Need Help! Is being an authorized user with high utilization killing my scores?

[brad0502]

I will give some background to help understand my overall situation. BK7 Discharged Feb 2019. Here is a list of my accounts when opened, balance and limit. 

GM Financial Auto loan                                                               Opened 5/19

Comenity Wayfair                                                                         Opened 3/19     0/750

Cap 1 Plat                                                                                      Opened 2/19     0/300

Credit One                                                                                      Opened 2/19     121/1000

CPS Auto Loan                                                                              Opened 2/19

GenFed Credit Union  (secured card that will graduate)        Opened 11/18   241/500

GenFed  secured loan ($500 for 6 months)                             Opened 11/18   0 balance

(AU) American Express                                                               Opened 8/16     1818/2000

(AU) Cap 1                                                                                     Opened 5/99     17517/18000

I have tried several times for CLI on my Wayfair, and Cap1 Plat. always declined.  Up until this month I was AZEO minus the AU accounts. My current FICO 08s     FICO 5               FICO 4     FICO 2

EQ     640                  EQ     594          604          570

TU     606                  

EX     622

When I applied for the CLI on Cap1 my EQ score came back at 575 (from 5/28/19). I applied for the CLI 6/21/19.  After a little research it seems Cap 1 does not use FICO 08 and uses FICO 5. So the big question is if I remove myself from the AU cards will this help, or hurt? If it does help will it help drastically?  Will removing me from the AU cards hurt the other FICO scores? It clearly is hurting my mortgage score.  As a side note is it annoying to anyone else there are so many scores? Honestly what is the point of a general FICO, if most creditors use a specific FICO. Looking forward to help from the experts!

[Anonymous]

I just responded to a post this morning regarding this. AU accounts are most definitely factored into FICO 8 scores, at least for EX & TU. I am AU on an account for work and the balance went from 7% UTIL to 44% UTIL and I had a -6 pt drop on EX & TU.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if it will help/hurt but, not having it weighing on your true scores would be good to see how much of an impact it's producing. 

The biggest thing will be the AAOA dropping dramatically but, you have cards and loans so...

Do you have anyone else that isn't getting ready to "bust out" on their cards that can add you as an AU?

[brad0502]

No other AU options. With the fresh BK I am wondering if the high utilization is a bigger negative then the AAoA positive.

[Anonymous]

I would drop the AU accounts and just make due with the new accounts.  Controlling something out of your control is impossible and unreliable for scoring.  If they bring the balances down again you can always add them to your profile again.

[NRB525]

It would be an interesting data point for all of us if the two AU accounts were removed, see what scores do. With the recent kerfluffle about whether AU even help at all, I’m not sure anyone has definitive recommendations.

These are the potential outcomes I see:

1) AU accounts are fully favored in and the utilization matters. With two maxed out AU cards, a gain in score when they are removed.

2) AU cards, whether maxed or otherwise, are minimized for score, due to the gaming that can occur. Thus the AU not helping now, no change ( or very minor change ) when they are removed.

The BK is a factor that muddies the water.

[Anonymous]

I think we know AU accounts count on every version with the possible exception of 8 & 9, when they are flagged by the anti-abuse portion of the algorithm. I think the question she raised was how much they count.

Either way, the high utilization is definitely killing you on all versions PRIOR to eight and nine. As for 8 & 9, it depends on whether or not they are flagged.

I agree the outcome is one of the two posited by NRB525. IMHO, if it’s not flagged, utilization is killing you more than the possible AAoA benefit; if it is flagged, it’s not gonna make a difference either way because it’s because it’s contributing to neither.

(The BK puts you on a dirty scorecard, so AooA and AoYA are irrelevant til that comes off, but AAoA does factor.)

Basically this: Get off both ASAP!!
If you’re that worried about AAoA effect on your 8s & 9s, here’s what you do. Run a test. After you get yourself off of the 16 AU (it’s definitely not offering you hardly any benefit even if it did count for age), then go ahead and take yourself off the 99 AU and see what happens to your score.

If it improves, stay off; if it goes down, put yourself back on. That’s the beauty of AUs, they’re easy to get on and off of!

[Anonymous]

IMO, with the recent BK, those AU accounts aren't doing you any favors. Ditch them. 

I also think that you have enough open accounts to get you where you need to go, in time.