 Helping
to rebuild husband's credit
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 Dear
Dr. Don,
My husband is trying to recover his credit after filing for an unavoidable
bankruptcy over seven years ago. Will adding him as an authorized
user to my credit card help boost his own credit score?
-- Crystal Credit
 Dear
Crystal,
Credit card companies are legally required to report the payment
history of an authorized user when that user is a spouse. Assuming
you have a good payment history on the card, and adding your husband
to the card doesn't increase the balances to the point where you
can't keep up with the payments, making your husband an authorized
user on the account should improve his credit score.
A Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays on his credit report for 10 years,
but rebuilding his credit started immediately after the bankruptcy
was discharged. Seven years of clean living and timely payments
should have done a lot toward rebuilding his credit even with the
bankruptcy still on his credit report.
He can get free copies of his credit report, once annually, from
the consumer reporting agencies (credit bureaus) but he'll have
to pay to see his credit scores. Bankrate has the contact
information for the credit bureaus. In his shoes I'd be willing
to pony up a few dollars to get a credit score to see where I stand,
but Bankrate has partnered with myFICO to offer a credit score estimator
that should give him a reasonable approximation of his credit score.
To ask a question of Dr. Don, go to the "Ask
the Experts" page, and select one of these topics: "financing
a home," "saving & investing" or "money."
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