Money owed to parents...help credit score?

**disneysteve** · 09-21-2010, 07:46 AM

Nope. It isn't you making the payment that matters. It is the creditor reporting your account to the credit bureau. Since this account isn't in your name and you aren't actually paying the bill, there is nothing to report to the credit bureau in your name.

**JoshuaHeckathorn** · 09-21-2010, 08:13 AM

Steve is right, and it's also important to remember that most cell phone companies won't even report payment history to the major credit bureaus until you're delinquent and they send you to collections. Sad, but true.

If your dad is a responsible credit user with a good credit score, ask him to add you as an Authorized User to one of his oldest credit cards in good standing with low utilization. That should help give your scores a nice boost if you don't feel ready to get your own credit card yet.

**Bades** · 09-21-2010, 11:09 AM

Thanks for the repsonses guy.

He actually owns his own business and I asked him if he could invoice me the bill, and he would be my creditor but, he said that would take time and money to set all the up, so not worth it.

That's fine, I was just trying to make the best of the situation.

I've had a card for 4 years now, but I've never really had any reoccuring payments/bills or anything but I have always paid out my balance every month and might have been late once or twice by a day or two in the last 4 years.

So smaller bills and subscriptions(magazines, netflix, fitness centers etc.) don't really affect your CS?

**disneysteve** · 09-21-2010, 12:49 PM

Originally posted by Bades View Post

I've had a card for 4 years now, but I've never really had any reoccuring payments/bills or anything but I have always paid out my balance every month and might have been late once or twice by a day or two in the last 4 years.

So smaller bills and subscriptions(magazines, netflix, fitness centers etc.) don't really affect your CS?

Even if you pay your balance if full every month (which you always should), that still helps your FICO score. What hurts your score, more than almost anything except defaulting, is late payments so do whatever you have to do to make sure that never happens again.

Any bills can affect your score if the companies report the accounts. Magazine subscriptions probably don't because if you don't pay, they just don't send the magazine. Same for netflix. If you have a fitness center contract, that might get reported.

**snshijuptr** · 09-21-2010, 02:41 PM

If you are confused about what is and is not on your credit report, you should check it for free at annualcreditreport.com. This is the legit website setup by the government to provide you a report (not your score). You get one report a year from each of the three agencies, so what I do is get a report every 4 months rotating between the agencies.

Look through the report and see who is reporting your information. Check and make sure everything is accurate every time you get a report. The first and most important step to improving your credit score is knowing what information is on your credit report.

**Joan.of.the.Arch** · 09-21-2010, 03:26 PM

I wonder if your parents might have a different monthly bill that is about the same charge as your share of the cell phone. You could ask them to let you cover such a bill instead of giving them cash for the cell. I mean put it into your name. Again, though, the question is whether any such biller reports positively to credit agencies.

Really, though, I don't think you need to do much of anything. Just lead a normal financial life of your own.

**Bades** · 09-21-2010, 05:06 PM

Cool, I ran my report and had OK's for everything!

I did find something weird... I use to be with National City Bank and it is now PNC.

One of the cards on my report is an old NCB card, which doesnt have a date closed.
Right underneath it is a PNC card with the same exact card number, and that has a closed date on it. Obviously the cards were one in the same, yet I just want to be sure that the NCB card is technically closed.

**Seeker** · 09-21-2010, 05:48 PM

PNC took over National City Bank :

PNC to buy National City - Oct. 24, 2008

If it's closed by PNC, the account is no more.

**Bades** · 09-21-2010, 07:06 PM

Originally posted by Seeker View Post

PNC took over National City Bank :

If it's closed by PNC, the account is no more.

Yeah I obviously know they were taken over, i got endless mailings and new cards. However the credit report showed a NCB card as not having a closed date, which I thought was weird.

**Seeker** · 09-21-2010, 09:06 PM

Okay, well, it's not uncommon; nor weird.

What happens in a take over situation is entirely up to that buyer and the gov't entities. Details like that get lost in the shuffle many times.

The City National line of your Credit Report will never have an indication of being closed by them (that won't change because the CRA people do not have anyone to go to to verify account status, only CNB can update it and since they no longer exist, it won't be "updated").

The very same account number being closed by PNC should suffice for closure purposes.

This is a non-issue.

**Bades** · 09-22-2010, 07:25 AM

Cool, thanks Seeker

**Fizgig** · 09-22-2010, 08:50 AM

Originally posted by JoshuaHeckathorn View Post

If your dad is a responsible credit user with a good credit score, ask him to add you as an Authorized User to one of his oldest credit cards in good standing with low utilization. That should help give your scores a nice boost if you don't feel ready to get your own credit card yet.

That used to work, but in 2008 they changed it so that an account with only Authorized User status has no affect on your credit score.

**JoshuaHeckathorn** · 09-25-2010, 09:39 PM

Originally posted by Fizgig View Post

That used to work, but in 2008 they changed it so that an account with only Authorized User status has no affect on your credit score.

Sorry, but you're wrong.

**minnie1928** · 09-26-2010, 12:14 PM

Originally posted by Fizgig View Post

That used to work, but in 2008 they changed it so that an account with only Authorized User status has no affect on your credit score.

I had heard this as well...

Money owed to parents...help credit score?