Got my credit report- Parents Sears card on it?

[Nick R]

So I just pulled a credit report from Credit Karma on the recommednation of a few others and I saw something interesting. The balances on my credit cards (State Farm, And Best Buy) are low and right where they should be. But then there is a big one, that I wasn't aware of.

I'm listed as an Authorized user on my parents Sears card, and I have a card with my name on it, but the account is in my Dad's name. We've bought a lot of big purchases from there in the past year, including the riding mower. But WHY does the balance on THEIR CARD show up as an extra 4 grand on MY credit report? Help me out here.

 

[Donald]

Do you and your Dad have the same first name?

So you are not a "joint" on the account, only an authorized user? I guess I would start with Sears and ask if they are reporting this and why.

You can certainly go to the CR companies websites and file disputes.

I do not know if its valid for them to do that. But you should find out.

 

[Nick R]

Correct. I called Sears Credit Services, and they said they would remove it, just fax them the information and the reason it's being removed, and then file a dispute with one of the Bureaus. I got my annual free credit report from TransUnion and filed the dispute through them.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Correct. I called Sears Credit Services, and they said they would remove it, just fax them the information and the reason it's being removed, and then file a dispute with one of the Bureaus. I got my annual free credit report from TransUnion and filed the dispute through them.


Sears did that to me as well. I was on my Parent's account as an authorized user ONLY. My name appeared no where on the statements or any place else. They had no signature from me on any paperwork saying I agreed to pay for anything. I was just allowed to use their card/account.

When we got my name added it was so I could do errands for them as my Mom was sick and it helped them having me do some stuff for them. We specifically asked if something were to happen to my Parents would I be liable for the charges in any way? We were told absolutely not. Again, just an authorized user.

They LIED to us!

My Mom was really sick for quite a few years. She seemed to know the end was coming and in her last year with us she went hog wild( we didn't know it )with the CC's buying stuff for Christmas( her favorite time of year ). After she passed on right after Christmas that year( early Jan )I tried to help my Dad sort out funeral expenses and his finances as my Mom had always handled that stuff even when she was sick. We were aghast when we discovered what she had done; it was BAD!

Not trying to bore folks but to keep it short it forced my Dad to go bankrupt. He just couldn't pay it all( i.e. funeral expenses, medical costs, CC's, etc... )with his limited retirement income. We also found out a hidden clause my Parents didn't know about in the life insurance policy all but eliminated any benefits my Dad got which meant the funeral costs were all out of pocket. All the years of caring for my Mom wiped out any savings he had despite having health incurance. Everything just was too much and he just couldn't afford it. Going bankrupt about killed him but it was his only option.

So when the bankruptcy was done and settled we thought the mess was over. Then all of a sudden I start getting notices that my CC and loan accounts are being changed or cancelled due to a change in my credit rating. Ironically Sears themselves cancelled my charge card even though I had no outstanding balance and had never had any issues with them paying on time and in full. I was like WTH???

Looked into it and SEARS listed me as bankrupt for my Dad's account. NO amount of calling and fighting with them, or trying to get the credit agencies to take it off, worked. It really screwed me over bad. It stayed on there until the 7 years past and for all I know it may still be there in some form? I was never listed in any of the bankruptcy paperwork or anything but they still did it to me.

My advice is to get your name OFF any account held by Sears that is not your own personal one just as soon as you can. Don't trust Sears for a second. They are not honest and they will go after you tooth and nail if you ever get into financial issues. I had nothing to do with being responsible for my Parent's account but my credit rating took a hit over my Dad's bankruptcy.

 

[Nick R]

Well that got resolved quickly. I got an email from Transunion stating that the investigation was complete. I thought for sure that it was denied. But I go in and it was approved. They even provided a new copy of my credit report with it off. I was shocked., One, it's a weekend I expected to at least have to wait until the week. And two I thought for sure stuff like this would take a while. All I can say is that transunion and Sears Credit have actually been great to deal with and very helpful.

Anyone know how long it takes for changes to one to filter down across all credit bureaus?

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I'm just amazed that anyone would be foolish enough to carry a credit card balance.

 

[Mr Nice]

I only have 1 credit card and the balance is paid in full by my credit union.

