This is something I ran into by accident and am not sure if it'll work for everybody but it worked for me - actually my wife. My wife is canadian and she didn't have any credit history when she moved to US (duh!) a little over 4 years ago. I put her as an additional card holder on my 10 year old AMEX and Discover accounts.
Two years ago when we were getting ready to buy a house, I signed up for FICO score/credit report and was surprised to see that she had a higher score than me. When I looked at her credit report I was pleasantly surprised to see that she had inherited my AMEX and Discover card age. Eventhough she had her SS # for only 2 years, her credit history was more than 10 years long.
I am curious to see if this has happened to anyone else and if this "loophole" can be used to quickly acquire credit histories for example - immigrant wives, teenage kids, family members, friends etc.
Yes it has happened to us. My wife only came to US 4 yrs ago and I found out her score is better than mine. She has been an add-on to all my credit cards and accounts. She is a homemaker
there are a few other threads about adding kids as AU to their parents reports when they are less than 10 yrs old
asyd
Thrifty Member
posted: Nov. 17, 2005 @ 11:40a
are there any opposite effects to this though? say if you have bad credit, does it affect the person who added you as a cardholder? if not, then this could be the most coolest credit score trick EVAR! you basically have control over all the other negative factors, 'cept the 'credit history is too short'
This happened to me (my parents cards showed up on my credit history).
It actually had a bad effect on me, because when i applied for a credit card, i was denied because they said i had too much credit for an 18 year old!
Plexagon
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 17, 2005 @ 2:09p
MADDOG2020 said: This is something I ran into by accident and am not sure if it'll work for everybody but it worked for me - actually my wife. My wife is canadian and she didn't have any credit history when she moved to US (duh!) a little over 4 years ago. I put her as an additional card holder on my 10 year old AMEX and Discover accounts.
Two years ago when we were getting ready to buy a house, I signed up for FICO score/credit report and was surprised to see that she had a higher score than me. When I looked at her credit report I was pleasantly surprised to see that she had inherited my AMEX and Discover card age. Eventhough she had her SS # for only 2 years, her credit history was more than 10 years long.
I am curious to see if this has happened to anyone else and if this "loophole" can be used to quickly acquire credit histories for example - immigrant wives, teenage kids, family members, friends etc.
My understanding is that there is a difference between a spouse and an ordinary "authorized user." Federal law requires that the credit bureaus get reports from spouses, but it's optional as to authorized users.
flicken
Thrifty Member
posted: Nov. 17, 2005 @ 2:31p
My parents put me as an authorized user on their credit cards from the time i was 10 years old. My credit score is great! I have never seen "credit history too short" listed as a negative factor on my credit report.
One caveat: if the credit card listed on your report is "bad" (maxed out, late payments, etc), it will have a detrimental effect on your score. So let your parents/friends/spouses put you on their long-history credit cards, just don't tell them about maxing out credit cards with 0% offers.
Zolar
Member
posted: Nov. 17, 2005 @ 7:48p
My parents included me to their 7 year old discover card when I was 18. A year later I applied to AMEX blue cash and much to my dismay, i got approved and for a very high credit limit too!
BuckarooBanzai
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 18, 2005 @ 4:18a
I moved to the U.S. from Canada in 2002 and have had a couple of unique experiences while trying to build up my credit here.
For awhile I carried a U.S. Dollar Credit Card issued by a Canadian bank (most major Canadian banks offer at least one U.S. Dollar card product), and to my surprise it started showing up on one of my U.S. credit reports. Even though I had never given the Canadian bank my U.S. SSN and was never asked for it, they were reporting across the border to at least one U.S. credit agency in addition to the equivalent Canadian agencies. Either that, or one of the 2 Canadian credit agencies (Experian Canada and Equifax Canada) was passing the information along to it's U.S. counterpart because the card had a U.S. billing address and was being used exclusively in the U.S.
I also discovered that American Express can and will look directly at foreign American Express accounts when considering credit history. I applied for an AMEX Blue Cash shortly after I moved here and was denied outright. I had heard that they would consider foreign account history so I called them and told them I had an Canadian American Express card. They asked for the Canadian account number, put me on hold for a moment, and then came back and opened a U.S. account with a $5k credit line on the spot.
Since then I have opened a U.S. AMEX Gold card account, and my "Member Since" date is the year I opened my original Canadian American Express card, 3 years before I even moved to the U.S.
zhaohuipan
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 18, 2005 @ 8:21a
That happens to my wife as well.
