Should I remove myself as an Authorized User on a friend's credit card?

I have asked this question once before, and the response was to go ahead and remove him, which I was prepared to do. I am refinancing my home in 2 months, and I have gotten my scores up to 637,660,678. These will probably go up more, but I could not take a drop. The reason I asked this question was because he has a $75k limit, perfect payment history since 1993, but he has been carrying a $20k balance. I have about $500 in credit card debt, so the bureaus total my revolving debt at $20,500, mostly all his debt. It would make sense to drop my credit debt down $20k. Heres the kicker, my quandry, his credit card is the second of only two accounts I am authorized on that have over 1 yr credit history. If I drop myself from his card, I will have only 1 card with 4 yrs history, and MY credit card at $4,500 limit with 1 yr 2 mos history. So as far as payment history, I will lose out, but my revolving debt will fall almost 95% from what it is now. What should I do? Stay on or drop myself?

Should I remove myself as an Authorized User on a friend%26#039;s credit card?

Like I said the first time you asked this question, the scoring system changed last month and authorized user accounts are no longer taken into consideration as far as scores go.

You are already standing on your own, drop off this account.

Should I remove myself as an Authorized User on a friend%26#039;s credit card?

I would stay on this is because even though the debt is 20k that is fairly low considering the limit. If the limit was 25k then I would drop him. Plus he has good payment history for over 10 years.

Should I remove myself as an Authorized User on a friend%26#039;s credit card?

Drop yourself off your friends card. You have good credit by yourself. If a bank or refinance institute sees you have a $25,000 debt they may not give you as much as you want. Get off it now.

Should I remove myself as an Authorized User on a friend%26#039;s credit card?

I would say it would be more beneficial to remove your name as an authorized user and have less debt and 1 year and 2 months in credit history, Payment history is less of a factor than 20k in debt. 1 year in credit history is definitely suitable.

Should I remove myself as an Authorized User on a friend%26#039;s credit card?

As of 9/1/2007 Authorized User status is not longer taken into account when calculating a persons FICO score. But as you said this is affecting your Debt to Income ratio with the reporting bureaus.

Droping his card off your report will not affect you negativly because his card is not being calcuated into your score...so if it were me I would do it to improve the debt to income factor of your report.

http://www.fairisaac.com/NR/exeres/FAC10...

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2007...

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/...

Should I remove myself as an Authorized User on a friend%26#039;s credit card?

First, if his debt is affecting your credit, then you are a co-applicant, not an autorized user. If you were an authorized user, the account would not affect your credit, nor would your credit affect the account. So, you are a co-applicant, meaning the debt is the responsibility of both of you, and both your credit scores affect the account.

If you an authorized user and the account is not recorded on your credit history, there%26#039;s no harm in staying on the account. Whoever is the primary account holder (in this case, your friend) is soley responsible for the debt.

If you are a co-applicant, and his debt is affecting your credit, I would drop from the account. You have your own credit card with a decent limit, and just over a year%26#039;s history. It will still show on your credit bureau history that the shared account was paid each month on time (I should hope), and that you removed yourself from the account. You still will have your 1 year 2 month payment history from your own account listed as well. If you%26#039;re looking to get an increase on your card, a loan, a mortgage, or any type of financing, removing yourself will free up that credit to be used elsewhere. Otherwise, you may not get any additional funds as it appears that you already have $20,500 out of $24,500 maxed out.

If you have any additional concerns, and feel that you can%26#039;t make this decision indepently, speak to a financial advisor at your bank to weigh out your options.