Credit Cards Auth User

[Anonymous]

Hello.

I have been reading on these boards for over a year now, got my credit score to jump nearly 100 pts thanks to this board.  Seriously, these boards are the best source of information.

Does adding me as an authorized user give me their credit history on the card?

Anyone have experience with this?

Thank you!!

[kjm79]

Some banks do require you to be joint on the account for it to report.  And not all banks report AU accounts.  If the bank does report it then yes, you will inherit the entire history of the account.  If you let us know what the bank is we can let you know if they report or not.  

[espnjunkie]

This is going to sound blunt, but I highly doubt that you will be anywhere close to mortgage worthy by September 2012 with your current credit scores and only one tradeline and a few utility bills. Will being added as an authorized user help a bit? Probably, but definitely not enough to get you a mortgage with a solid rate. You need to try and garden for 6 months or so, try to open up another tradeline, garden for another 6-12 months ish and then evaluate what your credit position is then.

[CreditCrusader]

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@espnjunkie wrote:

This is going to sound blunt, but I highly doubt that you will be anywhere close to mortgage worthy by September 2012 with your current credit scores and only one tradeline and a few utility bills. Will being added as an authorized user help a bit? Probably, but definitely not enough to get you a mortgage with a solid rate. You need to try and garden for 6 months or so, try to open up another tradeline, garden for another 6-12 months ish and then evaluate what your credit position is then.

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I don't know about that...here are the OP's scores:

Current 4.24.12:: Ex - 630 TU - 616 Exp - 563

Not far from USDA approval, which only requires 620 median score...and the OP's scores will probably go up as an AU.

[espnjunkie]

anything below 650 is considered to be subprime. It's not terrible credit per se, but far less than ideal for a lender. It would be wisest to garden and wait until those scores are higher before looking for a mortgage. The rate difference could mean saving thousands of dollars over the life of the mortgage. The impatience now may prove to be costly in the future.

[NikJ4]

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I disagree... I have a mortgage with 4.75% and I dont have a 700+. It is a case by case matter and determined by each lender's guidelines. Also, you can always streamline refi once you have a year or two under your belt. Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

Where are you guys getting OP's score and intent to get mortgage by September?

In answer to OP's question, being an authorized user, assuming the card reports AUs, will give you the exact same tradeline as the original card holder's tradeline (both positives and negatives) with the exception being American Express issued cards.  Some lenders ignore AU for scoring, some don't.

[espnjunkie]

http://www.myfico.com/myfico/creditcentral/loanrates.aspx

check out his calculator and it gives an estimate. Improving those scores before applying can end up saving you thousands and thousands of dollars

[espnjunkie]

post has since been edited