Should I remove myself as AU on my wife’s AMEX?

[WarthogWrangler]

I’ve been in the process of rebuilding for a little over a year now. I have 3 open and active CCs that I’ve been using that are in my name. Prior to me opening these cards I have been an AU on my wife’s AMEX PRG card since 2007. It’s the oldest open account on my credit by a lot. My second oldest open account is my mortgage I opened in 2012. I have a few closed accounts that were opened in 2009 and 10. My AAoA is 6 years 5 months.
Lately I’ve wanted to remove myself from the AMEX as a AU because my wife always carries a large balance on it. I know it’s a charge card and shouldn’t affect utilization but it bugs me. Do you guys think I’ll take a large ding by taking this off my credit?

[OmarGB9]

Yea if it's your oldest account by a lot, it could ding you quite a bit if removed due to the AAoA drop. Charge card utilization isn't factored in, though it could still affect your DTI if I'm not mistaken.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@WarthogWrangler wrote:
I’ve been in the process of rebuilding for a little over a year now. I have 3 open and active CCs that I’ve been using that are in my name. Prior to me opening these cards I have been an AU on my wife’s AMEX PRG card since 2007. It’s the oldest open account on my credit by a lot. My second oldest open account is my mortgage I opened in 2012. I have a few closed accounts that were opened in 2009 and 10. My AAoA is 6 years 5 months.
Lately I’ve wanted to remove myself from the AMEX as a AU because my wife always carries a large balance on it. I know it’s a charge card and shouldn’t affect utilization but it bugs me. Do you guys think I’ll take a large ding by taking this off my credit?

---

Your closed accounts are probably going to drop off soon, so you could get slammed on average of accounts, and might even feel impact from the change in age of oldest account.

But what you could do is just go ahead and test it. Remove yourself. And if your scores drop badly, put yourself back on. And if they don't drop badly, then let it ride.

Similarly, when your oldest accounts drop off, if you get hit bad in your scores, then think about going back on the Amex card as an AU.

[Anonymous]

You said you've been on the account since 2007, but what is the open date?

It could cause scorecard reassignment, which could cause quite a score change, as would cause different weighting of your scoring factors. Depends on your current and new AoOA, but no one knows exactly where the threshold is.

[WarthogWrangler]

Just and update.  I removed myself and the statement cut yesterday.  Woke up today and the account was gone form my reports and I got a 10 point increase on Experian.  Havn't rereshed my other two yet.   Seems that removing the debt, even though it wasn't factored into utilization was a positive for me.   My AAoA dropped by two months which wasn't as bad as I expected.  

[AzCreditGuy]

Im AU on 2 accounts one that is 15 years old and one that is 10 years old, they might help out for scoring but they didnt help when I went on my credit spree. Cap 1 4.7 months at the time was my only card, my scores were around 800 and I still got 22% to 26% aprs and credit file too thin and short history. And yes if there is a balance on them, that goes against you. 

[Anonymous]

AzCreditGuy But even 3 accounts IS thin.

[AzCreditGuy]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
AzCreditGuy But even 3 accounts IS thin.

---

I agree but 3 is better than 1, having the AU didnt help me obtain better rates or higher CL in my credit spree

[Anonymous]

AzCreditGuy Its not going to with that thin of a file really. Yes 3 is better than 1, but until you are over 5 accounts, you are in a higher risk category. Had you had more accounts, it may have.