New card that I didn't want

[Goal810]

HI all,

A relative opened an American Express credit card in my name which I did not want. Even though I am not the primary account holder it shows up on my credit report. I received it in the mail but did not activate it. I have 6 credit cards currently. I don't want another card as it might worsen my credit so I called the company to find out what would happen if I canceled it before activation and apparently the card is already active and so it will show up as a new card and cancellation. I'm guessing this will also be bad for my credit report? Do I have any recourse here?

I also have a Shell gas card due to the same reason which I don't want which is a couple months old. I suppose I shouldn't cancel this since in 7 years it will decrease my average account age?

Is there any way I prevent cards from being started in my name by someone in my family?

[afbar1114]

Accts in good standing stay on for 10 years...but you should file police reports for fraud and put fraud alerts on reports and freeze them

[john398]

I think a fraud alert may prevent someone from opening a card in your name but I am not 100% sure

[SwiftTone]

You can do a security freeze on your your file at the 3 CRA. It may be free i your state. I think most states will let you do it for free if you've been a victim of identity theft, although you need a police report to prove it.

However, I'm not sure if this will prevent them from opening accounts with banks that already have a lending relationship with you.

[crunching_numbers]

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@Goal810 wrote:

HI all,

A relative opened an American Express credit card in my name which I did not want. Even though I am not the primary account holder it shows up on my credit report. I received it in the mail but did not activate it. I have 6 credit cards currently. I don't want another card as it might worsen my credit so I called the company to find out what would happen if I canceled it before activation and apparently the card is already active and so it will show up as a new card and cancellation. I'm guessing this will also be bad for my credit report? Do I have any recourse here?

I also have a Shell gas card due to the same reason which I don't want which is a couple months old. I suppose I shouldn't cancel this since in 7 years it will decrease my average account age?

Is there any way I prevent cards from being started in my name by someone in my family?

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Having more credit cards in itself will not worsen your credit. Only if you (or the cardholder) carry over balances will your credit be affected. Your credit will be positively affected if they carry no balance, and the available credit is now calculated into your util %age. If you are just an authorized user, they can remove you at any time.  I am assuming that you are just an authorized user from your statement of not being the primary card holder.  You do not need any legal action, or any reporting to authorities if you are not responsible for the card.

You should tell the family member to stop adding you as an authorized user. If they are doing this because you shop for them to help them out, or pay for things for them, then they may be doing this for your convenience. An example of this would be if an elderly or disabled person added a child or sibling to a card so that they could grocery shop for them.

[adavis425]

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@Goal810 wrote:

HI all,

A relative opened an American Express credit card in my name which I did not want. Even though I am not the primary account holder it shows up on my credit report. I received it in the mail but did not activate it. I have 6 credit cards currently. I don't want another card as it might worsen my credit so I called the company to find out what would happen if I canceled it before activation and apparently the card is already active and so it will show up as a new card and cancellation. I'm guessing this will also be bad for my credit report? Do I have any recourse here?

I also have a Shell gas card due to the same reason which I don't want which is a couple months old. I suppose I shouldn't cancel this since in 7 years it will decrease my average account age?

Is there any way I prevent cards from being started in my name by someone in my family?

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So, are you just an AU? I would think you could call and have that reversed with no problem. Do you have to remain an AU against your will? I would also freeze my reports so that it doesn't continue to happen.

[Creditaddict]

Why is this person adding you to accounts if you don't want the accounts?

2nd and most important part about this is if you are just added as Auth rather you want it or not you can simply either call the banks directly and ask them to remove you from the account and then delete it from your credit report as you don't want it and you are not responsible for it.

I have found sometimes faster and easier depending on bank (AMEX!!) to just dispute the account with each credit reporting agency and it should come off within 30-60 days, sometimes almost instantly... it's easy.

If you really do not want any new cards in the near future either from being added as auth or you applying then yes you could do the credit freezes as posted above but it gets to be a real pain if you want to apply for someting and it will cost you to keep unlocking or relocked reports.

[Goal810]

Basically there is a family member who is trying to be nice and pay some of my bills but it's a complicated relationship and I don't want the help. Plus the person has no understanding of credit and I am applying for a mortgage so I don't want to complicate things by opening new lines of credit.

Thx for the advice, I will remove myself as an AU on both the credit cards and will contact the 3 credit bureaus and request that they remove the accounts. I found a list of phone numbers in a sticky, is it best to call or to send a letter?

Thanks!

[Creditaddict]

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@Goal810 wrote:

Basically there is a family member who is trying to be nice and pay some of my bills but it's a complicated relationship and I don't want the help. Plus the person has no understanding of credit and I am applying for a mortgage so I don't want to complicate things by opening new lines of credit.

Thx for the advice, I will remove myself as an AU on both the credit cards and will contact the 3 credit bureaus and request that they remove the accounts. I found a list of phone numbers in a sticky, is it best to call or to send a letter?

Thanks!

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Calling is just fine.

[LS2982]

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@adavis425 wrote:

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@Goal810 wrote:

HI all,

A relative opened an American Express credit card in my name which I did not want. Even though I am not the primary account holder it shows up on my credit report. I received it in the mail but did not activate it. I have 6 credit cards currently. I don't want another card as it might worsen my credit so I called the company to find out what would happen if I canceled it before activation and apparently the card is already active and so it will show up as a new card and cancellation. I'm guessing this will also be bad for my credit report? Do I have any recourse here?

I also have a Shell gas card due to the same reason which I don't want which is a couple months old. I suppose I shouldn't cancel this since in 7 years it will decrease my average account age?

Is there any way I prevent cards from being started in my name by someone in my family?

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So, are you just an AU? I would think you could call and have that reversed with no problem. Do you have to remain an AU against your will? I would also freeze my reports so that it doesn't continue to happen.

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+1