Bankruptcy and Heloc

[Anonymous]

Hello,

My husband lost his job a while back and I have been managing all household debt, he hasn’t been able to find something that pays well, he has credits cards and car debts that I can no longer pay. He wants to file BK, but my concern is that we have a home, he is not on the loan 1st mortgage just on the Heloc that I pay. My question is would his filing affect my credit since we are both on the Heloc? I know I am still responsible for the Heloc and I intend to keep paying since I have great credit. I was an authorized users on his cards and never used them so I removed myself from all of them to make sure it doesn’t affect me. I am just afraid that the Heloc will report on my credit as BK even though I will continue to make the payment. Any suggestions on what I should do? Just for clarity, I am not filing he is.

[Anonymous]

As long as the HELOC remains current, there shouldn't be any problems. What will likely happen is that your credit report will look normal, and your husband's will report a $0 balance and notes "included in bankruptcy."

I am assuming you are not in one of the nine community property states (Arizona,California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico,Texas, Washington and Wisconsin) or Alaska. If you ARE in one of these states, you'll want to carefully discuss your options with an attorney, as you may be liable to debt that was obtained during marriage that your husband discharges through bankruptcy.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for taking the time to respond, I am VA. Ok as long as I am good with my credit, he can file.

[Shooting-For-800]

His BK should NOT affect your credit.

You will still be responsible for anything you are responsible for now.

As a matter of fact, some states protect items owned jointly even if one files as long as both dont.