Authorized User

Orlando, FL
I am an authorized user on my brother's credit card. I recently applied for a mortgage, but was turned down due to the fact that my income-debt ratio was too high. This was largely due to the high balance which my brother carries on his card ($8,000+). Though I am not the person responsible for this card, can my brother's use of credit be counted against me? It doesn't seem right; I'm not even a co-signee on the account. I called the 3 CRA's to request that my brother's account be removed from my report, but they all said that they cannot remove this item unless my brother removes me as an authorized user on the credit card. Unfortunately, my brother and I are no longer on speaking terms and though I have written him letters asking him to remove me from his acoount, he has not done so. What other options do I have to remove this item from my credit report? Is this action legal?

Any suggestions are appreciated....
Desperate to buy a house

[JETX]

From your post, is seems that you are not only an authorized user of the card, but may be a 'co-signer' with credit responsibility on the card. I really don't believe that the credit companies report each 'authorized user' on an account unless there is also a credit liability with that person.

If you are POSITIVE that you are not a co-signer, then you need to contact the credit card company and ask that they remove your name from the CRA's (basis: you are NOT responsible for that debt). I wouldn't even mention the 'authorized user' portion since that is not relevent to liability. If they mention it, then you should certainly be able to remove yourself in writing to the credit card company, again only if you have no legal responsibility for repayment.

Additionally, you can certainly file an 'investigation request' with the appropriate CRA's asking them to review your name being associated with someone elses card. At the least they would review the facts and are required (by the FCRA) to remove any erroneous facts. At the worse, they would have to include your comments to the file and notify all inquirers about your note. BTW, the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) can be found at [url]http://www.ftc.gov[/url]