Joint account holder qualifications?

[Anonymous]

So in adding a joint account holder, do they need to ultimately qualify to be added on to the account? I was speaking with WellsFargo on au vs joint and they were not too clear. Anyone know if they report AU to cra? Would adding them as a joint account holder be a better move with WF? If the person I am trying to add barely has any credit, how will they qualify(if need be)?

[ILBrian]

As a joint card holder the person would need to qualify however the qualifications are lesser as the liability is "joint" if the person is simply new user to credit I wouldn't see any problems... The account would then report JOINT on both of your credit reports Reporting as an Authorized user gives them all of the previous billing history and extends their average age of accounts, lenders upon manual review will look at this to a lesser extent as a method of credit worthiness

[Anonymous]

So would it be better to add someone as a joint account holder or an AU if they are trying to start up their credit?

I want to add them to my WF CC which I have a great credit history on, no late payments, and I have had that account for +6 years.

Not sure if WF would report an AU to the cra since I tried talking to them abour it but they were not too clear on it.

[ILBrian]

Joint would be best...... but it does become a "shared obligation" so you have to both be willing to pay for each others debt Many lenders don't have a joint credit card option

[Anonymous]

The answer to the question partly depends on the relationship to the other person. If you add them as a joint card holder they are indeed obligated to the account the same as you. However, they also have full privileges to charge on the account as long as the account is open. And it will require the authorization and cooperation of both parties to voluntarily close the account. This means if the relationship changes down the road this person has the ability to inflict damage on YOUR credit account and report. In the sense of they could run up charges on the account and refuse to pay / repay and leave you liable.

If this is just a friend / relationship I would list them ONLY as an AU and if it reports great. If not then add them as an AU to a different account or simply share the knowledge you gain on here to start them on the path to their own great credit future. As an AU you do not need to let them have a card, you can probably limit their access to account services (not sure what WF's policies are here), and you can remove their AU status at your request without needing their approval All in all it is much less risk to you. As an AU and with the account details they can still charge and leave you liable. But if you limit their access to the card itself or account details then no worries.

[Creditaddict]

Couple things:

1. I agree with poster this really comes down to who this person is to you... You have to understand and the (person being added as joint should realize too) unlike AU if you or the other person now has good built up credit and the balance or lates happen on this joint account regardless of which party is responsible for those lates or high balance, the account would have to be closed and paid off.  and still lates or what not would not go away.

Now if the person is AU they can just call in and say I would like to be removed and they can get the account deleted off their credit if they don't like it anymore.

2. If you have the account already and add the person as joint, they most likely won't even see a credit pull, it will just happen.

3. Very rarely can you remove 1 party or the other off a joint and make the account a sole owner again but a couple banks still allow it like Chase.  However in this case to remove 1, they will pull both account holders credit to qualify for the sole ownership.  If they pull those reports and 1. they don't like you to take over soley and then 2. they don't like the co-person anymore even if they "were" back before the sole owner, they can instantly close the account to both of you!!!

I use to love a lot of joint stuff because of rebuilding and much higher lines and such but now I am very careful about it because of the down falls of getting out and walking away from the situation of the account if needed.

If it's just to build credit, I would just do AU... once they establish a score or build a little better history with removing issues on credit report and get new prime cards on own, they won't really need this account.

[Anonymous]

I am an AU on a Chase card and seen a HUGE jump on my FICO as the new AU account added 15 years to my oldest account with a limit of $7k.  I would also like to be a joint account holder on this Chase card.  I am an AU on a relative who has and would never be late on a payment.

My one question is that I want to know for sure if it would still report the 15 year old history if I changed from AU to Joint Holder or would the account be considered new on my reports?

Basically, I am worried that some scoring models will not accept the AU account and without that account I am very 'new" to credit.  With a joint account I would feel much safer because I know it would be considered in all credit pulls and scoring.  If I applied for a retail card I am unsure if the AU account is considered, etc. 

[Anonymous]

Bones, all valid concerns. I think joint depends on issuer. In my experience, they would not just add someone as joint. They wanted new app and therefore new card. Ymmv.

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am an AU on a Chase card and seen a HUGE jump on my FICO as the new AU account added 15 years to my oldest account with a limit of $7k.  I would also like to be a joint account holder on this Chase card.  I am an AU on a relative who has and would never be late on a payment.

My one question is that I want to know for sure if it would still report the 15 year old history if I changed from AU to Joint Holder or would the account be considered new on my reports?

Basically, I am worried that some scoring models will not accept the AU account and without that account I am very 'new" to credit.  With a joint account I would feel much safer because I know it would be considered in all credit pulls and scoring.  If I applied for a retail card I am unsure if the AU account is considered, etc. 

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@Anonymous wrote:
Bones, all valid concerns. I think joint depends on issuer. In my experience, they would not just add someone as joint. They wanted new app and therefore new card. Ymmv.

Since we are talking about Chase, lets just keep my comment to Chase

You can be added as joint, the current account holder has to call in and request the form to be sent to add someone as a joint (not AU).

Upon receiving form it will ask the account number, primary, etc. and please add and then will list (new) joint person, info and both sign.

In my experience unless changed in last year or so... they don't pull credit or anything since the account is already qualified for under the current owner.

They do not open a new account or change age or anything, they just issue you out a card and now you can create a log in, make changes and requests on card like a sole owner.

Now if you decide later you want to go in reverse and get out, you can try to remove one of you, both will take a HP and if they don't like just 1 of you to have this account it will either stay as joint or they will close it instantly.

otherwise no biggie... but if you are only concerned that the AU won't count I don't think I would do it!!

What is your score now? I might try to go after a Chase on your own or some other card... if you find you can't get approved for anything and they say it's because not enough credit and we don't want to use the AU Chase, then it might be better argument to get it joint.