Credit Card (joint user) Issues- PLEASE HELP!!!

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

Long story short, I was added to an old friend's credit card ($5,000 credit limit) as a "joint user" and thought I was added as an authorized user.

Our friendship ended rough and now I can not get in touch with her. I was taken off as an authorized user by the credit union (credit card issuer) but was told that my credit would still reflect my friends credit card usage of which went from $750 to $3,000 in the last 3 months!

After 1 month of being taken off as an authorized user my credit reported no usage but a month later it reports usage and when I called the credit union they said "they made a mistake and correctly report it now" **bleep**? 

I am not on the card anymore but still have responsibility? 

My question is how do I remove myself as a joint user if I can not get on touch with other user???

[Anonymous]

If it's a true joint account: 

You have to have the balance be $0, then you can request to close it

Lots more  downside to keeping it open

Are you sure it's a joint account? They'd have needed your info such as SSN to do so, or you may have provided it

[KLEXH25]

I'm confused. If you're a "joint user" then how can they take you off as an authorized user? I would first find out if you are truly a joint user or just an AU. Because if you were only an AU and were already removed by the CU and it's still reporting, I believe you can directly request the CRAs to remove the account from your reports. HOWEVER, if you are a joint account owner, you are also responsible for the balance and cannot close the account until it's paid. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi everyone,

Long story short, I was added to an old friend's credit card ($5,000 credit limit) as a "joint user" and thought I was added as an authorized user.

Our friendship ended rough and now I can not get in touch with her. I was taken off as an authorized user by the credit union (credit card issuer) but was told that my credit would still reflect my friends credit card usage of which went from $750 to $3,000 in the last 3 months!

After 1 month of being taken off as an authorized user my credit reported no usage but a month later it reports usage and when I called the credit union they said "they made a mistake and correctly report it now" **bleep**? 

I am not on the card anymore but still have responsibility? 

My question is how do I remove myself as a joint user if I can not get on touch with other user???

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Joint user means you ended up being a co-signer and share responsibility for the account.

You were not an AU like you thought, if it truly shows "joint", "joint responsibility", or "joint user", etc. So then yes, it will all stay on your credit. 

My mother was a Co-signer on my SO's auto loan years ago and she passed and my husband removed her as a "joint (fill in the blank)" and it remained on her CRs and still shows "joint xxx" on my SO's CRs.

If your co-signer is getting out of control, I would remove yourself, shut down the account, or find another way to stop the progress of the account and it further damaging your credit. If you have joint responsibility (and your friend knows this) and they run up the credit and bail, it would still be your responsibility to pay and destroy your credit (and theirs, but they may not care).

Good luck!