credit hurt from being added as authorized user on parents' fuel credit card

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by philmitch, Jan 10, 2015.

  1. philmitch

    philmitch New Member

    I am 35 years old and in the process of buying my first home. Most everything on my credit looks good, but my lender turned up something I was not even aware of.

    When I was very young, 9 or 10, my parents opened a fuel credit card through Chase/BP. When I turned 16 and got my driver license, my parents had a card for the account sent for me with my name on it, to keep for fuel emergencies. That was nearly 20 years ago. I grew up, moved on, don't use the account, really never thought one way or the other about it. Now I find out that not only is the account still active, it turns out there is about a $2300 balance on the account (of a $2500 limit). This account being so delinquent as well as so close to maxed out is hurting my credit score and affecting mortgage rates for me.

    What is my best course of action? Is there no way to dispute or mitigate this since I never ever signed on for anything, and was a minor when the account was set up and I was added? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
     
  2. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    First, when your credit is at a mostly great place, the software is designed to still provide you with 4 reasons that your credit score isn't higher. Sometimes it picks some things that are nit-picky.

    Second, contra-indicated by the effects on score of the high balance, and delinquency; is it's age, which could be more positive in it's effects on your score.

    Now, to answer your question, if you still want to wave the magic wand, and make it go away, this is how I would do it.

    Write a letter to the OC, enclose the card, cut if possible; explain that your parents added you as an authorized user as a minor, and you just now because aware of its significant adverse effects on your being able to obtain a mortgage.

    (That last part would be the damages, if you needed to file an FCRA suit against them.)

    Request that they verify that you never used the account, and that you be removed from the account, as such.

    After they've received it, dispute the account with a dispute similar to Johnson v. MBNA, "NOT MY ACCOUNT, PARENTS PLACED ME AS AN AUTHORIZED USER, WHEN I WAS A MINOR."

    Hopefully, the OC will have removed you as an AU by that time.
     
  3. philmitch

    philmitch New Member

    This may sound stupid, but if my parents, the account holders, call and now have my name removed, am I no longer responsible? Or am I still responsible? I don't want to inadvertently do something that my do more harm and good. In other words, I don't want it to look like I was removed and no longer associated with the account but left it with a high outstanding balance. Does it serve me better to stay on the account and pay it down and then be removed or have it closed?
     
  4. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    Well, as an AU, you'd only be responsible for what you personally used.

    As an AU, you couldn't close the account, but you can say that you were a minor when you were added to the account, and want to be removed.

    The harm could come if the 20+ years of payment history is taken off of your credit report, and the points that you were getting from that credit account were higher than the points that are being deducted for its faults...
     
  5. jshimmer

    jshimmer Well-Known Member

    >> Well, as an AU, you'd only be responsible for what you personally used.

    Wrong. An AU isn't responsible for ANY charges made. None. Zero. They are an authorized USER, not an account holder, owner, or any party to the contractual agreement to repay debt incurred.

    Beyond this, why are you all making this so difficult?

    If you have an account listed on your credit report(s) and you are shown as an 'Authorized User' on your credit report(s), you simply contact the CRA(s) and instruct them to REMOVE the trade line from your history because IT'S NOT YOUR ACCOUNT!

    You are an AU and NOT responsible for the account. Therefore, it should not be on your history. Sure, the CC companies throw trade lines on there for AUs all the time, but (legally) they shouldn't.
     
  6. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    jshimmer:

    All I was suggesting is to consider the positive as well as the negative score features of the tradeline.

    There is a possibility with an older tradeline of 20+ years, that removing the tradeline, even with the current delinquency, and credit line utlization that making the request to delete the AU could backfire and cause a score decrease.

    The letter I suggested would work in concert with your recommendation, it just makes sure that *IF* the CRA doesn't delete, because we know that CRAs don't always delete things that they are supposed to delete, it makes sure that the OP has a case against both the DF and the CRA.
     
  7. jshimmer

    jshimmer Well-Known Member

    I wasn't disputing your comments about good vs. bad when removing an AU trade line.

    The ONLY thing you said that I was responding to was THIS:

    >> Well, as an AU, you'd only be responsible for what you personally used.

    That statement is 100% inaccurate. AU is responsible for repayment of NOTHING.
     
  8. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    As someone who just referred to using their moral compass to judge my posts, saying that an AU doesn't have a moral responsibility for their personal usage of a credit card is hypocritical.
     
  9. jshimmer

    jshimmer Well-Known Member

    While I'll give you the benefit of the doubt throughout all your other ambiguous posts in the other three threads, you don't get this one. Clearly there is a comprehension issue here.

    I clearly stated in my previous post that the AU is not LEGALLY obligated to repay a debt nor is s/he LEGALLY responsible. That's why I used the word OWNER and referred to the AU not being part of the contractual agreement to repay the debt to the lender.

    In short, I wasn't referring to a MORAL obligation in my previous post in this thread (although, somehow, I assume you're intelligent enough to have known that before posting this nonsense, so I'm not sure why you did). Whatever.
     
  10. mindcrime

    mindcrime Well-Known Member

    It's really simple, just ask to be removed from the account as jam said, followed with a dispute through the CRAs.

    In all likelihood, it will be gone within a month.

    You may lose some of your AaoA, but more than likely this will only help your credit overall.

    Additionally, I was under the impression that when going for a mortgage, they discount an AU accounts since they're "artificial inflation". Guess that's not entirely the case.
     
  11. jshimmer

    jshimmer Well-Known Member

    If you build a history of erroneous disputes with a CRA that clearly indicate that you're just disputing things to see what might happen (and no real basis for the disputes), I'm fairly certain that the CRA can (legally) start delaying or even ignoring future disputes.

    With regard to impact on score related to AU vs. owner/joint owner of an account: You are correct - it doesn't matter.
     
  12. JoshuaHeckathorn

    JoshuaHeckathorn Administrator

    Hey philmitch- it's been about a year and I'm curious if you were ever able to get the old AU account removed from your credit reports? Did you end up disputing it through the CRAs? And If so, what was the result and how did it effect your FICO scores?

    I'd love to hear how this played out for you if you're willing to come back and give us an update. Thanks!
     

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