How do I help fix someone else's low fico score and get a CC?

[Anonymous]

 I have 730~ish average MyFICO  FICO Score 8 scores on all 3 bureau's. 

I have a relative that has a FAKO 630~ish score.   He currently has no credit cards, and he applied for a CC at CreditOne and was denied.

I want to help him by using my score so he can get a CC in his name.  Anyone have any ideas ???  Admittedly, I have no idea how to do this and all ideas, good ideas, will be very much appreciated.

Obviously, if I am using my name as co-card holder, then I would have complete access to said account and watch it like a hawk for a period of 1 year so that his own credit improves and then I would remove myself from the card and that's that.

I was thinking of using a secured CC maybe?  Depositing X amount of money into a secured Credit card.   Wouldn't that report to the bureau's and improve his scores as the months go by?

[Ghoshida]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 I have 730~ish average MyFICO  FICO Score 8 scores on all 3 bureau's. 

I have a relative that has a FAKO 630~ish score.   He currently has no credit cards, and he applied for a CC at CreditOne and was denied.

I want to help him by using my score so he can get a CC in his name.  Anyone have any ideas ???  Admittedly, I have no idea how to do this and all ideas, good ideas, will be very much appreciated.

Obviously, if I am using my name as co-card holder, then I would have complete access to said account and watch it like a hawk for a period of 1 year so that his own credit improves and then I would remove myself from the card and that's that.

I was thinking of using a secured CC maybe?  Depositing X amount of money into a secured Credit card.   Wouldn't that report to the bureau's and improve his scores as the months go by?

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You can try adding said relative as authorized user on your card(s). FICO will consider the AU as a genuine basis to improve score. Some banks e.g. Chase still won't consider them but by then, he can get other bank cards (please, not Credit One).

You don't need to hand over the physical card to him. That way you'll maintain control over the actual finances. 

Secured CC will also work; but that doesn't have anything to do with your scores. It'll help build his scores independently.

[Anonymous]

What do you guys think is the best idea then?    Secured CC?   I'm looking for the fastest route to get his scores up so he can have his own legit CC.

[Anonymous]

I added my dd as an auth user to my Barclay Rewards card which I've had for a year. She had no scores on Ex & EQ and a Very  low score on Tu. It took about a week to report & her fico scores on all three are now over 700. Afterwards she appd & was approved for an unsecured 1k BofA Visa. Income of 15k. Ex pull. 

[Anonymous]

Bump for more help

[redbeard]

What is causing his scores to be so low?  Maybe you need to fix that (if possible) before worrying about a credit card.

Since he has a score, he clearly has had some credit.  Is it all taken care of?  Is there something drastically wrong?

What is keeping him from getting a secured card on his own?

Dan

[Anonymous]

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@redbeard wrote:

What is causing his scores to be so low?  Maybe you need to fix that (if possible) before worrying about a credit card.

Since he has a score, he clearly has had some credit.  Is it all taken care of?  Is there something drastically wrong?

What is keeping him from getting a secured card on his own?

Dan

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+1. Sounds to me like he either has a BK7 or collections.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What do you guys think is the best idea then?    Secured CC?   I'm looking for the fastest route to get his scores up so he can have his own legit CC.

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First off, there are no quick fixes.  Both of you need to be in the proper mindset and expect that rebuilding will take a long time.

You can certainly add that person as an AU and keep the card but the other will need to build his own credit.  I'd suggest getting 2-3 secured cards and managing utilization as generally suggested.  You do not need to cosign and I would recommend that you do not jointly apply for anything.

However, the bigger and more important thing that need to be done is addressing derogs as they generally have the most impact and will drag scores down as long as they report.  Hit the Rebuilding subforum to see what can be done about any derogs.

If he can't budget and stick to it then he'll need to work on that as well or else it will be impossible to properly maintain credit.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Wouldn't that report to the bureau's and improve his scores as the months go by? 

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Whether he's an AU or has his own secured cards all will report (well, in most cases for AU anyway).   However, as stated above, some creditors and scoring models will ignore accounts where he is an AU which is why he needs to build his own tradelines.  Whether or not his scores improve all depend on how those accounts are managed.  they can hurt or help.  It also depends on whether or not he addresses the other issues with his credit.  As I said the derogs will probably outweigh all other factors.  He needs to build postiive payment history, keep low reported utilization, build AAoA, etc but he really needs to address any derogs to make significant headway.

It sounds like you both could benefit from learning about credit.  This forum is one good resource but there are certainly others as well.  If you haven't read this then take a look:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

[Imperfectfuture]

Agree with the others. Get a secured card in his name, then visit the RYC forum with copies if his CR's. His score will never grow like yours unless you get rid of the baddies (like I did, see sig), and regardless of how he treats the secured card, no lenders come out of the woodwork for his own cards until the carnage is cleaned up.

Good credit is only part of the picture. Having no bad credit (derogs) is the other part.

[Goblin]

Most of these answers are basic rebuilding concepts:

• Fix the negatives by sending goodwill letters, requesting pay for delete, dispute any erroneous info on reports.
• Have your relative be added as an authorized user to spotless credit card accounts.
• Open a secured credit card or two.  Bank of America's secured card allows cardholder accounts to graduate to unsecured cards, so that's a foot in the door with them. There is also a credit union that softpulls for their secured cards.  I believe it's SDFCU?  Im not 100% on that