Getting added as joint account holder *questions!*

[Montacute]

My credit is poor--I haven't had a credit card in 15 years. No BK at least, and a defaulted SL was settled in full last year.

 

My DH's credit is excellent. If he added me to one or two of his cards as a joint account holder, could my poor credit in any way effect his excellent credit? He has Discover, Chase, Citi, a CU card and some store cards. It is vital that at least one of us have credit, so I don't want to do a thing to damage his.

 

Second, is it difficult to get added as a joint account holder? Will they want to run my credit and possibly deny me?

 

Thanks for the help.

[sjca]

My credit is poor--I haven't had a credit card in 15 years. No BK at least, and a defaulted SL was settled in full last year.

 

My DH's credit is excellent. If he added me to one or two of his cards as a joint account holder, could my poor credit in any way effect his excellent credit? He has Discover, Chase, Citi, a CU card and some store cards. It is vital that at least one of us have credit, so I don't want to do a thing to damage his.

 

Second, is it difficult to get added as a joint account holder? Will they want to run my credit and possibly deny me?

 

Thanks for the help.

To add a joint account holder "most" creditors will run your cr and may very well deny adding you. If you can get added it should not affect his overall credit but with the joint account they will look at you as well as him and your bad credit could cause adverse action on that account.

[SuperG]

My credit is poor--I haven't had a credit card in 15 years. No BK at least, and a defaulted SL was settled in full last year.

 

My DH's credit is excellent. If he added me to one or two of his cards as a joint account holder, could my poor credit in any way effect his excellent credit? He has Discover, Chase, Citi, a CU card and some store cards. It is vital that at least one of us have credit, so I don't want to do a thing to damage his.

 

Second, is it difficult to get added as a joint account holder? Will they want to run my credit and possibly deny me?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Just have your DH add you as an AU (Authorized User) onto his accounts. You don't even need to activate the CCs that will come in your name on those accounts. Doing that does NOT require a credit check on you, will NOT damage his credit, and WILL still help your credit, as his entire tradeline (history and all), will transfer onto your credit reports. Hope that helps. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Thanks.

 

SuperG

[GEORGE]

My credit is poor--I haven't had a credit card in 15 years. No BK at least, and a defaulted SL was settled in full last year.

 

My DH's credit is excellent. If he added me to one or two of his cards as a joint account holder, could my poor credit in any way effect his excellent credit? He has Discover, Chase, Citi, a CU card and some store cards. It is vital that at least one of us have credit, so I don't want to do a thing to damage his.

 

Second, is it difficult to get added as a joint account holder? Will they want to run my credit and possibly deny me?

 

Thanks for the help.

POOR CREDIT will be denied for a "JOINT" account

 

Go for "AU" (authorized user)

[Montacute]

Thanks for the replies. I have read that FICO has stopped allowing AU's to benefit from the main cardholder's credit history because people were paying strangers to let them become AU's. Is this not the case? How would becoming an AU help me?

[sjca]

Thanks for the replies. I have read that FICO has stopped allowing AU's to benefit from the main cardholder's credit history because people were paying strangers to let them become AU's. Is this not the case? How would becoming an AU help me?

The exception is spouse. Federal law requires that when the au is the spouse it must be reported. You are correct that strangers who are added as an au most likely will not be reported but that is not the case for you and your hubby!

[GEORGE]

Thanks for the replies. I have read that FICO has stopped allowing AU's to benefit from the main cardholder's credit history because people were paying strangers to let them become AU's. Is this not the case? How would becoming an AU help me?

FALSE

 

FICO08 never happened

 

FICO09 may happen

 

DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH

 

"IF' they kill "AU" they would be VIOLATING THE LAW

 

SPOUSE "AU" IS REQUIRED BY LAW TO REPORT

[DiggingOut]

I agree, you're better off to have your spouse add you as an authorized user instead of as a joint owner. Pretty much all of the same advantages without the associated drawbacks and concerns.

 

To have the best chance of being reported to the CRA's, ask him to add you by following a few careful tips.

Do you and your spouse have the same surname and residential address? That aids the matching.

Do you know exactly how each of the CRA's has your name listed? Be sure to match that.

For example, Barbara Jeanne Smith or Barbara J Smith; match whichever way the CRA's already have your credit file. Not Babs Smith or Barbie or BJ or Jeanie or any nickname or shortened version. Have him initiate a comment to the CSR to give your SSN.

 

Name and address are the primary match characteristics. SSN and other data are secondary.

Make it as easy as possible for each CRA to accurately find YOUR specific file.

[Montacute]

Oh thank you so much for this information!! I'm very excited that AU as a spouse could count. We have the same address, but different surnames.

 

Would it be worthwhile to get my Mom to add me to one of her decades old accounts? We have the same last name.

 

 

And everyone is POSITIVE that my credit history will not affect my DH's accounts if he adds me as an AU? Would anyone have a link to something I could show him...he's a little nervous about making sure this is the case before we do it.

 

THANKS AGAIN!

 

This was really good, good news.

[Tyra]

Oh thank you so much for this information!! I'm very excited that AU as a spouse could count. We have the same address, but different surnames.

 

Would it be worthwhile to get my Mom to add me to one of her decades old accounts? We have the same last name.

 

 

And everyone is POSITIVE that my credit history will not affect my DH's accounts if he adds me as an AU? Would anyone have a link to something I could show him...he's a little nervous about making sure this is the case before we do it.

 

THANKS AGAIN!

 

This was really good, good news.

The only way you could hurt his credit report would be if you would run the cards up and hurt his utilization which could lower his score. So as long as you don't plan on maxing out the cards, it will not negatively affect him.

 

Here is an article that gives you a little info about AU's and the new FICO08

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/200808...ed-users-a1.asp