I'll keep short & sweet. My mom has 3 CC's with only her name on the account. I am going to pay all of them off, however, I want it to be done with only myself on the account. Can she add me so that I become the main holder of the account & then can I remove her before paying it off?

 

Is the purpose of this boosting your credit points? If so, I advise you keep the cards at least 3-6 months before you do what you have planned. Then again, I'm nowhere near an expert.

 

Call and ask, but I doubt it. She can definitely add you to the account, but more than likely she, as the primary cardholder, cannot be removed from the account without closing it.

Another way you could do it is to open an account in your name, and when you get those balance transfer checks, use them to pay off her cards. The balance would then be in your name, on your card, and you could pay it off and have a positive affect on your credit score.

 

tell her to keep the accounts open though (as long as they are not small cards from stores like Best Buy etc) long standing accounts have positive affects on your score...also remember to keep the proportions on all cards under 60% of the limit

 

1. Yes, she can add you.
2. No, you cannot switch to being the primary card holder.
3. No, you cannot remove her.


The credit you receive from credit cards is called "Revolving" credit, which is all but useless, if you want good credit you have to get "Installment" credit, ie house/car/personal loan.

Your mother needs to keep 1 credit card only, and never let it get past half of the limit.

If you're looking to gain credit from this, simply get a personal loan from your current bank for the amount it takes to pay them off, then have the payments set on auto-withdraw for a period of 6 months. This will get rid of the credit cards, and give you Installment credit, and it doesn't get any better than that.

 

It's not to boost my credit score; too personal to post on a internet forum.

 

Is there a certain amount of time I should be paying installment loans? I'm wondering whether I should pay off the car slowly or whether to just pay it off ASAP for maximum benefit to my credit.

 

Not sure what you're getting at, but you can close the cards and just pay the balance off.

 

closing accounts (long standing trade lines) deters your credit score from rising

 

Credit is a "what have you done for me lately" kind of thing, and you can almost watch your FICO score drop after you pay a loan off. Don't let it bother you tho', think of it like you're paying for good credit, because you are, you're paying whatever XYZ percentage to produce XYZ FICO score.

The most common misconception is how many lines of credit a person needs, and the truth is that you need as few as possible. 1 house (perfect pay), 1 car (perfect pay), 1 credit card (with less than