You probably have tradelines on your credit report and don’t even know it. They may be working for you or working against you depending on the usage history of the tradeline. As with anything on your credit report, timely payments, age, and credit limit and use all determine whether a tradeline is hurting or helping your credit.
Before you can determine whether you have a tradeline on your credit report, you need to understand what a tradeline is.
What is a Tradeline?
According to Investopedia, “a tradeline is a record of activity for any type of credit extended to a borrower and reported to a credit reporting agency.” It is
Not every account you open will have a tradeline. Renting is an example of credit (you sign a lease for 12 installments of rent, but are responsible for the full amount) that does not always open a tradeline for you. Credit cards, mortgages, and car notes are examples of tradelines. the individual history of each line of credit you have. It includes the credit limit, utilization, age of the line of credit, and payment behavior. A tradeline record is created after you are approved for a type of credit. Records from closed accounts will usually stay on your credit report for about three years.
Typically, when talking about adding seasoned authorized user tradelines to your account, it is a credit card account that you are added to as an authorized user.
Why are they important?
Tradelines are the data from which your credit score is built. Without any tradelines, you would not have a credit score. Keeping your tradelines well maintained with an on-time payment history, and utilization under 30% for revolving accounts is how you build a fantastic credit score.
Do You Have Tradelines on Your Credit Report?
If you have a credit score, you have tradelines on your credit report. For most people, the only tradelines they have on their credit report are for lines of credit they opened. There are ways to add tradelines to your credit report if you do not have any credit, which is where the tradelines are the most useful.
- Purchasing seasoned authorized user tradelines. This is when you work through a company that specializes in adding tradelines to pay a fee to someone with perfect credit to add you as an authorized user.
- Using a spouse or parent. Sometimes parents with perfect credit will add their children as authorized users to help them start out in life with a good credit score. The same goes for being added to a spouse’s account. Beware - if someone makes a mistake and you are an authorized user, your credit score will take a ding as well which is why you should only add tradelines from professionals.
Adding tradelines can give your credit the jumpstart it needs. If you want to learn more about the benefits of adding seasoned authorized tradelines to your credit report, contact Credit Diva of Dallas. We can help you boost your credit score.
