How does my parents credit affect me (16) if I am co-signed on a credit card with them?
You cannot be a co-signer on any credit card. You must be 18 to sign contracts. You are probably an authorized user on your parent’s account. Fair Issac was going to eliminate authorized user accounts in the score calculation; however, there was such uproar that they changed their plan. Authorized user accounts do count in the score calculation for spouses and children. Fair Issac claims to have a method to not include non-related authorized users. If the account is paid on time, it will help build a good credit history. If the account is paid late or defaulted, it will be a negative.
At your age you can only be an authorized user on your parents credit cards. This actually used to help establish credit for the authorized user but this practice has come to a stop. The Credit Bureaus finally had the hindsight that you can’t judge a person’s credit habits when they aren’t responsible for the bill. Your credit history starts when you are 18. I would be very alarmed if you had entries in your credit report at age 16 since you legally can’t sign a contract yet. To check your credit report go to www.annualcreditreport.com and see whether anything comes up. You will need your SSN number and be able to answer some personal questions. This site is free and you won’t need a credit card. The FICO score goes in numbers – the higher the number the better the score. I couldn’t tell you what a “D” means because letters aren’t used in the FICO score.
