Joint Account Credit Score Helper

I am a US citizen who has been living in Canada for the past 5 years w/ my Canadian husband. I have been maintaining my US credit by using my credit cards etc. My credit is great…all 3 agencies above 740. We are now moving back to the US to live. My question is twofold. First of all, will my husband’s good credit in Canada do anything for him in the US and second, will making him a joint account holder on my accounts immediately help his US credit rating? We’ve requested a letter from our mortgage holder stating that we have never missed a payment over the life of our loan. I figure it can’t hurt.

I’m so happy to have found your site. What an amazing source of information. Thank you so much!

Sus

———————–

Hi Sus,

Your husband’s good credit in Canada may be beneficial depending on what you are trying to accomplish (i.e. business loan, background check).  You are correct, adding your husband onto your credit cards as a joint accountholder is the strong play and will immediately impact his U.S. credit.  Authorized User will be scored differently soon and won’t provide the same benefit to FICO.  Credit can be scored under a social security number or individual tax identification number.

As a side note, our friends in Canada are treated more favorably than any other nation with regards to U.S. mortgage financing.  A foreign national mortgage loan program has a Loan-To-Value ratio typically in the 70 to 75% range [with corresponding down payment of 25% to 30%], while Canadian foreign nationals may be 80% to 90% [and down payments of 10% to 20%].  None of this really applies to your scenario, though; because, you are a U.S. citizen with a 740 score.  Your mortgage prospects abound.

Thanks for the questions and hope this helps.

Paul