Authorized User.....Is this normal?

[Anonymous]

I have excellent credit and my husband has terrible credit. (Long story) Anyways, I have not added him to any of my cc's because I do not want our credit mixed together at all. Well, he was using my Shell store card and the gas station all of a sudden started asking for id when he used it. So I had to add him as an authorized user and order a card in his name. All I had to give was his name, nothing else. Well, a few weeks ago, he started getting preapprovals for cards in the mail (which never happened before). I app'd for him to get a Capital One credit card so he could start building his credit and he was approved for 300.00. Well, the card came yesterday and I was setting everything up online and it showed you can get his credit information so I looked at it. My shell card is showing up on his credit. It backdated it all the way to 2012 and shows excellent history. That explains why he can all of a sudden get some sort of credit. I'm confused as to how they can just put that on his credit when I gave no information about him. Is that strange? It shows him as an authorized user, not as the account owner. I panicked alittle bit and checked my credit and it shows the Shell card as an individual card account for me.

[ksantangelo23]

Providing his name was more than enough for them to locate his credit report, and add the information.

There is zero risk to you, with the exception of him using the card maliciously. Your credit will be unaffected.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have excellent credit and my husband has terrible credit. (Long story) Anyways, I have not added him to any of my cc's because I do not want our credit mixed together at all. Well, he was using my Shell store card and the gas station all of a sudden started asking for id when he used it. So I had to add him as an authorized user and order a card in his name. All I had to give was his name, nothing else. Well, a few weeks ago, he started getting preapprovals for cards in the mail (which never happened before). I app'd for him to get a Capital One credit card so he could start building his credit and he was approved for 300.00. Well, the card came yesterday and I was setting everything up online and it showed you can get his credit information so I looked at it. My shell card is showing up on his credit. It backdated it all the way to 2012 and shows excellent history. That explains why he can all of a sudden get some sort of credit. I'm confused as to how they can just put that on his credit when I gave no information about him. Is that strange? It shows him as an authorized user, not as the account owner. I panicked alittle bit and checked my credit and it shows the Shell card as an individual card account for me.

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Yes, that's perfectly normal and how adding someone as an AU can be very helpful to their limited or bad credit.  Creditors don't need much more than a person's name to be able to report to a credit bureau in their name as long as they live at the same address.  Everything is working as it should.

[Anonymous]

If I add someone as an AU to one of my accounts and sufficient info exists and they start reporting for them and then I remove that person as an AU does it show as a closed card on their account or does the history go away entirely?

[ksantangelo23]

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@Anonymous wrote:

If I add someone as an AU to one of my accounts and sufficient info exists and they start reporting for them and then I remove that person as an AU does it show as a closed card on their account or does the history go away entirely?

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It will show as Closed, but whoever's creidt report it is can wrtie a letter to the creditor requesting it be removed entirely. If that does not work, the CRA's will remove it on request.

[Anonymous]

Thanks y'all! It just really surprised me. It's a good thing for him though. His credit has been messed up for so long. He gave me the Shell card back so he won't be using it anymore so he can use the Capital One to build his credit. I was going to cancel that card in his name but will that then erase the account from his credit? The shell card does not have great perks like some of the other ones that I have. This account will be sd'd.

[vanillabean]

It's normal. I wouldn't put too much into the impact of an AU card though; his income matters more. But having an AU card is certainly better than using a card that's not yours. Now appears to be a great time for a credit discussion with your husband, so that he can act more actively himself.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks y'all! It just really surprised me. It's a good thing for him though. His credit has been messed up for so long. He gave me the Shell card back so he won't be using it anymore so he can use the Capital One to build his credit. I was going to cancel that card in his name but will that then erase the account from his credit? The shell card does not have great perks like some of the other ones that I have. This account will be sd'd.

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Adding someone as an au reports the primary card holders account history to the au's file. It is a great way to build someones credit and if you can add him to about 3 cards it will have a better effect as long as you guys are working diligently to get his negatives deleted.

Many of us use that approach to accelerate the building of credit. You did good.

[vanillabean]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Adding someone as an au reports the primary card holders account history to the au's file. It is a great way to build someones credit and if you can add him to about 3 cards it will have a better effect as long as you guys are working diligently to get his negatives deleted.

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Given your impressive user icon I can see how piggybacking would appeal to you, but I learned early on that the only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first.