50CC
Member
posted: Nov. 18, 2005 @ 9:47a
I added my brother as an additional user to my AMEX blue, which is my highest CL and second oldest CC. He is only 18 and a half and I check his credit report and score recently, it show a score of 760 for all 3 bureaus. Thus, I asked him to apply for a SonyCard for the $100 statement credit, unfortunately he wasn't approve. I guess Credit score don't mean much, instead the content of the credit report matter most.
My wife came from Russia a year ago. I put her name into my accounts and my car before I paid it off. Now she took my money and my car and now she's gone!
If you need a quick bump, have someone with a higher FICO do this for you about 3-6 months ahead of schedule, give it time to start reporting, and reap the benefits, then once you qualify, and secure your loan, have them pull you from AU status, so that you get the short term benefits needed, and don't take the change that if they go south, you don't go with them.
Yes, its legal, and yes it works. I have scores in the 600-620 range. But I have someone that has 830 scores I can AU off of when the time is right, that should seriously bump me hardcore up to a better rate.
jomarrod said: My wife came from Russia a year ago. I put her name into my accounts and my car before I paid it off. Now she took my money and my car and now she's gone!
jomarrod said: My wife came from Russia a year ago. I put her name into my accounts and my car before I paid it off. Now she took my money and my car and now she's gone!
sounds like a fairy tale!
ripsaw
Dismembered Member
posted: Nov. 18, 2005 @ 11:32a
jomarrod said: My wife came from Russia a year ago. I put her name into my accounts and my car before I paid it off. Now she took my money and my car and now she's gone!
ah, the mailorderbride.ru effect...
maks
Member
posted: Nov. 18, 2005 @ 3:15p
stiltner said: If you need a quick bump, have someone with a higher FICO do this for you about 3-6 months ahead of schedule, give it time to start reporting, and reap the benefits, then once you qualify, and secure your loan, have them pull you from AU status, so that you get the short term benefits needed, and don't take the change that if they go south, you don't go with them.
Yes, its legal, and yes it works. I have scores in the 600-620 range. But I have someone that has 830 scores I can AU off of when the time is right, that should seriously bump me hardcore up to a better rate.
If you are removed from someone's card as an AU, your credit score will certainly decrease. But does this remain on your credit report as a closed account? Anyone know if you retain any points just because you once had that history? This is actually a fantastic idea especially if you are going to buy a house.
You guys are doing this and not giving them the card right
CheapDB
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 19, 2005 @ 8:05a
maks said: stiltner said: If you need a quick bump, have someone with a higher FICO do this for you about 3-6 months ahead of schedule, give it time to start reporting, and reap the benefits, then once you qualify, and secure your loan, have them pull you from AU status, so that you get the short term benefits needed, and don't take the change that if they go south, you don't go with them.
Yes, its legal, and yes it works. I have scores in the 600-620 range. But I have someone that has 830 scores I can AU off of when the time is right, that should seriously bump me hardcore up to a better rate.
If you are removed from someone's card as an AU, your credit score will certainly decrease. But does this remain on your credit report as a closed account? Anyone know if you retain any points just because you once had that history? This is actually a fantastic idea especially if you are going to buy a house.
You guys are doing this and not giving them the card right
The entire credit account shouild be removed if you are removed as AU. However, while some mortgage programs are completely score driven, most credit decisions are not and they will still consider any derogitories on your credit report when deciding on an approval and/or rate. The AU idea works best for someone who hasn't really established a credit history for themselves. If you already have bad credit, adding a good AU account may improve your score, but most lenders may still deny you or charge you a rediculous interest rate if, when they check the report, they see charge offs, bankrupcty, late payments, etc.
Oakley087
Addicted Member
posted: Nov. 20, 2005 @ 1:28p
maks said:
You guys are doing this and not giving them the card right
That's the way to do it! That or tell the CC company that you don't want them to even send a card in the first place, just be added as an authorized user. My friend (18) and his brother (28?) both just did this on their parents same credit card, opened in 1985 with a 19,xxx limit. Both of their scores went up 50+ (682 to 748, and 65xish to 70x) the following month once it was reported to the credit bureaus.
wow, that's an awesome way to boost your credit score.
minty123
Addicted Member
posted: Dec. 12, 2005 @ 1:01p
I was wondering..since it'll boost the other person's credit rating, will it also affect my credit score too and maybe lower it?? Thanks for an awesome topic btw!
simplyamar
Broke Member
posted: Dec. 13, 2005 @ 12:50a
The same thing happened to me. I [immigrant] have a history of about 2 years now. My dad didn't have any history before. I added him as an authorized user on each of my cc's. Now he has a better history and score than mine. He only has few credit inquiries which probably makes his score go up.
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