How To Add Tradelines To Your Credit Report Yourself

Okay so maybe you’re building your credit back up on a budget, or you’re just naturally curious about how the credit consultants and credit repair companies of the world can raise your credit score up pretty fast and would prefer to do it yourself for friends and family instead of paying someone else to do it. No matter what your reasons are, we can’t deny the fact that knowing how to add tradelines to your personal credit report is an invaluable know-how to all responsible adults. Everyone needs to understand that we’re living in a consumer and credit-based world and knowing its ins and outs is one of the many cornerstones of financial literacy for the personal finance subset. Don’t be a part of the statistics in America in which almost two-thirds of the population can’t pass a basic test of financial literacy. As shocking as it may seem, the numbers just don’t lie, too many people are falling through the cracks when it comes to personal financial literacy in this country, and it’s more evident than ever in the credit education subset. I’ve met too many clients who are amazed by what I could do to their credit scores in a short amount of time in the past and wished that they’d known how to do it themselves and wished that it should have been taught in school. At first, when I was still new in this industry I would cringe a little when a client would say that, because what I’ve been doing to fix their credit situation has always been a norm to me, and then I realized that it was a norm to me because of my mom not because of school. I was living in a bubble and the rest of the country didn’t have a clue about credit, and as I write this article with the intent of publishing it to the web, I hope that the things that I would be discussing here would be of great value to all my future readers and would help them navigate the different credit scenarios that they would encounter throughout their lifetime.

How to add tradelines to your credit report yourself?

Before adding a tradeline to your credit report you need to know first what kind of tradeline should you add to your report. If you have too many authorized user tradelines, then what you need is a primary user tradeline and vise versa. The kind of tradeline that should be added should depend on your financial goals, and it varies from one person to another. Some would like to increase their credit to buy a house or refinance a mortgage, and some to buy a new car, or to get a business loan so on and so forth. My point is, there is no right formula on what kind of tradeline is right for each consumer because everyone’s credit situation is unique, no one credit profile is the same. Below is the step by step process on how to add a tradeline by yourself for both Authorized user and primary tradelines

Authorized user tradeline

Most consumers use authorized user tradelines if they have the following credit situations

High Credit Utilization Ratio 

Consumers have a high debt to credit ratio and adding an authorized user tradeline to their credit profile with limits could bring down the ratio which in effect would bring their credit scores up. For this situation, you need a high credit limit tradeline. Look for a tradeline where if you add your total credit limit plus the new tradeline’s credit limit then you divide your total outstanding credit card debt to it the answer should be closer to 30% or below. 

Formula: 

Total Outstanding Revolving Credit Debt / Total Revolving Current Limit + New Tradeline’s Credit Limit 

For more examples of the ratio, check out this simulation we have here. And also, here’s a calculator to do your own simulation.

No credit history 

If a consumer has no credit history adding one to three authorized user tradelines would give a person a very high credit score in a very short amount of time, usually in 30 to 90 days. For this situation, you would primarily need an aged tradeline or a tradeline that’s been around for more than 2 years, and if you’re able to get a decent or high limit on it too then that’s a bonus. 

When the consumer only have all primary tradeline

Just having a primary tradeline alone would not get you a high score, it should be mixed. So adding an authorized user tradeline would give your credit profile score a big jump. For this scenario, what you need is a mix of different authorized user tradelines. You would need an aged high limit one, and a new one.

Here’s the step by step process of adding an Authorized user tradeline

Step One: Pull your credit report, and identify if which of the situation above you fit in

Step Two: Look for a tradeline, you can ask people that you know if they have credit cards that are high limit and has been open for a while and ask them if they could add you as an authorized user to their card. Tell them that they don’t need to give you the physical card, you just need to be added to their credit card because you are building your credit. If you can’t find anyone to add you as an authorized user you could get it from this tradeline company. The only downside for this one is you’re gonna have to shell out some cash to be added to their inventory of tradelines. 

Step Three: Wait for thirty to ninety days for it to show up on your credit report. If you are added before the billing cycle of the card ends then you should see results in 3 to 10 days after the end of the billing cycle. That’s why it’s also important to know the billing cycle of the tradeline so that you’re able to know more or less when it will appear on your report, or you always use a credit alert monitoring subscription so that it will automatically alert you when you score changes.

Primary User Tradelines

Primary tradelines can be broken up into two types, the new and aged primary tradelines. Under the new Primary tradelines are your Term loans and Revolving account tradelines, mainly accounts that you yourself applied for. As for the aged primary tradelines, these are accounts that are existing and already have a history of payment in which you’ll just be added as a joint borrower so that the history of the account payments will also show up on your credit report.  Below are the step by step processes on how to add new and aged tradelines to your credit report.

