Credit Profiles

[Giovanni]

I saw a discussion on this forum from 2006 (I think) dealing with ways to improve a credit score. I'm not sure if that thread is still open or if I could even find it again.

First of all, I have crummy credit. I was extended to the eyeballs and then
they passed the law that was going to double the minimum monthly payments on credit cards. It was all that we could do to make the minimums as it was
without doubling. We would surely be bankrupt sooner or later, so we filed
and were discharged 3 years ago.

Now, I recently heard somebody talking about creating a new credit file (legally) by changing the name on your social security account. It involved using your
mother's maiden name rather than your father's sir name, using a mailing address in another zip code, then applying for
revolving credit somewhere, causing this new information to be triggered;
thereby creating a new credit file.

I mentioned this to my wife and you would have thought I was telling her
that I was wanting a divorce.

So my question(s) is/are: Do anyone know if this is really legal? What
happens to current banking accounts, home mortgages, marriage licenses,
driver licenses, credit accounts, etc? And of course, does it work?

[boosami]

You can do it, but it's called fraud. Better and safer just to adopt good financial practices and allow your existing credit to heal itself. With time, your score will go back up as long as you are responsible.

[MaxPowers]

My dad and I are trying this...
He has a great credit score, long standings with his credit cards that he always uses and always pays off and has 15k+ limits on. I just signed the paperwork to be put on his card, full responsibility and liability and everything. The credit card place said it will reflect on my credit report just as if the credit card were mine.
The paper work is still being mailed around, but I imagine if it works it will help my credit score with the higher credit limit and the monthly payments. I wonder if it will backdate the history.... Make it seem like I had a credit card when I was 5 or something.

[kork13]

My dad and I are trying this...
He has a great credit score, long standings with his credit cards that he always uses and always pays off and has 15k+ limits on. I just signed the paperwork to be put on his card, full responsibility and liability and everything. The credit card place said it will reflect on my credit report just as if the credit card were mine.
The paper work is still being mailed around, but I imagine if it works it will help my credit score with the higher credit limit and the monthly payments. I wonder if it will backdate the history.... Make it seem like I had a credit card when I was 5 or something.

FICO recently made some policy changes that eliminated this as a possibility. It's no longer possible to do this (get "credit" for somebody else's credit), so if your bank is still telling you they can do this, they're either sadly mistaken or just misleading you.

If you're new to credit, the better way to build it up is to apply for a credit card all on your own, use it at least a couple times a month, and pay it off in full every month. Doing this can build you a pretty decent credit score within a year or 2, and over about 4-5 years, so long as you keep everything looking good, your credit will be quite good.


Giovanni, I have to agree with Boosami.... what you're suggesting is essentially an attempt to tricking the system into believing that you are a different person. That's some sort of fraud, and I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot rod.

[boosami]

They will still link your credit back to you even if you change your name to a symbol and call yourself "The Debtor Formerly Know As Giovanni."

The credit bureaus use a collection of information to identify you when you apply for credit. That's why applications ask for your name, address, SSN, aliases, etc. Name changes (which are legal and happen all the time) is one of the reasons credit applications often ask for aliases or alternate names you might have used.

Omitting/falsifying information on a application to gain credit or evade debt is outright fraud. See the post where I committed fraud by applying for credit for my dog.

[maat55]

I don't like piggyback credit, but thats just me. You ruined your credit, you should fix it the right way. Sacrifice and pay your debts, you'll have your chance at stupidity again, soon enough. It's better to suffer for your bad choices so that you are smarter the next time.

[noppenbd]

FICO recently made some policy changes that eliminated this as a possibility. It's no longer possible to do this (get "credit" for somebody else's credit), so if your bank is still telling you they can do this, they're either sadly mistaken or just misleading you.

I'm pretty sure the scoring changes were for "authorized users" only. Meaning if you were an AU on someone else's card the account would no longer appear on your credit report (thus neither helping nor hurting your score). The idea was to stop people from "renting" their good credit history by selling AU status to strangers.

This is different than becoming a joint account holder. If you apply to become a joint account holder on an existing card then the card's history should appear on your credit report. That is my understanding, at least.

[boosami]

I'm pretty sure the scoring changes were for "authorized users" only...This is different than becoming a joint account holder. If you apply to become a joint account holder on an existing card then the card's history should appear on your credit report.

That's correct. The main difference was that many companies didn't run a credit check to add an authorized user to a credit card, so people could get good credit history added to the credit report. Joint account holders DO have to go through the normal credit approval process.

[MaskedMarvel]

This doesn't sound very legit. Could this get your mother in trouble? I would be careful with that.