Well, crap ...

[EricKei]

Pix -- Ahhh. I was unaware. For Canada, two of those agencies apply, as does the free yearly report. Info here:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/how-to...port-1.1185975 --- Scroll down about halfway to get to the relevant section, "How can I get a copy of my credit report and credit score?"

Argus -- Nope. In the US, at least (and apparently so in Canada), it's Federal law.

[Pixelated]

Thanks, Eric, I'll check that out. I've gone to Credit Karma, according to which my credit rating isn't as bad as I thought it was.

[Dreamstalker]

CK listed my score as going down after I made a hefty payment...wtf?
If an authorized user on my credit card is ignoring their own cards, can that impact my score through the shared card?

I've noticed that my exact score depends on which agency is being used...between Experian and TU it can vary (from past experience, Experian is more likely to have some bad data)

[Nunavut Pants]

Ignoring cards how? If they are not paying the cards, then yes that will have an effect on your score.

If they aren't using the cards, then it shouldn't have any negative effect.

[Dreamstalker]

The only credit card that's legally under both our names is my main card which I'm working my ass off to pay down. She's been paying the minimum on her own personal cards, but misses a payment on various accounts every once in awhile and one of those accounts was recently sent to collections (and now that I think of it, CK reported a hit to my score around the same time she started getting calls). She doesn't seem to get how the shared card is linking things.

[EricKei]

I know not all companies actually report debt (and therefore, payments) to the credit agencies, or at least not all 3. That's one reason the scores can vary.

DS, I have no idea why the amount would change (edit: you ninja'd me) A payment issue on a linked card would certainly explain it.

...Maybe the payment took your total debt down below one of their mysterious thresholds (they actually want you to have SOME debt; also, remember: to a credit card issuer, a "deadbeat" is someone who actually pays off their entire bill on time, every month. They can use such conduct as a rationale for cancelling your card).

Also, keep in mind that the scores shown on CK are just guesstimates from the data they have. AFAIK, only a credit inquiry will yield an accurate result; just keep in mind that having more than a small number of "Hard" credit checks (e.g. applying for a mortgage loan or credit card) within a certain amount of time (3? 6 months?) WILL drop your score a bit, even if the result was that you have awesome credit.

[Dreamstalker]

For the past few years, my revolving balance has been ~90% of the limit on that card, but I'm now able to make decently-over-minimum payments and this month (thanks to a personal loan from my dad) I'm on track to cut it down to about 1/3 or less. Not quite sure how that would affect things....maybe after my payment history they see a relatively huge chunk and think "where'd that money come from".

I don't have an issue with carrying balances, but they have to be reasonable to me (which the shared card has not been since 2007).

[EricKei]

They probably love you, then ^__^ Yer a good customer, even with the large payments. That definitely skews my presumption of the cause towards the linked card issue.

[Dreamstalker]

They probably hated me in college, at that time I was spending so little that I was able to zero it out nearly every month...so the last 10 years have been payback for that then -_- Having it maxed out for so long is probably why my APR is sky-high; once I get the balance down to a comfy level I'll see if I can renegotiate that.