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Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.

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drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.


@Anonymous wrote:

The funny thing is this very topic came up a couple weeks ago at my job. A co worker told me he was making his girlfriend auth user on his new NFCU VISA, so she could buy things for their new place, without having access to his money via  a debit card. I told him good luck, hope it works out lol.


Hopefuly he carefully reviewed the AU policies.

 

IMO, USAA likely has the worst, most liberal (read that as dangerous) AU policy I've seen. Someone had better be very certain or they could be screwed a long time. Smiley Happy FWIW, DGF is on my USAA card. She's not given to financial folly or deception about affordability when it comes to making decisions but only has it for utilization. Smiley Happy

 

Amex lets cardholders set limits.


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Message 51 of 65
IOBA
Senior Contributor

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.

lithium78 - time to file a complaint wtih the BBB.  Smiley Happy   Maybe go file for identity theft.   (you didn't sign for a change in terms, yet it happened, so who did sign for you??  did x forge your name?  did cu "think" they got your ok via phone?)

Message 52 of 65
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.

I hope this got fixed.


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Message 53 of 65
MattH
Senior Contributor

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.


@FrugalRican wrote:

@tonyaether wrote:

I was just about to post  a question on this topic then I saw this post....ahh the dread.  So would anyone co-sign for a spouse?  I have always said absolutely not when approached by my DH on the topic.  However, now I am just confused on whether I am being a bad wife by not doing so.  The thought is now crossing my mind again. 



I would co-sign for my DGF (when we get married), in a heartbeat. She's done more than enough for me in this lifetime and for the next... but that's because I trust her with every aspect of my life. I wish I could say I was being naive, but she's extremely smart financially, has 800+ credit scores and although she's not a budget master (I am hehe), she's not a wasteful spender either.

 

Then again, she pretty much fits the bill as one of the people I know LEAST to need a co-signer. So maybe that's why I would do it without hesitation.

 


 

Your last sentence is the key: you would cosign for your DGF because you know her to be very responsible, but she would not need a cosigner. The same is true of my wife: I would not hesitate to cosign for her, but I have never had to because she has an excellent credit rating herself. The decision to cosign amounts to making a bet: I think I know this person's risk better than the loan officer does. Usually this is a very bad bet. There are a few exceptions such as a young person or recent immigrant who therefore does not have any credit history yet, in which case somebody who knows the person well could be in a position to perform a more accurate risk assessment. Cosigning can only make sense if you have relevant data not available to the lender to validate your decision.
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Message 54 of 65
Tonya-E
Established Contributor

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.

Well I am happy to report that since my last post things have improved and the wheels of change are turning. DH has been making strides to improve his credit and is working on being more financially responsible. He has gotten his own score up by about 30 points in doing so and managed to begin taking care of some residual debt. As a result I added him as an AU on Amex. We'll see how that goes and if it gives him a bit more of a bump to be able to finance his car. Personally I had to see an effort on his part to improve his situation before I felt like I could step in. I can only speak on the end of a person or spouse whose significant other is not in the best of credit/finance situations. Marriage/committed relationships are a partnership. One partner can't hold the weight on his/her own. It's important that the other put their effort in as well. I think that's what your significant other is looking for and needs to see. I am still not a fan of joining everything completely though and I am still not sold on co-signing yet. Baby steps, baby steps....
Wallet: Amex BCP-45k| Barclays Rewards MC-26.3k| Citi Thank You Preferred-27.5k| Citi Double Cash-14k| Target MC-11.5k| Walmart MC-7.5k| Chase Freedom Unlimited Signature-6k


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Message 55 of 65
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.

Reading this is sort of funny because my girlfriend is about to co-sign a loan with me. 

 

It makes somewhat more sense in our case. We've been living together for 8 years and need a home improvement loan to update our condo--which is actually my condo in title--so we can sell it. We're not married on paper yet but that's essentially how we live. 

 

I completed a Chapter 13 last year and have bounced back somewhat. Still have the mortgage healthy and two credit cards managed well, but my scores will still suffer for another 1.5 years from the BK. Meanwhile she's got all kinds of debt but good credit. I have zero debt and haven't had a late payment for anything in 6 years, I'm probably the safer credit risk... but you know how FICO scores are. 

Message 56 of 65
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.

FR is likely giddy at imagining what I'll post but "No, FR! I won't amuse you today!".

 

Good luck! Everyone assumes they're a good risk, things will always work out perfect, blah blah blah, until things or priorities change. It's just not a situation I'd jump into again.

 

DGF and I are AU on cards but that's a situation remediable with one phone call. Amex ACMs are obligated to their own charges. If things go south, the person doesn't get to walk away unscathed.

 

I realize people's hearts are in the right place but 10 years is the same as 10 minutes once things are over. Smiley Happy


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Message 57 of 65
tammyjk
Regular Contributor

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.

I have worked very hard on my credit and just put in an offer on a new home.  My bf and I have lived together for 8 years now, but the home will be in my name alone.  Sometimes with age does come wisdom....We plan on getting married AFTER the home purchase.  He also needs a newer vehicle and has terrible credit.  I refuse to co-sign but I will purchase it in my name.  If anything happens and we go our seperate ways, I can always get the vehicle back.  In the mean time, I am helping him to improve his credit.  I did put him on some of my credit cards and that has helped because he had almost no credit.  I have learned the hard way that married or not you could end up in trouble if things go bad.  NEVER CO-SIGN.  And be darn carefull about joint credit as well. 

 

There are so many threads about divorced people ending up with the mortgage and the other spouse ending up with the home....myself included.  I got the home Smiley Tongue  Luckily for my ex, I made all the payments on time.  

Message 58 of 65
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.

Can't even imagine what people go through in joint property states when being sued for spousal debt.


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Message 59 of 65
lithium78
Established Contributor

Re: Never co-sign a loan. Never, ever ever.

An update on the situation:  The credit union has refused to budge at all.  I guess at this point that I'm going to be stuck with this black mark on my credit.  Currently, this 30 day late is the only bad mark on my credit report, but since it is so recent it hurts pretty badly.  My wife and I want to buy a house soon, so I guess we'll see how it goes.  I would like to wait until after Feb so the late will be a year old and maybe not count as badly against me.


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Message 60 of 65
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