topic Re: USER CARDS ONLY in General Credit Topics

USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 00:07:58 GMT

i have a visa card that i am only a authorized user. does the balance on this card count on my total outstanding amount. the card is listed on my report correctly

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:04:33 GMT

gmAL777 wrote:
i have a visa card that i am only a authorized user. does the balance on this card count on my total outstanding amount. the card is listed on my report correctly

As an AU you get the good & the bad! This is why you do not want to be an AU on someones account that is maxed or has any late payments.

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 14:53:10 GMT

Yes

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:20:07 GMT

has to..

otherwise. what is the point of piggyback?

you get balance payment history the works..

The only thing that i would consider piggybacking myself to...if I was tempted to do....which i never ever think this is the best decision.....

I would only piggyback to a credit history that is long and guess what with a zero balance..

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:56:15 GMT

The history on that card crosses over to your own history. If it stays in good standing, you benefit. If something goes wrong, you share the hurt.

AU status was a perfectly valid category for married couples and others in long, established relationships. Both people considered themselves responsible for the card, whether as an employee pulling a paycheck that went to the card, or as the family financial manager who stayed on top of the bills and figured out how they would be paid.

Once it started being used by total strangers for profit, the whole process became corrupted. The changes in FICO 08 are a direct result of this. Once the changes finally take effect, many, many long-time AU's will be hurt, many of them stay-at-home spouses, because their AU CC's will not allow them to convert to joint status, and they will lose all their history.

No matter how marriages/ partnerships are set up these days, 20 and 30 years ago, an AU status was a perfectly valid way of handling family expenses, and these people are being screwed. Sorry for the OT! As you might see, this is a topic close to my heart.

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:07:15 GMT

the cc companies will allow for a spouse or au to be on the account in a joint fashion if he/she qualifies........can you believe it....i was never aware of the abuse.....of au.....

however i still don't like it...as a way to gain points valid or not.....

i think that everyone should do there very best to make their OWN history......you should stand alone...

sharing credit i guess is okay if your husband/spouse is a cazillionaire and pays everything to zero.....

that is fine..but when a person does not have available funds to take care of a disastrous mistake on behalf of their spouse or au account then it becomes not just a small problem but a very big problem.

how many people get divorce and then say forget it can't do it by myself.

they are left in a disastrous situation bad credit...and 7 years...

you can fight and fight and fight..most of the stuff still remains..you may get some but usually not all.

so...now....after that..what do you still think au...joint accounts are so great...i think not..

just like i've said......YOU increase your chance of......BAD credit...

you can monitor yourself and your spending..but really can you control others..

my rule of thumb is that if you do decide to tdo that...be ready to accept the full responsibility..NO MATTER WHAT...

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:18:46 GMT

In fact, there are companies that will NOT allow AU's to become joint. If they give the former AU a card in his/her own name, the history will be lost.

Off the top of my head, I'm remembering AmEx and Citi. I started a thread a while back to collect names of cards that will and won't allow conversion, but it's early days yet. If you have specific knowledge of a CCC that has taken a position on this, please add on to the thread:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&thread.id=56719

Again, it's all very nice to look back now and say that 20 years ago, things should have been done differently. And I have told my adult children to always keep their credit separate. But it is not right to yank the rug out from under people's feet, when they have always acted in good faith on existing well-understood rules.

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:12:28 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&thread.id=56719
American Express will NOT allow AU's to convert to joint, because they don't have joint status, period, from what I understand. I'm not yet in the "AmEx mafia", so please chime in with more info if you've got it.

Correct, AmEx does not have any joint accounts, credit or charge.

However, we do have one way that an AU can become an account owner. Only upon the demise of the original Basic CardMember. Not a pleasant thought, but it does happen many times per day.

The good history is also transfered.

Sorry if this brings anyone down.

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:25:08 GMT

wow...the demise of..

now my head is spinning....

It can be an opportunity or a disaster...huh

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:39:40 GMT

Sad how some people will turn anything around for a profit and ruin the benefit for everyone.

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:49:37 GMT

The above information seems conflicting...

I will explain

Authorized Users are not contractually responsible to an account.

Joint account users are contractually responsible to the account

Credit card companies will extend credit to you based on some type of merit....if you don't qualify then you don't qualify....

There is no such thing as a direct conversion but you can apply for a different account which is a different contract of terms and agreements. Remember we are talking money....and big banks and business when its time for them to take you to court or collect their money they will have to prove under what conditions you got a credit account from them...

if you are an AU.....you are in the clear....

if you are a joint account holder then you are not.

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:15:44 GMT

Good, concise, and simplified breakdown

Re: USER CARDS ONLY

Dawn — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:10:23 GMT

sherry wrote:

Authorized Users are not contractually responsible to an account.
Joint account users are contractually responsible to the account
<edit text out>
if you are an AU.....you are in the clear....
if you are a joint account holder then you are not.

I think we all need to keep in mind that guidelines (regarding this issue ...and others that are discussed here) may vary from state to state.

Generally, it would be expected that AUs are "in the clear" as far as legal responsibility for an account. This may be true in all circumstances of non-spousal AUs.

However, in Texas (community property state) ... my understanding is that AU status does not protect spouses from the obligations of our partners. Scary ... isn't it?