Yes, you can sue an authorized user on your credit card. Because the authorized user never signed the card agreement, the issuer will still hold you responsible for every charge, but that same fact leaves you free to pursue the authorized user directly in civil court for charges made beyond what you agreed to, or after you revoked their access. In serious cases, you can also file a police report and let prosecutors pursue criminal fraud charges.
Why the Lawsuit Falls on You, Not the Issuer
The primary cardholder signs the credit card agreement and takes on full responsibility for every dollar charged to the account, including charges made by any authorized user they’ve added. If the bill goes unpaid, the issuer comes after the primary cardholder, because only the primary cardholder has a contractual relationship with the issuer.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Am I Liable to Repay Authorized User Debt?
The authorized user has a card in their name and spending privileges, but no signature and no contract with the bank. That’s why the issuer won’t chase them for you. It’s also why any recovery has to come from a direct legal claim between you and the authorized user, not from the card company.
Close the Account Before You Do Anything Else
Before filing a suit or even a dispute, cut off further damage. Call the issuer and request immediate removal of the authorized user. Primary cardholders keep ultimate control over the account and can revoke access at any time.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Remove an Authorized User From My Credit Card Account?
Ask for a new account number at the same time. The old card number stays active until it’s replaced, and a removed authorized user who wrote it down or saved it in a browser can keep making charges in that window. Any charge made after removal also strengthens your legal position, because the authorization defense the issuer normally leans on no longer applies.
Try the Issuer Dispute First (But Don’t Count on It)
If the authorized user made charges you consider unauthorized, you can file a formal dispute with the issuer. Be realistic about the odds. Issuers generally treat authorized-user purchases as legitimate because you gave that person access in the first place. Disputes are more likely to succeed when the authorized user’s access had already been revoked at the time of the charges, or when there’s evidence the card was used for clearly fraudulent purposes.
If the dispute fails and the amount is worth pursuing, the next stop is civil court.
Suing in Civil Court
When the dollar amounts are significant, a primary cardholder can sue the authorized user in civil court. The legal theory is straightforward: the authorized user spent beyond agreed-upon limits or used the card after permission was revoked, causing the primary cardholder financial harm.
Small Claims Court
Small claims court handles disputes up to varying dollar limits depending on the state, and filing fees typically range from $30 to $75. Most people can file and argue a small claims case without an attorney, which keeps costs down. If your authorized user ran up a few thousand dollars in unauthorized charges, this is usually the right venue.
Higher Civil Court
For amounts above your state’s small claims cap, the case moves to a higher civil court. That generally means hiring an attorney, longer timelines, and higher filing costs. The tradeoff is that larger judgments and broader remedies are available. Before filing at this level, weigh the size of the potential judgment against legal fees and the practical odds of collecting from the person you’re suing. A judgment on paper isn’t the same as money in your account.
Evidence That Wins the Case
Winning a civil case requires evidence. Without documentation, these cases become one person’s word against another’s, and judges tend to view authorized-user disputes as private arrangements the primary cardholder consented to.
Gather anything that shows the limits of the authorization and the moment it ended:
- Text messages or emails establishing spending limits, categories of allowed purchases, or a specific purpose for the card
- A record from the issuer showing the date the authorized user was removed from the account
- Credit card statements identifying the disputed charges, ideally annotated to separate authorized from unauthorized spending
- Any communications where the authorized user acknowledged the rules or admitted to charges they weren’t supposed to make
The stronger your written trail, the less the case turns on credibility.
When It’s a Crime, Not Just a Debt
Some authorized-user situations cross the line from civil dispute into criminal conduct. If an authorized user continues making charges after being removed from the account, or if they obtained authorized-user status through deception, you can file a police report. Depending on the jurisdiction and the dollar amount involved, charges could range from misdemeanor theft to felony fraud.
Criminal cases are handled by prosecutors, not by you, so filing a report doesn’t guarantee charges will be pursued. Prosecutors decide based on evidence, priorities, and the perceived seriousness of the conduct. But a police report also creates an official paper trail that strengthens any parallel civil case you file, and in some situations it prompts the authorized user to settle quickly rather than face criminal exposure.
You can pursue both tracks at the same time. A criminal conviction doesn’t get your money back directly, though courts often order restitution as part of sentencing, which can be enforced like any other judgment.
The Spouse Complication in Community Property States
Suing an authorized-user spouse is more complicated than suing anyone else, and in some states it may not work the way you expect. In Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin, debts incurred during a marriage may be considered the responsibility of both spouses under community property law, regardless of whose name is on the account.
The rules vary by state, and courts look at factors like whether the debt benefited the household. But if you’re the primary cardholder in a community property state and you’re thinking about suing your spouse for their charges, the debt may already be considered jointly yours under state law, which changes the analysis. Talk to a local attorney before filing. Outside marriage, and outside those nine states, the ordinary rules in this article apply.
Deciding Whether the Lawsuit Is Worth It
Every step above is available to you. Whether to use them is a separate question. A few things to weigh before filing:
How much can you actually recover? A judgment against someone with no income, no assets, and no bank account is often uncollectible even when you win. Small claims judgments are enforceable, but enforcement takes more work, and some defendants simply never pay.
How strong is your paper trail? If the spending limits lived only in a spoken conversation and the authorized user disputes ever agreeing to them, a judge has little to work with. Cases with documented terms and a documented removal date settle or win far more often than cases built on memory.
What’s the relationship cost? Authorized users are usually family members, partners, or close friends. A lawsuit ends that relationship in most cases, and sometimes ripples out through the rest of the family. That’s not a reason to skip the courthouse when the harm is real, but it belongs in the calculation.
And what’s the alternative? Sometimes a firm demand letter, sent by an attorney and referencing both civil and criminal exposure, produces payment without a filed case. It’s cheaper than litigation and faster than either court track.