Oblivious Mother and Careless Sister

[Anonymous]

So to start the post, I should give context.

I'm new to credit in the sense that I'm 33 years old now and have had credit for 4 years. (better late than never)

I was actually first introduced to it when I was 18. My mother took a loan and told me it would be for a truck.

Turns out it was for a loan, it was my loan. To my fault, I blindly followed. I didn't question because I didn't know what to ask or what it was for. Again never had credit explained to me.

Fast forward, I was contacted by a debt collector in 2007. Guess what it was about? Now granted, my ignorance was no excuse. I paid it in full, and decided credit was a bad thing.

Now it's 2012, I become self aware of those around me with great credit and decide to research and take the plunge into understanding credit. I start looking at my score (which I had no idea was possible.) I asked questions out of sheer curiousity. All of this let me to getting a secure credit card, and starting my journey to present day.

I say that to say this. My mother is 60 years old has 320,000 dollars in collections because of her health. She had insurance but they covered a portion. She couldn't work because of the surgeury and now she has the accumulated debt. I'm in the process of disputing the debts because of inaccurate information. She has no idea what her credit score is. I asked if it was okay to use Credit Karma to pull it. She said yes, it would be fine. Shes 545. Not terrible. 

So should I put her as an authorized user to help her score? She's not getting a card. I was thinking, if i'm on a journey to better my score...why not take her with me?

My sister on the other hand, She bites off more than she can chew. After explaining to her credit and how to use it, She's at 200% utilization and seems not to care because she can't pay it off. I try to help but you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

[RonM21]

So all I would do for the sister, is what you are doing. Giving verbal advice. Nothing more. She's obviously a huge risk, even for herself.

As for adding your mother, this is a tough one. It's possible that a lot of what is going on with her can drag your profile down. Also, she is possibly a risk in the sense that anything negative she does can hurt you when you add her on that card.

I'm sorry to hear about her health and the associated costs that came with it. It's unfortunate. But you honestly have to weigh out the good vs the bad on this one. You being thoughtful enough to even want to help shows a lot of good about you!