fiancee has bad credit....advice/opinions?

Anonymous · ‎04-29-2008

I'm getting married next year. My fiancee has horrible credit. He has over $25,000 in debt that he cannot repay back and is going to file a bankruptcy. By the time we get married he will have filed already. My question is once we get married, how will this affect me? I want to buy a house in a few years and with his credit, how will we be able to purchase a home? Can they just take my credit into consideration?

Any advice will be great....

fishbjc · ‎04-29-2008

You can apply for a mortgage in your name only.....IF your income can support the loan.

I think I would definitely visit the reason WHY he is so heavily into debt. These spending habits will carry on into your marriage. Money is the #1 reason for couple discord.

Has he considered a Credit Counseling Agency? They can help him in getting his interest greatly reduced. The payments are probably a lot less than he pays now. Unless, of course, he's not interested in paying it back at all. He may look into securing a p/t job as well to help get this debt paid off.

Anonymous · ‎04-29-2008

Suze Orman will tell you to....LEAVE HIM...I don't believe in that...most mortgage companies and lender look back up to 36 months...if you plan on going FHA...the bankruptcy will have to be 2 years old I believe...and he as to have good credit since then...so if your waiting a few years...you should be good...

Anonymous · ‎04-29-2008

Would he consider allowing you to take over the finances in preparation for marriage? BK is a giant step to take esp if it just reinforces the habit of scooting out of debts with "quick-fixes" instead of facing them. I am NOT SAYING that BK for everyone is that way, it just seems like he's got a great fiance in you and he may not realize how far the consequences of BK reach.

It may seem like the only option for now, but you have a whole year til the marriage... If he and/or you buckle down, get a second p/t job and contact all your creditors to get on repayment plans, your road to digging out may be a lot easier.

And the lesson he will learn by really applying himself to paying off those debts, instead of just erasing them with a BK might be very good for his long-term ability to self-govern himself financially.

Anonymous · ‎04-29-2008

I say this in part b/c my DH did not have very good credit when we got married... and as a part of agreeing to get married, we both pulled our CRs & aired our dirty laundry for each other. We agreed before marrying that I would take over all finances from that point on & he would get an "allowance" every week, as we had it available. I am slowly bringing him back into the responsibility part of finances, after fixing them for the past three years (we're nearing the end of our journey, just wish we'd had myfico.com for the first two years of it!!). Now that he's watched me work & sees how I manage the money, he's learning better habits & I'm starting to trust him to make wise decisions.

It has been a big lesson for both of us, and also a great demonstration of our compatibility -- his ability to give up that financial control, completely, and our ability to work together and align our spending habits.

Anonymous · ‎04-29-2008

What kind of debts are they? Are they all in collections already? One thing that you could do is to try and "settle" the debts for a lesser amount with a PFD. ANYTHING would be better than filing bankruptcy.

3 years ago after my (now) hubby had divorced, he was stuck with 40k in debt on 3 cc acounts and settled with them for much much less. The bad marks are on his report (am trying to get them GW'd now) but he still has scores in the mid - 600's.

Anonymous · ‎04-29-2008

I am the one with the bad credit in my relationship. He has an almost perfect score and my score is a 601. We have been together a really long time and I do not want to marry him yet. The reason: We have not purchased a house yet, we will in 3 years after he retires from the military and then we will get married. When buying a house the one with the bad credit's credit score counts. I do not want the interest rate to suck, so I am still working on my credit for the next 3 years and hopefully it will improve but I know it will take a while. You might want to check into what you want to purchase that will use his credit score when you get married and do that before you do.

Anonymous · ‎04-29-2008

@Anonymous wrote:
I am the one with the bad credit in my relationship. He has an almost perfect score and my score is a 601. We have been together a really long time and I do not want to marry him yet. The reason: We have not purchased a house yet, we will in 3 years after he retires from the military and then we will get married. When buying a house the one with the bad credit's credit score counts. I do not want the interest rate to suck, so I am still working on my credit for the next 3 years and hopefully it will improve but I know it will take a while. You might want to check into what you want to purchase that will use his credit score when you get married and do that before you do.

Keep reading. It definitely will not take you 3 yrs to repair if you hit the pavement running. Good Luck and Welcome.

Anonymous · ‎05-01-2008

Well, my fiance is 24 now and he did a LOT of stupid things when he turned 18. He got a few credit cards which he used and never paid back. He got an auto loan for a brand new car which he got repo'd and never paid, cell phones etc. Well its been about 6 years already since those things appeared on his credit reports. I don't know if we should just wait until they fall of or if he should file bankruptcy. He definitely can't afford to pay back his debt, he is now working on going back to school and getting a better job.

Should we let it fall off or would bankruptcy be a better solution?

I really want to have a house by the time I'm 24 and I am 20 now. I have good credit even though I have just started building about a year ago.

Anonymous · ‎05-01-2008

If you wouldn't mind showing us your hand maybe some of us can help you realize other/alternative options, if there are any.

If you don't, I understand that as well too.

either way, I hope it all works out for you and your fiancee.

Hand= liabilities and associated terms along with assests and expected income with associated terms.

Message Edited by realworldknowledge on 05-01-2008 08:49 AM