A good credit report is often the price of admission when you need to obtain a loan. Whether you are purchasing a car or home, starting a business, or need to prove your creditworthiness to a potential employer or landlord, many lenders look to your credit report to decide whether you are loan worthy.
If you’ve been through this process before, you know how important it is to have an excellent credit score. But what if your credit report has taken some hits due to life changes or financial hardship?
One of the most effective ways to improve your credit if you are in this situation is to buy tradelines. Authorized user tradelines are lines of credit that card owners will add other people to help them improve their credit scores.
Family members or close friends often add one another to help boost each other’s scores. If you don’t have access to someone you know personally with tradelines, then you can buy tradelines and see a decent increase within a reasonable amount of time.
Common Credit Score Enemies
You know you want to keep your credit score in tip-top shape because you need a good credit report to achieve many important goals. For example, a new home, business, vehicle, or job can all depend on your credit.
These five common problems are enemies of your sparkling credit score:
1. High debt to credit utilization ratio
Many events and challenges in your life can lower your score (and make your financial life harder). For example, if you must make a large emergency purchase with a credit card, you may utilize a high amount of credit, making it look like you can’t afford to pay off your debt.
2. Late or missed payments
An emergency health situation or unexpected move could cause you to get behind. In addition, missed payments and late fees will inevitably lower your score.
3. Closing a credit card account
If you close a credit card account, even because you don’t want to engage in bad credit habits, it can be detrimental to your credit report. On the other hand, the more open accounts you have in good standing, the better your credit score.
4. Applying for a large amount of credit at one time
The most likely impact you will see if you apply for a large amount of credit is a hard pull on your credit. A hard pull often lowers your score by about 5 points because of your request to increase your credit limit. However, if you secure a large amount of credit with the intent to use more than 15% of it, you may have issues with your credit utilization ratio.
5. Not engaging in credit-building activities (or working to maintain good credit) for a long time
You’ve probably heard the saying, “the grass is greener where you water it.” It means that whatever you focus on and seek to improve will grow. If you haven’t paid attention to your credit lately, accidentally overutilized your credit, or have gotten behind on payments, you may need help with your credit score.
If you need to improve your credit score for a lender, one of the quickest ways to do so is by piggybacking, or adding someone else’s good credit history to your report.
Using Another Person’s Good Credit Habits To Improve Your Credit Score
You may have heard of this idea before, or it may be new to you. Either way, here are a few key terms you will want to know as you decide whether you’d like to rent someone else’s credit history for a period.
- Authorized user: a person who is added to another person’s credit account to build their own; they don’t have access to the line of credit and aren’t responsible for payments
- Authorized user tradeline: a line of credit (usually with a high limit and low utilization) which one person adds another person to as an authorized user
- Seasoned tradelines: lines of credit for sale which have been open for a long time and can help increase the age of an authorized user’s credit
- Tradelines for sale: when credit card holders offer the authorized user slots on their accounts to other individuals for a fee
- Buying tradelines: renting an authorized user space on another person’s line of credit for a short time
For example, say that you have neglected your credit score for a little while. You didn’t realize that you currently utilize 30% of your available credit rather than the recommended 15%. You are getting ready to apply for a mortgage, but your credit score is lower than you know it should be. How can you remedy your situation (relatively) quickly to get approved for your loan?
A lower debt to credit ratio is key to maintaining a good credit score. For example, suppose you are currently utilizing $3,000 out of $10,000 worth of credit. In that case, you will need another $10,000 added to your credit limit to get your utilization ratio where you need it to be.
You could use someone else’s higher credit limits to improve your score in this situation. You would have to pay the owner of the accounts a fee to add your name to them temporarily.
But, once reported to the credit bureaus with your name attached, those extra lines of credit will increase your credit limit by the total amount of the account(s) you have leased. In this situation, you would need an account with a limit of $10,000. Or you could try to buy multiple tradelines that equal $10,000+ when added together.
How Can I Buy Tradelines?
There are several avenues to purchase tradelines. Occasionally, you may work with a mortgage broker, realtor, or another loan officer knowledgeable about tradelines. If you are one of these professionals seeking to help clients increase their credit scores, you can offer to help with the process for an additional service fee.
You can purchase a tradeline directly from an individual. Or, you can buy tradelines through companies that specialize in selling them.
Sometimes, individuals sell them online, but purchasing directly from individuals can be risky because there’s always a possibility of getting scammed.
The most effective way to purchase authorized user tradelines is through an official tradeline company. It’s also wise because tradeline companies offer advice to help you see a positive impact ASAP. They also provide various lines of credit to choose from, so you can strategize based on the specific support your credit needs.
You can shop and learn all about the world of tradelines from knowledgeable and dependable tradeline companies.
How Long Will It Take To Improve My Score?
The goal when buying tradelines is to ensure that your credit score increases. If you are considering purchasing an authorized user slot, then you are likely in one of these two situations:
- You are helping clients obtain a loan, but it isn’t looking good because of their credit scores.
- You are a person looking to enhance your credit score in order to obtain a loan, rental, or employment.
In both situations, you are facing an immediate challenge and working to achieve a specific goal. Therefore, the length of time matters. In all honesty, you require credit improvement – and you need it now!
Depending on the tradeline you buy and the date that it posts, it should positively impact your credit within 1-2 months. Sometimes it can make a difference sooner, but it varies from one tradeline and client to the next.
You want to carefully follow the instructions of the tradeline company you choose to buy your tradelines from. They can give you tips to ensure that your credit information is correct across all three credit bureaus and that you are leasing a tradeline that will actually benefit your situation.
Supportive tradeline companies also help cover anything else you may not have considered. They often offer a money-back guarantee in case your tradelines do not post.
Continue To Build Credit With Seasoned Tradelines
Hopefully, you are feeling better equipped to buy tradelines.
The best thing you can do for your credit is to pay careful attention to your payments and debt-to-credit ratios. Then, have a strategy for consistently maintaining a high credit score.
But life happens, so the next best thing you can do for your credit score is invest in seasoned tradelines. Once you have done any repair work to your credit accounts, you can always purchase one or more tradelines to help you continue to improve your credit report at a faster rate.
Everyone needs a boost from time to time! When you buy tradelines, you can give your credit a boost so that it can help you reach your goals, as well.
