Short answer
Often, yes. An authorized user can use someone else's credit card account without owning it, and the account can show on the user's credit report. When a Fannie Mae loan goes through its Desktop Underwriter (DU) system, DU includes authorized user accounts in its credit assessment. If a loan is underwritten by hand, those accounts usually can't be counted unless you can show you've been the one paying them.
What is an authorized user?
The account owner adds you to their card so you can use it. The owner is responsible for the bill, but the account's history can appear on your credit report too. Fannie Mae describes this as a way for a relative who is new to credit to legitimately start building a credit history.
How does Fannie Mae's DU system treat them?
DU looks at authorized user accounts as part of its credit risk assessment. The lender doesn't need to dig further unless DU asks for it. Because the history counts, an account with late payments or a high balance can work against you, just as a good one can help.
What about a manually underwritten loan?
When a loan is underwritten by hand, Fannie Mae says an authorized user account can count only if:
- Another borrower on the loan owns the account, or
- You can document that you alone made the monthly payments for at least the 12 months before you applied, with canceled checks or receipts.
If you've been making the payments, that monthly payment is then included in your debt-to-income ratio, and any late payments count too.
How does FHA treat authorized user accounts?
HUD's Handbook 4000.1 is stricter about the payment. An account where you're an authorized user must be counted in your debt-to-income ratio unless the lender can document that the primary account holder made every required payment for the previous 12 months. If fewer than three payments were required in that time, the payment counts.
What should I do before I apply?
- Pull your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and see which accounts list you as an authorized user.
- If an account you're on has late payments or a high balance, talk with Tom about whether to be removed before your credit is pulled.
- To build credit in your own name, a card or small loan you own and pay on time helps over time. See does paying rent on time help.
Sources
- HUD Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1, Update 18 (August 2026), General Liabilities and Debts (authorized users)
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.3-06, Authorized Users of Credit
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.3-09, DU Credit Report Analysis
Checked November 2, 2026. Rules and dates change, so confirm current details before you rely on them.
General information only, not tax or legal advice. Program availability, eligibility and terms vary by lender and are subject to change and to underwriting approval. Not a commitment to lend.