Authorized User Account Impeding Home Purchase

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Dear Experian,

I have a question regarding authorized users. I put my son on my card when he and his sister were traveling in Europe. I forgot about it because they never misused them. Now my son, who has excellent credit, is planning to buy a house, but the lenders are objecting because he has "Authorized user of credit card" on his report. I feel so bad about this and wonder if there is a way to get this removed from his report quickly?

- ATH

Dear ATH,

I am surprised that the mortgage lender is concerned because an authorized user is not responsible for the debt. Often, people will add a friend or family member to their account as an authorized user in order to help that person build a positive credit history.

Credit score developers determine whether their scoring systems will include authorized user accounts in the calculation. Most lenders rely on one or more scoring models to help evaluate the history. Perhaps the authorized user accounts are not scoring well in the model this lender used.

Removing an Authorized User Account

If you are concerned about the impact on your son's credit history, you should contact the credit card company and ask to have him removed from the account. Because an authorized user has no responsibility for the debt, creditors will typically remove them from the account on request.

Your son can also contact Experian and ask that the account be removed from your his credit history. He can mail the request in writing or go online to Experian's Dispute Center.

As long as his name is no longer associated with the account when the lender next reports its account updates, the account should no longer appear on your son's credit report.

The account would also be removed from any other credit reporting company to which that lender reports its data. That is why it is better if you contact the lender rather than just asking Experian to delete the account.

Thanks for asking.
The "Ask Experian" team