No much, if at all. Best advice... pay more than the minimum.
I'll go medical on you. You have a rather large laceration that needs sutures. But you place a bandaid on it instead. Little time passes and the wound is still open with that bandaid and still isnt healing. You finally go to a Urgent Care center and get sutures to close the wound so it can heal. Adding AU wont fix whats still in need of care. Need to find a way to increase income or go on a strict budget and cut out all the non essential monthly spending. Get the cards util down far enough to get a debt consolidation loan or HELOC approval. Just passing 89% or even better 69% aggregate util and it would help score wise to get an approval. Good luck!
While were at it. You mentioned you have $0 balance on all your cards. Your losing points for not having any accounts report a balance. 15-20 pts avg. Have 1 report $50 and PIF each month. Rinse and repeat.
@disdreamin wrote:
@FireMedic1 wrote:I'll go medical on you. You have a rather large laceration that needs sutures. But you place a bandaid on it instead. Little time passes and the wound is still open with that bandaid and still isnt healing. You finally go to a Urgent Care center and get sutures to close the wound so it can heal. Adding AU wont fix whats still in need of care. <snip>
While were at it. You mentioned you have $0 balance on all your cards. Your losing points for not having any accounts report a balance. 15-20 pts avg. Have 1 report $50 and PIF each month. Rinse and repeat.
I like that analogy - AU isn't going to address the issue, it's going to come down to paying down that debt at least part of the way, and letting the lates and collections age.
As far as the $0 balance on all cards, as long as your credit scores are in a happy place and you're not planning to apply for anything, is there really a compelling reason to bother? I don't worry about that at all, sometimes all my cards report balances, sometimes none of them do. My score might waver a little, but as long as it's in a happy place I'm not going to stress trying to do AZEO
AZEO is 50/50. Some live by it like me since I started over 6 yrs ago. Some dont. Different strokes for different folks. The majority like having higher scores and thats why I said what I did. Some are happy where they're at like yourself and dont practice it. The majority here want higher scores, better cards, more perks, and whats best for them to move on up the credit ladder. Thats my posting style. I cant get to the nozzle on top of the ladder truck unless I climb to get to it. I just help people get there. If I stop half way. The job wont get done.
@Anonymous wrote:
Would this negatively impact me (She woudlnt have a card or spend, its just for maniupulation)
Others have already given you some great advice, so I'll just address this ^^.
It's my understanding that banks don't like AU accounts that don't actually get used. In other words, they're on to the 'manipulation' tactic and don't like it.
If you don't want your sister actually using the account, you could still go ahead and add her as an AU--which will trigger having a card sent in her name. Take that card and use it occasionally. They won't know you're the one using it, they'll just see charges on the AU card and be happy.
Kindly note that I've never actually *done* this, so my thinking is hypothetical. Maybe someone with actual knowledge about it will say differently!
She owns her house! That is the best way to refinance for lower APR and get some cash back.
Given she was never late on the payments for the house she should still get a decent rate. To me that would be the quickest way to bring her score up and consolidate her debt.
