Question about credit card income

[Ams81]

Long time lurker first time poster, great form & I have gotten alot of great info. I just seen another poster in another thread ask about joint income. The last few years its been just my husbad working, he makes about 70k. I have a few credit cards, just not any in a few years. I didnt think, I could apply for any, since I dont have an income. Since we file joint, its ok to use his income? My credit scores are not bad, close to the 700s but his are not so good. We would like to get a good ballance transfer CC like Discover or slate. Any recommendations ? Thats if, its ok to use his income. Thanks alot, Amy.

[Ams81]

Also I have  an Amex since 05, PIF. Is it true you can appy for like a green charge card &  delta gold in same day only get 1 EX pull?

[myjourney]

Welcome to the forum and out from lurking 

Yes you can use HHI

Amex has good cards but you may find better BT cards as in Slate, Citi simplicity

[MrCollector]

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@Ams81 wrote:

Long time lurker first time poster, great form & I have gotten alot of great info. I just seen another poster in another thread ask about joint income. The last few years its been just my husbad working, he makes about 70k. I have a few credit cards, just not any in a few years. I didnt think, I could apply for any, since I dont have an income. Since we file joint, its ok to use his income? My credit scores are not bad, close to the 700s but his are not so good. We would like to get a good ballance transfer CC like Discover or slate. Any recommendations ? Thats if, its ok to use his income. Thanks alot, Amy.

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Yes, the CARD act of 2009 allows for spouses to put each others income on applications. You should be fine using it.

[wacdenney]

Some applications do specify that they are asking for PERSONAL income.  Many that do make this distinction provide a space for you to include "other" income where you could list your spouces.  I always use household income on apps where personal income isn't specifically asked for.  You just need to be careful about how you go about it in some cases.

[09Lexie]

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@wacdenney wrote:

Some applications do specify that they are asking for PERSONAL income.  Many that do make this distinction provide a space for you to include "other" income where you could list your spouces.  I always use household income on apps where personal income isn't specifically asked for.  You just need to be careful about how you go about it in some cases.

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Correct.  Keep in mind the CARD Act allows lenders to consider HHI; they are not required to do so. 

[withaspark]

If I'm not mistaken, the CARD Act was interpretted to have forbadden the use of HHI.

http://www.npr.org/2012/05/22/153283424/do-credit-card-laws-not-value-homemakers

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2012/04/19/the-war-on-women-why-stay-at-home-moms-need-...

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/01/16/financial-rules-for-stay-at-home-spouses/

This was only corrected April 2013.

http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/credit-eased-for-stay-at-home-spouses-and-partners/?_php=t...

http://boardingarea.com/mommypoints/2013/05/24/stay-at-home-parents-still-having-trouble-getting-car...

So from 2009 until April 2013, lenders needed personal income...no one should have supplied HHI, especially when the apps requested personal income explicitly. However, today, the provisions only apply to those under 21 years old. Otherwise, those over 21 may include any income to which they have a reasonable expectation of access...i.e., my wife could take any amount of money out of the checking account my paycheck is direct deposited into at any time--therefore, it is her income for the basis of repayment of any credit she applies for.

Hey, if lenders count housing payments against couples twice, shouldn't income be counted twice?? (what a mess) Oh well, it certainly wasn't fair to prevent my stay-at-home-mom wife from getting credit when repayments of "her" debt is just as big of a priority as "mine".

[xaiduz114]

Since this thread is fairly recent, I'm hoping to chime in and hopefully get some insight.

I can see that laws have been changed/added/removed/etc to make it easier for stay-at-home wives/husbands/partners to apply for credit. But what about couples that aren't married? My boyfriend and I have been together 3 years, living in an apartment together for over two. Would the same apply for me if I applied for a secured credit card? Would I be able to apply using HHI? I'm hoping to apply for the BofA secured soon, and it looks like I might have a good chance with that, but since we're not married, I'm not sure. Although, we do live in a community property state. Would that weigh at all when using his income?

[-NewGuy-]

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@xaiduz114 wrote:

Since this thread is fairly recent, I'm hoping to chime in and hopefully get some insight.

I can see that laws have been changed/added/removed/etc to make it easier for stay-at-home wives/husbands/partners to apply for credit. But what about couples that aren't married? My boyfriend and I have been together 3 years, living in an apartment together for over two. Would the same apply for me if I applied for a secured credit card? Would I be able to apply using HHI? I'm hoping to apply for the BofA secured soon, and it looks like I might have a good chance with that, but since we're not married, I'm not sure. Although, we do live in a community property state. Would that weigh at all when using his income?

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That's more grey area. It was altered to make it easier for stay at home spouses to get credit, since many were great candidates but would be denied due to no income. I have clairfied with AMEX and Barclay before and they both said (paraphrasing) "Income that you have a reasonable expectation of access to that you want to be included as a basis for repaying your debt".

[gdale6]

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@xaiduz114 wrote:

Since this thread is fairly recent, I'm hoping to chime in and hopefully get some insight.

I can see that laws have been changed/added/removed/etc to make it easier for stay-at-home wives/husbands/partners to apply for credit. But what about couples that aren't married? My boyfriend and I have been together 3 years, living in an apartment together for over two. Would the same apply for me if I applied for a secured credit card? Would I be able to apply using HHI? I'm hoping to apply for the BofA secured soon, and it looks like I might have a good chance with that, but since we're not married, I'm not sure. Although, we do live in a community property state. Would that weigh at all when using his income?

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IMO I would not be using HHI in this case, you are not married, community property comes into play when one is officially married or is considered to be so by common law (some states allow this after x years).