Authorized user - is it hurting my score?

[Anonymous]

Hello! I’m trying to rebuild my credit and need help determining if I should remove myself as an authorized user.
The card is my husbands’s Syncrone/Sams club. Got The balance paid down to $2,600 with CL of $3600. Just got a letter that the CL was decreased to $3050. No late payments, account age 1.7.
This card does not report to my Equifax and my EQ score is much higher than the other 2. As of today the scores are EQ 705, TU 695, Exp 678.
Is this card hurting my score? Will it hurt more once the lower CL is reported? Should I be removed?
Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

On the surface, with it being only 1.7 years old, the answer is yes the high UTI is probably hurting your profile. That said, if you list the rest of your profile, age, balance and CL, we will be able to be sure.

[Anonymous]

I hope I have everything covered...
Average credit age 4 years 2 months
Open accounts 9 (with Sams club in question)
1 auto loan and the rest CC
Accounts with balances 6
Total credit utilization down to 51% (with Sams club)
Time since Late payment 6.1 years
No inquiries

[Anonymous]

Drop the card, you will get a nice boost losing Sams Club high UTI and it will get worse when the new CL reports, it won't get better anytime soon as he is probably being balance chased.

[Anonymous]

Got it! Will drop!
What does “being balance chased” mean? Sorry, new here!
One more question if you don’t mind. Should I drop my youngest (7month) CareCredit card with $1000 CL and 0 balance? Is it hurting my account age?

[Anonymous]

Being balance chased means that as the balance on that card is being paid down, the creditor is lowering the limit along with it, thus keeping your utilization in essentially the same place.  The bottom line is that such a card is going to only adversely impact utilization, so there's no reason you'd want that associated with your file.  Drop it and never look back.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Got it! Will drop!
What does “being balance chased” mean? Sorry, new here!
One more question if you don’t mind. Should I drop my youngest (7month) CareCredit card with $1000 CL and 0 balance? Is it hurting my account age?

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BBS covered balance chased. As for dropping CareCredit to improve your AAoA (average age of accounts), it's too late for that. Once an account is opened, it will continue to report and factor into your AAoA even if you close it today (for up to 10 years after closing). The good news is, you will get another scoring bump when it hits 1 year as long as you don't app and reset your youngest account again.

[Anonymous]

Thanks a lot! Apparently I was confused about so many things!

[Anonymous]

You're welcome. You sound like a quick learner, stick around and keep reading.

[Anonymous]

LVjewel Be Careful:

     Dropping the card will not necessarily remove it from your file and positively affect your score. “Your credit score could be affected if you’re removed as an authorized user, but the impact depends on that account's history, the other information in your credit report, and whether the authorized user account continues to be reported after you're removed.” https://www.thebalance.com/authorized-user-credit-scores-961087

     You said, this “account['s] age [is] 1.7 [years].” Then you said, your file’s age was “…4 years 2 months.” You gave us some other accounts (I don’t like that “Time since late payment,” but let’s ignore that for now). Assuming the late payment was NOT on this card, you may increase your AAoA as a result once the account is no longer reporting. From what you said it seems that the Sam’s card is what is hurting your utilization. By removing the card, you will of course lower your CL but you may decrease your total utilization rate by removing the associated debt.

     From a truly cursory analysis, it seems you can help yourself in this situation. You can do things to change the card from continuing to report, but be assured that they are time consuming and YMMV. Your benefits may take time to appear.

Y