BILL'S ANSWER
Generally speaking, an authorized user is not legally liable for the charges on a credit card, as the authorized user never signed a credit contract with the credit card issuer. But the credit card company can, and in many cases must, report the activity on a credit card account on the credit reports of the primary cardholder and all authorized users, even though only the primary cardholder is legally liable for charges on the account.
If your Grandmother's debt is too much for you to pay off and the account is at risk of being charged off and sent to collections, it may do you well to contact the creditors to have yourself removed as an authorized user on the accounts; having your name removed as an authorized user will probably not remove past information from your reports, but it may prevent future derogatory data on these accounts from appearing on your credit report.
As far as removing past derogatory items on your credit, only time - 7 years in most cases - can do that. In the meantime, you may be able to offset some of these negative items by establishing accounts and positive payment histories of your own. A good place to start is obtaining a secured credit card through your bank. You can read more about secured cards at bills.com.
It is also a good idea to check your credit report as you move forward to check that the changes in these accounts are accurately reflected in your credit reports. You can receive a free copy at www.annualcreditreport.com. (This is the official website for getting a free annual credit report from all three credit bureaus – beware, as there are a lot of other websites offering "free" reports that are not, in fact, "free."). Also, the FTC has a terrific website covering credit reports, including how to address inaccuracies (the reports are infamous for containing errors). The FTC website is www.ftc.gov.
I wish you the best of luck in your efforts, and hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.
Best,
Bill
www.bills.com/blog
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