You always have to be very careful with your credit and reporting.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I'm just amazed that anyone would be foolish enough to carry a credit card balance.


Different situations for certain folks.

I managed to in my 20's to have a constant $500-$1000 balance. I had a hard time meeting my end's meet well. I did end up saving 7% of salary for retirement since it was matched. Also purcchased my first home (age 22) that I sold for 2.5 times purchase selling in peak. Very little renovation but the bills around it seemed to contribute to credit card I could not kick. The end of the month I did not have a dime to my name.

Finally got a decent paying job and kicked the credit and have life together. I ended up taking cash on house and renting a cheap place looking for a decent home for my family. Thankfully the housing market got kicked and ended up buying in the downswing but not bottom.

Easy to say as an old guy not to do xyz but I think learing yourself is best method.

 

[Hokiefyd]

If you use a credit card with any regularity, you'll almost always have a "balance" of some kind. Rarely will you have paid the bill, and not charged anything between when that bill was paid and when the report was run.

Our credit card bill is between $2-3k/month. We put everything on it; groceries, utility bills (when allowed), gas...nearly everything. We also pay the full bill each month. But at any given point in time, we have a balance on the account, because we're putting stuff on it daily.

We use the credit card because we get 1-5% cash back and make about 50 bucks in rewards cash every 4-6 weeks. Our credit score (both mine and my wife's) is over 800, by the way, or at least it was when we bought the CR-V a few years ago.

 

[DBMaster]

My experience has been (I am talking about direct, personal experience.) that Equifax is the one that is the least responsive when trying to get erroneous accounts removed. I needed two business credit card accounts, obtained fraudulently, from my files. Experian and TransUnion removed them right away - on the first try. It took nearly two years with repeated attempts by an attorney for Equifax to remove one of the two accounts (the other one was removed right away).

I'm not trying to make it sound like this will happen to you, but keep on it. It seems to me that when I purchased the Mazda last year and also refinance my house that Equifax is then bureau preferred by a lot of lenders. Could it be due to the very issue I had?

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I used to put everything on my credit card. Then I was hurt VERY BADLY by the credit union.

In January of 2012, my credit card stopped working. I called my issuing credit union and they told me that they had send me a new card and that I had not activated.

I did NOT receive the card and had them send me a new one. I activated the new one.

Around July of 2012, I had received a call and a letter from the credit union saying I owed them a few THOUSAND.

After further investigation, I found out that when I activated CC#3, all of the trasactions I made for a few months went to BOTH CARDS.

I paid everything on the CC except for rent and car payment. For me, it's easier to track expenses.

Anyhow, I lost a few thousand dollars - after they took all of my money , I wasn't able to afford a lawyer to sue them. I did, however, get that removed from my credit report.

Banks, credit cards, *AND* credit unions are out to take your money. If they can falsify a credit report - they will. Then they can charge you higher interest loans.

While I'm up to my ears in student loans and a car, I down have a DIME of debt. PERIOD. Once I get the student loans paid off and car paid off, other than a house, I'll never finance a SINGLE THING.

 

[DBMaster]

Just like at my own employer's office, some treat information from the "computer" as gospel. A single bit of bad data can populate a bunch of records. Since credit bureaus are not accountable to the people whose records they maintain they don't have to make it easy to get things straightened out. It took acts of Congress to get us to where we are now and it will eventually take further action to make the process doable by the average person.

For example, when I learned of the fraudulent activity on my files in 2009 I wanted to place "freezes" on my credit files. That means that, supposedly, if anyone applied for credit using my credentials I would get a call from the bureau involved to ask me if it was OK to release the info. Freezes have to be done individually for the three bureaus. One allows it to be done online, one by phone, and the third by snail mail only. One is free and the other two require payment of a fee.

As I said, since they are not required to make it easy, they don't.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
If you use a credit card with any regularity, you'll almost always have a "balance" of some kind. Rarely will you have paid the bill, and not charged anything between when that bill was paid and when the report was run.

Our credit card bill is between $2-3k/month. We put everything on it; groceries, utility bills (when allowed), gas...nearly everything. We also pay the full bill each month. But at any given point in time, we have a balance on the account, because we're putting stuff on it daily.

