need help re raising FICO score

[KellyJef]

DD's fiance's score is 689 and he wants to raise it before they apply for a mortgage in a few months.

I came across this advice on the internet:

If you have a partner/spouse, relative, or friend with great credit history, have them add you to their credit card. This works very well since you will get credit for their payment of bills, and this will create more positive credit history for you. You don't even have to have them give you the credit card, as long as they charge one item onto the card you will get positive credit history from them. Again, anybody can add you to their credit card as an authorized user, and you get some credit for their good credit history. The only thing to keep in mind is that the credit card issuer should ask for your social security number, if they don't it won't count towards your credit history.


I just called my Citi MC and my Chase Visa and neither one of them requires a social security number to add an authorized user. Does anyone have any advice on how to find out which cc issuer would require a ssn (perhaps we could find someone - my MIL, BIL, etc. - who would have such a card and would add Luke.


Thanks.

[MarianneJ]

If you add someone onto your CC as an authorized user, couldn't you also get pulled down by some of their info, especially in the short term???

[KellyJef]

Anybody else have any thoughts?

[Ima saver]

That is a good question, but I don't have any answers.

[cschin4]

Don't "ask" others to help you with your credit score. Forget about your credit "score" and instead just start living and making good financial decisions. Frankly, I have never cared a rat's rear about my "credit score". If you have income and savings, you will have no problem getting loans when you need them at a decent rate. The "credit score" thing is more of a ploy to keep you beholden to the loan companies.

[6FeetUnder]

Originally Posted by cschin4

Don't "ask" others to help you with your credit score. Forget about your credit "score" and instead just start living and making good financial decisions. Frankly, I have never cared a rat's rear about my "credit score". If you have income and savings, you will have no problem getting loans when you need them at a decent rate. The "credit score" thing is more of a ploy to keep you beholden to the loan companies.

I agree to some extent... Unless you are going to be purchasing a home in the near future, and you cannot pay cash... I believe this is KellyJef's situation.

My recommendation would be to just ask the CC Companies.

Chris

[JoyJoy]

KellyJef;

I know this article is not in time for a mortgage in a few months, but this article and others on MSN Money - Bankrate.com may be helpful.

http://www.bankrate.com/msn/news/deb...1.asp?caret=22

[vsjhoc]

Originally Posted by KellyJef

DD's fiance's score is 689 and he wants to raise it before they apply for a mortgage in a few months ... I just called my Citi MC and my Chase Visa and neither one of them requires a social security number to add an authorized user. Does anyone have any advice on how to find out which cc issuer would require a ssn (perhaps we could find someone - my MIL, BIL, etc. - who would have such a card and would add Luke. Thanks.

Hi KellyJef,

How is your DD's credit? The bank will consider it and her finance's. Each should get copies of their reports from the 3 major bureaus now to make sure there are no errors that need to be disputed before they apply. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com.

Ask your MC and Visa if they are willing to report the authorized user to the credit bureaus (even though they don't require the SSN). Make sure the account they are being added to is in great shape -- they wouldn't want to inherit the credit history of someone who wasn't paying their bills on time or who only acquired the card recently. Good luck!

[trillium]

Be careful with this

authorized user does not mean co-application.


To add an authorized user to your CC does not make the other person liable, but to add a co-applicant does. And in the process of adding a co-app many CC companies will redecision things such as credit line and APR.

You can get the account added to the credit report as an authorized user, but it is not common practice and I believe has to be requested, and in some cases some financial institutions won't honor this request.

[Paul H]

Being an authorized user is a wise decision, as long as the card has low utilization (< 20%) and no late payments in the past 7 years. CC companies don't need the AU's SSN to add them and have it report to their credit; they have ways of linking everything. (Not sure how, but it worked when I added a couple relatives as AU's.)

Best,
Paul

[TwiceAsNice]

Interesting topic, especially since just today a close friend decided he needed to raise his score from 718 to 750. His intention was to ask his brother to make him an AU on a low bal - high limit card that the brother had for many years. However, the brother's wife worried that the family credit score would get pulled down.

Then, my friend considered paying $3k to piggyback as an AU to a person he did not know. Naturally, alarms went off in my head and I strongly warned against doing that. It is my understanding that there are many people out there selling good credit score via AU piggybacks and making a huge chunk of change and the credit card companies are wising up.

Anyone else know anything about that? And, if a person does become an AU, does it reflect poorly on the person whose score is good? I would think it would....

[poundwise]

FICO scores will no longer factor authorized user accounts into their credit scoring formulas.

[myrdale]

Originally Posted by KellyJef

DD's fiance's score is 689 and he wants to raise it before they apply for a mortgage in a few months.

Unfornately there is no quick and easy way to raise his credit score really fast. I've found out first hand that it is best just to pay your bills on time and be patient.

Some things I might suggest he do over the next year that will elevate it:

1) Make credit card payments on time, every time. No one wants to loan money to someone who does not pay it back, or pays back late.
2) Pay the balance off in full each month. You do NOT have to carry a balance month to month for score to improve.
3) Try not to use more than 25% of avaible balance at any time. This will increase his avaible to debt ratio.
4) Ask credit companys to increase credit limit. The more avaible credit you have the higher your score will be.
5) Don't apply for lots of credit all at once. The bank will wonder why you are wanting to borrow so much. They may think your having a criss.
6) And finally make all credit card payments on time, every time!

Now some other options:

If he has some time to work with, one to two years, being involved in a couple of different types of credit, aka credit card, car loan, and mortgage will help if he is making all the payments on time.

Another is as you suggested piggy banking on someone elses good credit.

I have never used secure credit cards from a bank, but I hear they are good.

Lastly, the FICO score is really a DEBT score. It measures how well you handle debt. When I purchased my house, I had no credit at all. How did I get my loan? I applied for a FHA loan. Part of this involved getting payment historys from my phone and cable company. Also I got a letter showing the past years rent payments. They looked at my salary and with this information approved me for the loan. Six months after moving in I had a credit score of about 690. A year later it is 740ish.

Someone on here pointed out in another post "Properly using a single credit card will do you far more good than a pocket full of VISA's".

Give it time and it will go up. You don't have to have a credit score either to get a mortgage, I didnt.

[TwiceAsNice]

Unfortunately, he has backed himself into a financial corner, and though he is faithful in payment, with a LONG credit history - which was always stellar, the debt monster got him and he is needing a quick 30 day fix. Simply a series of unfortunate events and a couple of poorly thought out choices. Now, he has 30 days to turn his 718 into a 750 to get himself out of his corner.

IMHO, piggybacking does not seem to be reliable, ESPECIALLY purchasing such a service. (My warning goes to anyone who would consider buying this kind of "service" at all!) That said, I do not know how he would raise his FICO in 30 days and be able to reach his goal of a refinance.

Tough situation.

[tomhank17]

Start paying your debts which is the best way to improve your credit score. And if you have any debts pay them first, that would be the easier way.

[TwiceAsNice]

Originally Posted by tomhank17

Start paying your debts which is the best way to improve your credit score. And if you have any debts pay them first, that would be the easier way.

Like I said tomhank, the gentleman in question has less than 40 days for his credit score to change, it is due to some unforseen circumstance and a couple of bad decisions that he has ended up in this situation. FICO scores are what the banks use to decide the loan, and this gentleman is looking to raise his score quickly.

It should be noted:
He is over 60
Re-employed recently
Previously and currently a consistant payor on accts due
AT HIS CREDIT LIMIT for his CURRENT SCORE and looking to raise it from 718 to 750, all of this in order to pay off a debt that he did not KNOW matured