Their Credit Becomes Your Debt
April 23, 2006
If you have a credit card then you might be aware that you can add another person onto your account as an authorized user. They can use the card like you can and purchase anything they want to. In the end however you are responsible for paying off the card since your the primary cardholder. There is no application to fill out.
The other way to add someone is for them to fill out and application to get on your credit card account. This makes them a joint cardholder. They can make purchases but they share the balance. They are just as responsible to pay it off as you are.
I am talking about the two differences because you should know your rights as a credit card holder. Let’s say you are just an authorized user and the primary card holder dies. An unscrupulous debt collector could then try to make you pay back the debt saying that since the deceased isn’t here to pay it back then the responsibility is yours. It is not. It is only your problem if it was a joint account.
This is also a warning for the living credit card holder friends and even family can leave you in a bind by running up the card you share with them and then leaving you stuck with the huge bill.
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