What to Do if You're an Authorized User on a Card That Hasn't Been Paid

It often makes good sense to ask someone with stellar credit to add you as an authorized user on a credit card, especially if you haven't yet built up a strong credit history. You also benefit from the increase in available credit the account brings, which affects your credit utilization ratio. Adding you as an authorized user does create some risk for the cardholder -- if you rack up charges and don't pay, they're responsible.