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Will a student loan hurt my cosigners credit?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Will a student loan hurt my cosigners credit?

Hi guys,
 
I need a student loan for about $20,000 to pay for the rest of school (I'm currently a sophomore) and some of graduate school. My credit sucks so I know I need a cosigner. One of my parents was considering it, but are worried about the effects on their credit score and borrowing power if they sign on the loan. My mom is very old school and tells me "hell  no" in a nice way (I've seen her score-827!). On the other hand, my dad is a little more understanding but is worried it'll put a death grip on his credit. I told him about the cosigner release, but he's still hesitant. I don't know his score but I know he'll qualify. He has a car loan that he owes about 15,000 on, no mortgage-his rent is $430/month, a few credit cards with pretty low balances. He's retired with an annual income of about $35,000 a year. My question is will a cosigners credit be horribly limited or is it not as bad as a fear. Any advice would help a bunch!
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haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Will a student loan hurt my cosigners credit?

I'm not knowledgeable about the impact on your dad's credit, but I am curious as to how you screwed up your credit so badly by your sophomore year in college. It doesn't seem fair that he would have to have a low-level worry going on all the time, wondering if his scores will tank if you mess up again. Can he take out the loan in his name, and you two set up a very formal, written-out plan where you pay him? If you have been careless with repayment in your short past, I don't know that you've had much time to change this behavior.

Just about everyone on this forum got here because our past actions caused problems for us (plus there are some people who had major medical disasters, etc.) We're all kind of muddling through, cleaning up our own messes as we go, and my personal belief is that it's not fair to endanger another person's credit until you've been doing things right for a substantial period of time. If you had thought of this as a means of improving your credit, there are a lot of other ways out there. Just a thought.

PS--If I ever have scores like 827's, I'd be just like your mom! Smiley Very Happy Think of your dad's situation --if something went wrong, he'd be hearing those "I told you so's" for a good long while... Welcome to the Tough Love credit forums. (Can you tell, I'm another mom? LOL)
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 2 of 3
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Will a student loan hurt my cosigners credit?

My business partner's daughter has a student loan that he cosigned for.  It is actually showing up on his credit report and being reported even though his daughter is paying for it (thank God it's the daughter that is responsible and not the other demon child). 
So as far as I can tell a cosigner is exactly like the signer on a loan and it gets reported in both credit reports.
It is even included, I believe in his revolving tradeline calculations.
 
Just something to think about if your asking someone to put his John Hancock on the line.
 
Van
 

Edited to add:
 
So to directly answer your question, yes if you even so much as get a 30 day late on that note you'll TANK your fathers score.

 
 


Message Edited by Vanyel on 10-26-2007 10:02 AM
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