Question about authorized user, does it count as util?

[Cprman]

So my girl has a cc with her parents that's she an au with. They're carrying a balance of 5000+ with a limit of 20K. Her CCs are PIF, my question is as au does her parents balance count toward her util? I was thinking she should ditch her parents card although there are no baddies and its from '02 so she'd lose some age and revolving cc hx, but util seems to matter so much more. Any thoughts would be great.

[haulingthescoreup]

Yep, any card that you're an AU on, if reported, will be treated as if it were your own.

I'm AU on DH's Discover, and he loves to go put a car repair or something on it two days before the statement drops, which used to put me in full scramble mode. It doesn't matter now, because I picked up a bunch more cards, so I don't have to worry about increased util or having an extra account report.

But it's definitely something to consider when you want to be an AU! The ideal AU account:

- old
- squeaky clean
- not used

That way you get the benefit of three things: length of history, clean history, and low util.

Ideally, an AU card is used as a temporary springboard to allow the authorized user to qualify for credit in his/her own name and then drop the card. The exception would be to hang on to it if losing the age would cause serious harm. But it's hard to complain to those who let you sign on to their card if they use it!

[Anonymous]

When you add an AU do they ask for that persons ssn, do they have to live at the same address also do they do a credit check in order to add AU to the account? 

[Anonymous]

They don't need the social. The ccc have numerous ways of finding out your identity as an AU. Also, you should ask the ccc if they report an AU on this certain card to the credit agencies ? 

[smallfry]

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@Anonymous wrote:

They don't need the social. The ccc have numerous ways of finding out your identity as an AU. Also, you should ask the ccc if they report an AU on this certain card to the credit agencies ?

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What do they do in the case of an extremely common name?

Message Edited by smallfry on 05-23-2008 02:10 PM

[smallfry]

Do any card issuers definitely NOT report on all 3 bureaus. Specifically do Chase and Citi report?

[Anonymous]

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Bran9192 wrote:

When you add an AU do they ask for that persons ssn, do they have to live at the same address also do they do a credit check in order to add AU to the account? 

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Some CCCs will ask for SSN from an AU, although SSN is not required to report.  An AU does not have to live at the same address.  No, a credit check is not necessary to add an AU.

[Anonymous]

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smallfry wrote:

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hoopsbookie wrote:

They don't need the social. The ccc have numerous ways of finding out your identity as an AU. Also, you should ask the ccc if they report an AU on this certain card to the credit agencies ?

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What do they do in the case of an extremely common name?

Message Edited by smallfry on 05-23-2008 02:10 PM

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Name and address are sufficient to report.  If there are two people at one address with the same or similar names, it often causes reporting errors.

[Anonymous]

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smallfry wrote:
Do any card issuers definitely NOT report on all 3 bureaus. Specifically do Chase and Citi report?

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Chase and Citi both report my AU accounts to all three.  I've never seen any indication they do otherwise.