership policies. Some can do it, others do not.

Re: Adding my sister as an AU.. will it help her?

krielly — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 18:41:34 GMT

My two cents...

Some have suggested a home equity loan. I would never ever recommend anyone turn unsecured debt into secured debt. Catastrophy hits, wham..........you're screwed and can never discharge the debt if its absolutely necessary.

When someone has all of their cards maxed, there may be a deeper issue that no debt consolidation or balance transfer will solve. I would recommend a part time job, shrinking the budget, and whatever else possible to start paying away at these cards.

Sock drawer ALL of these cards until they are paid in full.