Where do AUs stand today with Fico?

[Anonymous]

I didn't realize a change was happening as I have asked to be placed on a family members (don't share last name or address) old accounts to help boost me a bit in addition to what I am doing. I also planned in the future to add my children to my rehabed credit to give them a start for when they turn 18.

Where do AUs stand with Fico currently?

[Anonymous]

Sorry and thank you for the move.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I didn't realize a change was happening as I have asked to be placed on a family members (don't share last name or address) old accounts to help boost me a bit in addition to what I am doing. I also planned in the future to add my children to my rehabed credit to give them a start for when they turn 18.

Where do AUs stand with Fico currently?

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Regarding blue above.... a change to what?

The old FICO models (FICO 98 and FICO 04, used for mortgages) will always consider an AU card (to which a person has been added) just the same as if it were a card in his own name, whether for account age or credit limit or whatever.  (I am happy to be corrected with the "always" here -- but I think that is what is supposed to be the case.)

FICO 8 and 9 will oftentimes permit an AU card to count the same -- but not always.  FICO 8 and 9 has a secret "anti-abuse" algorithm that will sometimes classify an AU card as not legitimate.  If the AU and original cardholder share a last name or address that is believed to decrease the chance of being classified as illegitimate.  But some people do not share a last name or address and are fine.

Historically FICO tried to get rid of allowing AUs to benefit a person (back in 2008) but there was a housewives' rebellion and FICO backed off.

Is the card you may be added to much much older than your oldest account (closed or open)?

[Anonymous]

The change being due to past abuse of the AUs so that Fico no longer recognized the majority for credit reporting.

As for age, I don't know the length of time they have been open, but they may be older than I am an at least double my current oldest of 8 years.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you would be added so that it would give you a hoped-for boost to your credit score.  Is that right?

If so, you should find out:

     * The age of your oldest account.

            * If your oldest is closed, when it was closed.

     * The age of the account you would be added to, the issuer, whether the card has ever had a late payment on it, its typical balance, and its credit limit.

Until you know those things, you can't make an informed decision.

What you are looking for is a card that is much older than your oldest account, which has a zero balance or a very low utilization, and where the card owner has never been late even once on a payment.

[jamie123]

Yeah, they have cracked down on AUs because of abuse and out and out fraud. There was a time a few years ago where people with really high credit scores were selling rights to an AU card with them. They would get the card delivered to their address so you never saw the card but the AU account would hit your reports and raise your scores. This technique worked really well...too well! That's why they cracked down on the practice.

I just added my son to a BoA CC to give him a head start in the credit world because he just turned 16. Bank of America sent me a special form in the mail (Not available online.) that needed to be filled out and sent back to them if I wanted his AU status reported to the credit reporting agencies. They would have happily given him the AU card without filling out the form but wouldn't report to the CRAs without it.