Penfed is on to us. They do not like AU's or backdating.

[orl2185]

All creditors will eventually catch up with the piggy back process. I personally will never piggyback or allow it,

[Anonymous]

i would go with PSECU. 9.9 fixed purchases and advances. never even heard of penfed till the other day, and still cant see why they are so great. guess i have some research to do.

[haulingthescoreup]

A good reminder about the difference between what the FICO scoring formula looks at, which includes AU accounts and backdating, and what lenders look at.

OP, PenFed's pretty famous for wanting to see established credit, so your DW's experience isn't that surprising, although that was pretty instructive in how they separated out the credit that was solely hers vs the other. They're still a good lender to work with. I hope she gives it another try once her own credit history becomes more established.

Most of us here have found that we do have to go through all the stages as we work on our credit. AU accounts with long history are great --I had one myself, and oddly, it's still reporting even though I came off of it --but many lenders do want to see how an applicant handles the bills that land on his/ her desk.

Good luck to her!

[Anonymous]

I just want to add:

Umm  maybe the fact that you AU-ed her to an account that she would have been "nine years old" if she had opened it raised a flag which caused a manual review and then a decline.

If I was a conservative lender that would cause me to wonder what was going on.

[android01]

I think we need to be aware that we (who frequent these forums and others like it) are credit and score obsessed and look at the concept of an AU in an entirely different way than the vast majority of the real world.  Back in the day, the housewife would have been an AU on her husband's credit card because that's just the way it worked.  She most likely wouldn't have even considered having a credit card of her own, much less be concerned about having her own credit file.  Children become AUs on their parents cards for school and other reasons.  Others become AU's on their elderly parents accounts to monitor and maintain them.  We are the only ones who actually covet a backdated account because it helps us improve our scores and profiles so we can GET MORE CREDIT.     

The point I'm trying to make is that most people have a real reason for having an AU and aren't necessarily concerned with such esoteric concepts as AAoA, backdating, piggybacking, pyramiding, CLI, CLD, Utilization, FICO, FAKO, etc.  Most certainly don't monitor their credit reports daily and agonize over the slightest moves in score.  Most don't have 15 credit cards (I have 8 ),  and are actively plotting the removal of inquiries, or what lender pulls what CRA because I just NEED that one more card and TU is my best score with the fewest inquiries.  

See what I mean?  We are a lovable but odd slice of humanity. 

OP, I think the lesson learned by your experience echoes what others have said; credit scores are just a single piece of a much larger pie when lenders consider extending credit.  

[haiti222]

Because she is your wife, and they made the remark about her age, I believe they may have violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which was passed to make sure both married and unmarried women could get credit in their own name, particularly both single women and non-full time working wives. 

Pay close attention to section II in the government website about the act:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre15.shtm

According to the FTC, the fact she is of age to write contracts means age should not be used against her. Penfed admitted they did use age against her, as they considered it "working the system" because she would have been "nine years old." This discrimination was common 40 years ago when the act was passed; that a much younger wife should not be allowed to get credit based upon the shared resources of the married household.

Spouses are still allowed to be authorized users, and I believe AU accounts for spouses are included in FICO, partially because of the ECOA.  Thus, it is not working the system, but a factor required by the ECOA to allow spouses equal access to credit.

I would consider doing as the website suggests, perhaps follow-up to the CEO citing the act, with a copy to the NCUA and your local attorney general, as well as the AG in Penfed's home state. 

The harsher economic conditions have caused tougher lending standards. There seem to be more violations (at least technical ones) of the ECOA, a law which seemed settled in the past. In attempting to weed out fraud, etc., banks seems to be getting closer to the line on the ECOA. 

[clocktick]

Whoa, I think it's as plain as the first post states.  PENFED denied because they believe she has, "Limited Credit Experience."  In my opinion, the entire post backs this up.  In fact, I'm even wondering why she isn't the one signing herself up for CUs or recon-ing her own denials over and over again.  I think it's summed up with PENFED's reasoning.  I do, however, think they'll eventually come around if she has more cards in her own name only and a few more years of credit experience.

[aftermath]

---

@clocktick wrote:

Whoa, I think it's as plain as the first post states.  PENFED denied because they believe she has, "Limited Credit Experience."  In my opinion, the entire post backs this up.  In fact, I'm even wondering why she isn't the one signing herself up for CUs or recon-ing her own denials over and over again.  I think it's summed up with PENFED's reasoning.  I do, however, think they'll eventually come around if she has more cards in her own name only and a few more years of credit experience.

---

Because I am the type of husband that grabs his wife by the hand and leads her through rough terrain.  She, like millions of other Americans are uneducated about credit.  Instead of going off and learning misconceptions about credit, I plan to teach her correctly from the beginning. 

Every application that was filled out, she was the one doing it, I was just there to guide her through it.  Everytime I was on the phone with Penfed, she was on the other line with me, talking,  listening and learning.  When she was told to write in a recon, I was next to her explaining what she needed to say.  She was involved in every aspect from beginning to end.  I was just there to give her guidance.

I don't want her to make the same credit mistakes that many of us have foolishly made in the past.  Especially since she is now my wife and our finances are tied in together.

Mistakes are made due to a lack of knowledge.  Myfico.com is here to help those who have made mistakes in the past, recover from it, but more importantly, it's here to help guide those who are new to credit so that they don't have to recover from these mistakes later on.  I am my wife's Myfico.

[DI]

---

@aftermath wrote:

---

@clocktick wrote:

Whoa, I think it's as plain as the first post states.  PENFED denied because they believe she has, "Limited Credit Experience."  In my opinion, the entire post backs this up.  In fact, I'm even wondering why she isn't the one signing herself up for CUs or recon-ing her own denials over and over again.  I think it's summed up with PENFED's reasoning.  I do, however, think they'll eventually come around if she has more cards in her own name only and a few more years of credit experience.

---

Because I am the type of husband that grabs his wife by the hand and leads her through rough terrain.  She, like millions of other Americans are uneducated about credit.  Instead of going off and learning misconceptions about credit, I plan to teach her correctly from the beginning. 

Every application that was filled out, she was the one doing it, I was just there to guide her through it.  Everytime I was on the phone with Penfed, she was on the other line with me, talking,  listening and learning.  When she was told to write in a recon, I was next to her explaining what she needed to say.  She was involved in every aspect from beginning to end.  I was just there to give her guidance.

I don't want her to make the same credit mistakes that many of us have foolishly made in the past.  Especially since she is now my wife and our finances are tied in together.

Mistakes are made due to a lack of knowledge.  Myfico.com is here to help those who have made mistakes in the past, recover from it, but more importantly, it's here to help guide those who are new to credit so that they don't have to recover from these mistakes later on.  I am my wife's Myfico.

---

That's great that you're doing that.  I wouldn't hesitate to do the same. 

[cdtotten]

I have read through this thread and although I understand your frustration with PENFED, I do believe they are consistent with their stance on credit in denying her. She has a very short credit history, with only 1 CC and a couple joint car loans to speak of. This is very limited for someone seeking a CL with a conservative lender. AU accounts are great for bumping the score up for auto-approvals on certain products, but ultimately it is not a card that she is responsible for, and not a card that she was approved for and truly shouldn't be included under a manual recon, as it wasn't in this case. Once she has built up her own profile, then she will do much better.

That being said, this is the first time i have heard of a lender specifically mentioning the exclusion of AU accounts. I also am surprised they noticed her age compared to the TL age. It's refreshing to see a lender actually review a file and make a decision.