Am I allowed to do this?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I have a friend who is currently incarcerated.  He recently asked me if I would be willing to open a credit card in his name, and use it in order to help establish his credit upon his release.  I realize that even with his permission, this could still be considered credit card fraud and thus I am unwilling to do it.  My question is, can I add his name as an autorized user to one of my already existing credit cards?  Granted, he will not be able to actually use it but would my timely payments help his credit if I did this? And is this a practical solution? Thanks for any help!

[Glkslngr]

I wouldn't open a card in his name whatsoever... Next thing you know you guys have a falling out and then tries to sue you for identity theft. I would add him as an AU, bring him whatever forms or documents he needs to sign, do not forge his signature, and proceed from there.  Another option would be if he appoints you as power of attorney over his finances while he is away... I believe you might be able to open a cc in his name then.

[youdontkillmoney]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all,

I have a friend who is currently incarcerated.  He recently asked me if I would be willing to open a credit card in his name, and use it in order to help establish his credit upon his release.  I realize that even with his permission, this could still be considered credit card fraud and thus I am unwilling to do it.  My question is, can I add his name as an autorized user to one of my already existing credit cards?  Granted, he will not be able to actually use it but would my timely payments help his credit if I did this? And is this a practical solution? Thanks for any help!

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^^^

How do you know this friend, did you know him/her before s/he went to prison, or did you start corresponding with him/her during prison (pen pals, etc)

It is up to you but there are consequences that go with your actions down the road, keep this in mind. Consequences can be legal, criminal, civil, etc. You are right to bring up fraud. The AU route, depends on how much you trust this person, again, there are consequences you should be mindful of. The authorized users on my AMEX platinum (and I chose not to limit their AU credit line, currently at $91,000, are all family members, my mom, cousin, etc). I trust them all and their history is one of responsibility.

[CreditDunce]

Will he live with you once he gets out?  I think for an AU account to do him any good it has to be matched to his credit report.  If you have different addresses the AU account may not be matched.  In general FICO frowns on AU accounts just to improve someone's score.

If you are really good friends, I would recommend you loan him $500 dollars for a secured 2 year installmant loan.   He could then pay you back using the money the bank/CU loans him.  He would have to pay X amount per month.  It would end up costing him $20-$30 dollars in interest but would be a fairly cheap way to establish credit. 

However, I would wait until he gets a job.  There is no point in having credit unless you can pay it back.

[Revelate]

Can't open the card in his name, that is indeed fraud.

Regarding AU's, unless it's an Amex ACM, it doesn't matter when you add them: they'll inherit the history to date from your tradeline.  Amex is the oddball on that as it's a new tradeline on the report... if you're trying to help him establish history, the Amex is the only one which really needs to be done sooner than later, everything else can wait.

[Anonymous]

This sounds like a terrible idea and I wouldn't even consider it regardless of how long I've known the person or the reasons behind their incarceration. Fixing his credit is that individuals responsibility and once he's free he can do whatever it takes to make that happen for himself. There are warning bells going off in my head just based on the fact that he even asked you to open up a credit card in his name which is indeed illegal! I hope everything works out for you, just my two cents you're free to make your own decisions of course.

[thom02099]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all,

I have a friend who is currently incarcerated.  He recently asked me if I would be willing to open a credit card in his name, and use it in order to help establish his credit upon his release.  I realize that even with his permission, this could still be considered credit card fraud and thus I am unwilling to do it.  My question is, can I add his name as an autorized user to one of my already existing credit cards?  Granted, he will not be able to actually use it but would my timely payments help his credit if I did this? And is this a practical solution? Thanks for any help!

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On

Only you can decide if the risk is worth it. And there is always risk.  As others have stated, the first option is not an option since it would be a fraud.

Adding him as an AU does have some safeguards of sorts.  First, you don't have to give him a card.  You'll get one (use your mailing address), but you keep it. Additionally, as a precaution, you can set limits on the card, ie, how much the AU can charge on it.  Set it ridiculously low for your protection.  If anything ever goes sour on the friendship, remove him right away. 

[RushXTC]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all,

I have a friend who is currently incarcerated.  He recently asked me if I would be willing to open a credit card in his name, and use it in order to help establish his credit upon his release.  I realize that even with his permission, this could still be considered credit card fraud and thus I am unwilling to do it.  My question is, can I add his name as an autorized user to one of my already existing credit cards?  Granted, he will not be able to actually use it but would my timely payments help his credit if I did this? And is this a practical solution? Thanks for any help!

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My recommendation is to tell him "I'm sorry, But I can't do that".

[Anonymous]

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@youdontkillmoney wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all,

I have a friend who is currently incarcerated.  He recently asked me if I would be willing to open a credit card in his name, and use it in order to help establish his credit upon his release.  I realize that even with his permission, this could still be considered credit card fraud and thus I am unwilling to do it.  My question is, can I add his name as an autorized user to one of my already existing credit cards?  Granted, he will not be able to actually use it but would my timely payments help his credit if I did this? And is this a practical solution? Thanks for any help!

---

^^^

How do you know this friend, did you know him/her before s/he went to prison, or did you start corresponding with him/her during prison (pen pals, etc)

It is up to you but there are consequences that go with your actions down the road, keep this in mind. Consequences can be legal, criminal, civil, etc. You are right to bring up fraud. The AU route, depends on how much you trust this person, again, there are consequences you should be mindful of. The authorized users on my AMEX platinum (and I chose not to limit their AU credit line, currently at $91,000, are all family members, my mom, cousin, etc). I trust them all and their history is one of responsibility.

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 I respect your desire to help your friend, but it seems like a pretty large risk no matter how you slice it.