ddfr

Just wondering...there is an offer out there which I /my family has found very appealling. As a result, my wife and I have done 5 apps (and now gotten 5 approvals) on the card and are using our home address for all 5 apps as the other people (each app was done for a diff person) don't want to be bothered with the offer and simply, in effect, allowed us to get the card in their name, do the spend (with the secondary card), pay the bills and then reap the benefits. We are then planning on cancelling all 5 card accounts when the ann. fees are due in a year.

I was just wondering if by doing this I am setting up any kind of problems with the credit card companies as they will see 5 cancelled accounts (diff people) at the same address in a year. Is this something they look at?

Any feedback would be very much appreciated.

darben

Could be a problem for the other people when they apply for a loan as that will show up as an address for them. Depending on their initial credit score they may have trouble getting a loan. Years at address is a factor looked at in credit scoring.

ddfr

thanks for that comment. I am not that worried re the loans for the others (I don't think it will be an issue for them) but was more concerned about the bank blacklisting us or something seeing all those apps (and subsequent cancels) at our address not to mention that my wife and I will have done all the spending on the 5 apps.

darben

I see no downside for you. Even if the bank in question "blacklists" you there are so many banks and so many offers.

After 18 months or so any "blacklist" would probably be over.

normthe

It sounds like you are treading on very thin ice. If the other people, whose names you used do not live at the same address where you sent the cards, the card companies could accuse you of fraud. When you filled out the app. you in effect swore that the info on the app was truthful. If you misrepresented the info, they could cancel the cards and flag your credit reports. Sometimes getting points is not worth the risk. You also might want to get permission for getting cards in their name, in writing, or you could also be accused of identity theft.

ddfr

@ normthe, thanks for the comment--I do appreciate it. 2 of the 3 apps were actually sent to the people's official home address and then the cards were given to us by them and the addresses changed for the bills, etc. because of the points you raised and the 3rd person has used our address (he also has a fraud alert on his account) for other stuff before so there was no issue with the card coming here, especially since he needed to be called and spoken to because of the fraud alert.

I agree totally with your point--would never want to do anything illegal.

ddfr

The 3rd person I alluded to has gotten the email on the account sent to his email address when he then forwards to me.

cbn42

This seems fraudulent to me as well. You can't give the credit card company an address for someone who doesn't actually live there.

Centurion

you have moved over the gray area line from legal to not legal to area that can put you in jail. unless the applicant is applying i suggest you read that actual fine print but i would stop immediately.

ddfr

I appreciate the feedback, I really do and never even considered it illegal at all especially since the 1st two people got the cards at their full time home address and then gave the cards to us and we subsequenly changed the address to my address.

I guess the question the group is raised is can bills, etc. be sent to a different address than the person's actual residence. Given that I have had family members getting up there in age for whom paying bills wasn't easy, I have had some bills for this person sent here in the recent past and what I was doing in this case with the CC was, in my eyes anyway, the same thing.

In your eyes, would the situation be diffferent if the people lived here full time and just didn't use the cards, etc. which is, in effect, what is happening here?

P.S For one of the cards, the min. spend was already met, while for the others they are ongoing.

P.S.S. As I am reading and thinking about this, in order to clear my head of any guilt, I will ask these people to put at least some charges on their card on the account so I am not sending out bad signals. I guess you guys made me feel guilty but I do appreciate the help/advice.

normthe

Now that you have explained that you are managing bills & expenses for elderly relatives this does put a little different spin on your activities. I can relate to your situation because I manage my 96 yr old mom's bills also. What might be a better alternative is to just have them add you as an authorized user on their acct. You would then receive a card in your own name, they could continue to hold onto the card in their names, continue to receive the bills at their home addresses, and you could just set up bill pay online.

mia

Using a different address to apply, or changing the billing address of an account after it is established, can create confusing information in the account holders' credit reports. For example, for a number of years I had one of my personal credit cards billed to my office address. This causes my credit report to show that I "lived" at the office address for a period of time.

I really don't understand why you would use your billing address for other people's accounts. Most card issuers offer paperless billing. Use the correct billing address for every account, turn off paper statements, and manage the accounts online.

ddfr

@normthe---sorry, if it wasn't clear earlier, but on each account I have a secondary card (with my name on it) which I is the one I have been using. I would never forge someone's name, etc.

And yes, one of the accounts is a family members for whom I pay some of his bills but on the other two I don't pay their bills.

Again, what I have taken from this is I think I will be sure that each person on each of the accounts actually makes some charges on their actual individual card (and signes receipts etc.) which I am thinking (hoping) will make this more kosher.

As someone wrote before, a few points/bucks is certainly not worth messing with the law etc.

Thank you again to everyone--if you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

johndoe123

If you have power of attorney, there is legally nothing wrong, IMHO, if you're just acting as their agent. If you don't, big problems could come your way.

I'll leave the moral questions to you, but that depends on the circumstances. If it was my Father and it allowed me to visit him more often, I wouldn't consider it immoral.

However logistically, the address on the card should always be their address (wherever they get their other bills). If this is your house, that is fine. If it is not, use what it is.

I have heard of same-address checking account problems, however the big one where you get burned is auto insurance. Never use the same address and auto insurance company as a roomate or you'll soon have an insurer wanting you to add them to your policy.

ddfr

Based on what I have read, I will leave the first person I have done this with my billing address. Note---Although there is no Power Of Attorney in effect at this time with him, he is a very close family member for whom I have been paying many of his bills which have been sent to my home address--not his for several years. In fact, he and I know (though it doesn't matter to him) that my add. shows up on his credit report as he will probably never again need a loan.

Regarding the other two people (also close family members) I have not been paying their bills. For one, I had changed the address to our address (after the card was approved and it was sent to her at her home) and now am planning (this was just about two weeks ago) on changing the addess back to her home address and doing the online payment method suggested by a few of you. For the 3rd person, the address was never changed from his home address so in his case I will obviously just leave it alone and pay his bills online also.

Also, just to reclarify--the only charges I have made on these accounts have been on secondary cards which were in my name and sent to me and now based on the comments the few days, I am asking (its no problem for them) the primary cardmember in each case to put one or more charges (in person with signature) on their primary card to ensure that I am not setting up any problems for anyone.

Do people think that now this works and makes sense? As I expressed previously, while I enjoy the benefits of playing this "game", I really don't want to go into any illegal activities.

Again, any thoughts/additional suggestions would be very much welcomed/appreciated.

Thanks again.