We use the credit card because we get 1-5% cash back and make about 50 bucks in rewards cash every 4-6 weeks. Our credit score (both mine and my wife's) is over 800, by the way, or at least it was when we bought the CR-V a few years ago.


Agreed. We pay our CC's off in full each month. Never have a balance. We use them because of the frequent flyer miles, and since we are responsible enough to not use them for the high interest credit, its no big deal.

But they report the statement amount each month to the bureau. So if I made $2500 in purchases, but paid it off in time, it would still show $2500.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Never have a balance.
[snip]
But they report the statement amount each month to the bureau. So if I made $2500 in purchases, but paid it off in time, it would still show $2500.


As I understand it, that's still a "balance" to the credit union. I know you know this, but a few others may not: a "balance" isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's simply how much you owe someone at any one point in time, say at 10:15 hours on 4 February, or whenever the report might be run. A credit card "balance" has been popularized as something "negative", and something only someone in debt up to their ears would have.

Even paying cash for things, you can technically have a "balance". Say you get 20 gallons of gas and go in to pay cash. For a few seconds in time, between the time that you took possession of the gas and when you walk into the store, you have a balance of 60 bucks. Say you pay a chimney sweep to clean your stove pipe. Between the time he or she is done and the time you pay the cash, you technically owe a balance. In any situation where you receive a good or service and pay for it after you receive it, you have a "balance".

A balance on a credit card is simply a balance that exists for a longer period of time. And it's a balance that changes nearly daily. Many are frightened of credit cards, or have some other adversion to them, and that's okay, it works for them. But when used to one's advantage, you can earn a ton of rewards, simply for buying the things that you'd buy anyway (like food and gas). We earned over 400 bucks last year from Discover...free cash. And I'm sure there are many who earn way more than we do.

 

[DBMaster]

^To expound upon this, when you use a credit card, rewards or not, you are being subsidized by those who do not use the cards. Sellers pay fees to get card transactions processed. If you are fortunate enough to be a cash payer you can find the odd place that offers discounted prices for paying cash (such as Spec's Liquor).

I know it's not a real enticement for those who do not want to use credit cards, but it is something to think about. Credit cards cost everyone money whether you use them or not.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I'm just amazed that anyone would be foolish enough to carry a credit card balance.


It's the card they used to purchase a new freezer last year when the old one died, as well as the riding mower. It's 12 months no interest so there was no reason not to do it that way.

 

[kb01]

It's perfectly normal for the account information to show up on your credit report if you're an authorized user (ie, not a joint account). However, upon request you can have it removed from your report by going through the original creditor.

It's actually a very common strategy for those who rebuilding their credit to ask family members to list them as an authorized user (AU), so their good account history will give them a bump on their FICO.

Shady credit rebuilding agencies also act as the middlemen in these types of arrangements (basically paying people with good credit to allow strangers to be listed as AUs for cash). In response, a few years ago FICO actually stopped taking AU reporting into account when calculating credit scores. They eventually dropped this policy because it had such an adverse effect on spouses.

 

[kb01]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I'm just amazed that anyone would be foolish enough to carry a credit card balance.


You don't have to carry a balance for a balance to show up on your credit report. The reporting date that creditors use isn't typically linked to the statement date.

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: kb01
Shady credit rebuilding agencies also act as the middlemen in these types of arrangements (basically paying people with good credit to allow strangers to be listed as AUs for cash). In response, a few years ago FICO actually stopped taking AU reporting into account when calculating credit scores. They eventually dropped this policy because it had such an adverse effect on spouses.


I recall reading an article about this very subject. The money for allowing the AU was actually pretty good and, supposedly, you would not be dinged if the AU defaulted. Seemed almost too good to be true at the time.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I'm just amazed that anyone would be foolish enough to carry a credit card balance.


It's the card they used to purchase a new freezer last year when the old one died, as well as the riding mower. It's 12 months no interest so there was no reason not to do it that way.


Youre assuming that they pay it ALL off entirely before the time is up. These scams usually charge you the full, compounded 12 months interest if it isnt entirely paid in time.

Yet another trap that people get snagged into, which is exactly why Pop_Rivit used the term foolish.