New Term loan Primary Tradeline

For new tradelines, if you have no other accounts yet and you couldn’t get approved for anything or you have bad credit and no loan and credit card company will approve you, I suggest that you open a credit-builder account loan. They report to all 3 credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, Transunion), and according to the company, you’ll have a 45 point increase in six months if you keep your account in good standing, but there are reports that some customers have seen an 82 point increase just within two months. Also what’s good with this program is they don’t do a hard pull on your report, so there would be no inquiries. Each hard pull/ Inquiry usually shaves off 10 points on your credit score and stays on your report for 2 years, quite detrimental if you’re building credit to get multiple lines of credit from different banks because some banks and credit unions would just deny you right away if you have more than 2 inquiries in one year.

New Revolving Account Primary Tradeline

If you already have a primary account tradeline, this one would be a great add on to your tradeline mix. Also, if you prefer a primary tradeline instead of an authorized user tradeline to bring down your debt utilization ratio then adding this no credit pull revolving account tradeline is perfect for you.

Here’s the step by step process for enrolling

Step 1:  Choose if you want a $10,000 or $7500 credit line. 

Step 2:   Make your payment

Step 3:   Wait for the confirmation email. You will receive 2 confirmation emails. The first would be that your order was “received” and the second one would say “Order Fulfilled”. The second email means that your tradeline has already been submitted to all three credit bureaus.

Step 4: Wait for 10 days for the tradeline to show up on your credit report. 

Step 5: Make sure to log in to your account to pay your monthly fee for the next billing cycle. Your first month’s billing cycle is included in your initial membership fee.

Aged Primary Tradeline

For this one, it’s a little trickier compared to the other new primary tradelines because you need to find someone you trust for this. Once you are added as a co-borrower to an aged account then you also become responsible for the debt. So it’s better to look for accounts where the primary borrower is almost done with the loan so that in that way the risk is very low for you. There were companies in the past that offered aged tradelines to the public for a fee, but that process is in the gray area and borderline illegal. I suggest you stay away from services that offer that because they do work, and it only becomes illegal when you use it to get approved for something.

How do tradelines work?

Tradelines are accounts on your credit report where it shows your financial footprint for the creditors to use in their risk management processes. The better your tradelines are, the higher is your score, and as a result, you’ll get favorable lending rates. Adding good tradelines with history to your credit report could help increase your credit score and get you qualified for a certain purchase at a specific rate. It could significantly bring your rates down if you’re in a process of financing a big purchase. A single point increase in rates could cost you from thousands throughout the life of the loan.  

How long do Tradelines stay on your credit report?

It really depends on the type of tradeline. If it’s an Authorized user it would stay in your report until they take you off as an authorized user, but for primary tradelines it should stay on your report permanently. 

How many Tradelines should I have?

You should have a mix of different tradelines. Ideally, you should have 1 mortgage loan, 1 car loan, and 2 to 4 credit cards. It the revolving lines of credit that impacts your credit score the most, assuming that you don’t have any derogatory information on your credit report.

How long do Tradelines take to post?

Tradelines usually post 3 to 15 days after the end of your tradelines billing cycle. If you’re added to it after the end of the billing cycle then it would take a little longer. That’s why you need to know the tradelines billing cycle first and try adding yourself to it at least 4 days before the billing cycle ends so that it would appear on your credit report right away.

Are Tradelines illegal? Is it illegal to Add Tradelines to your credit?

No tradelines are not illegal. What is illegal though are backdated primary tradelines that are for sale when you use it to get approved for a loan. If you default on that loan and the lender starts digging, then that’s when lawsuits start coming your way for loan fraud. The truth is, there are alot of individuals out there who are constantly looking for ways to trick the system and package it into a financial product to be sold to the public. I’ve seen a lot of those throughout the years, and they do work for the most part, but if you use it to get approved for a loan then that’s where the illegal part comes in. On the other hand, aged authorized user tradelines are legal because they were never backdated,you’re just piggybacking off the credit history of the primary user, but with backdated primary user tradelines that’s another story, and I strongly suggest to stay away from it.

Are Tradelines permanent?

Primary tradelines are permanent. While the authorized users are not, as soon as the primary user takes you out as an authorized user, then the tradeline disappears from your report. There are cases that it shows only closed, but most of the time it just disappears. 

I hope all the information above has answered your questions about tradelines, and if you are indeed of more clarification please send us a question here, and we’re more than happy to help you out.