topic Re: Authorized User in Rebuilding Your Credit

Authorized User

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:29:36 GMT

I have a Capital One Rewards card with a $1500 limit. A few months ago I added my husband as an authorized user to try and help his credit score. At the time, the balance on the card was pretty low. Since then, due to a few emergencies, I've had to charge a good bit on the card and it now has a balance around $1100. My husband has a few other credit cards in his name all in good standing with lower balances. If I remove him from my account, will it hurt or help his score? We're trying to buy a house and his score is about 12 points away from the required FICO for USDA financing. Any thoughts on what I should do? I'm going to be a little slow in paying the balance down.

Thanks!

Re: Authorized User

superdad — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:38:45 GMT

I dont think it will matter, having a 1100 on 1500 is going to hurt both your scores. You could try but removing him from the account will hurt his score because he is loosing a good acct. and nothing to replace it with.

Re: Authorized User

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:07:51 GMT

True, but at the same time, wouldn't the amount of debt he has go down which could potentially increase his score? However, his score didn't change when I added him.

Re: Authorized User

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:38:14 GMT

I was an AU on my Moms' Cap1 card and had her remove me when she ran the balance back up near the limit. It ended up hurting me just about as much either way because it droped my average age of accounts and I didn't have a replacement card to offset the drop. Now I've had to pay off her balance in full and get added back to the card. Still waiting for the card to start reporting again. Not sure how it will play out in his case, but that's what happened to me.

Re: Authorized User

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:44:08 GMT

Is your card he is AU on his oldest card? His youngest card?

If it is his oldest it could hurt his AAoA. If it is his newest it won't hurt as much as the balance on the card.

Re: Authorized User

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:29:23 GMT

The card is about a year old but it's not his oldest account by far. I'm concerned that removing it will hurt him because of the 12 months of good history. But at the same time, I'm worried that the balance is hurting him worse.

Re: Authorized User

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:40:06 GMT

That card alone has a utilization of 74% which may be maxed out for FICO. I can't remember if it is 70 or 90%.

What is your husbands overall utilization? If you don't know if you give me balances and CL I can figure it out.

Re: Authorized User

TrueGeminiNC — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 02:56:26 GMT

I had myself removed from 2 of my moms Capital One accounts; 3/26/13 and 5/14/13 respectively. Both accounts are less than 1 year old.

I pulled a copy of my TransUnion report via myFICO.com a few days ago and my TransUnion FICO score is lower than both Equifax and Experian. The account holder section for each account on my TransUnion report reads "account relationship terminated." However, both accounts reflect a large balance (+90% utilization).

I just sent a letter to Capital One today asking that they remove the tradelines from my TransUnion report considering I am no longer an authorized user on my mom's accounts.

I expect to see a bump in my TransUnion score once the tradelines are removed. In my opinion, the large balances are negatively impacting my score. SInce being added to my moms Capital One accounts, I have opened AMEX, BOA, and Citi credit accounts. Notably, I also have several older credit accounts.

I too hope to apply for a mortgage soon, so I am very mindful of my credit scores.

Re: Authorized User

TrueGeminiNC — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 22:54:19 GMT

UPDATAE - today I received a letter from Capital One. They have suggested that they will remove both accounts from my credit bureau reports.

Notably, they included a fourth credit bureau agency; Innovis (www.innovis.com). Has anyone heard of this credit reporting agency?

Re: Authorized User

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 03:53:42 GMT

Yes, they are a 4th that is starting to be used a lot. You can order a free copy directly from them every 12 months.

Re: Authorized User

swtneka — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 20:06:19 GMT

@JAY305 wrote:
UPDATAE - today I received a letter from Capital One. They have suggested that they will remove both accounts from my credit bureau reports.

Notably, they included a fourth credit bureau agency; Innovis (www.innovis.com). Has anyone heard of this credit reporting agency?

Hmm I never heard of them.. Do lenders use them?

Re: Authorized User

TrueGeminiNC — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 22:42:34 GMT

@swtneka wrote:
@JAY305 wrote:
UPDATAE - today I received a letter from Capital One. They have suggested that they will remove both accounts from my credit bureau reports.

Notably, they included a fourth credit bureau agency; Innovis (www.innovis.com). Has anyone heard of this credit reporting agency?
Hmm I never heard of them.. Do lenders use them?

From what i have learned, Innovis is not a significant credit agency and is only utilized by a hanful of creditors. Out of curiosity, I am going to submit a request for a free report to see what it looks like. Notably, people have sugested that the Innovis report is oftentimes incomplete.

Re: Authorized User

swtneka — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 23:04:11 GMT

Hmmm i might get the free one to see what it says myself but i think that it might be empty...