When you decide to marry someone, you commit to sharing a life with that person. More often than not, you’ll share a house, a pet, a car, and a common lifestyle.
Even though marriage constitutes a legal union, it doesn’t necessarily mean a financial union as well. Indeed, just because you marry someone does not mean that you develop a joint credit score. Rather, both individuals, even in a partnership, maintain independent credit profiles.
For more information on how marriage affects a credit score, be sure to watch the video above from Sam Parker, CEO of My Credit Guy.
The confusion surrounding “joint” credit scores usually has to do with applying for a loan. When you and your partner apply for a loan, the bank will pull a “joint report.” While this suggests that it blends both credit scores, this actually just means that the lender looks at each separate credit profile.
As such, marrying an individual with a low credit score isn’t necessarily a death sentence to your own credit. You do want to be careful, however, when it comes to co-signing.
The concept of “joint” comes into play when you decide to co-sign on a loan with another person. Co-signing, as the name suggests, means that two people sign one loan. One individual will be the primary borrower, and the second is referred to as the co-signer.
Co-signing loans isn’t just for spouses. Parents can co-sign with children just as friends can co-sign with friends. However, the situation is especially common with spouses given mortgage payments and other major financial investments.
When you co-sign a loan, each party is 100 percent liable for that loan. Say that your spouse files for bankruptcy. While his or her debt will be forgiven as a result of bankruptcy, yours isn’t unless you separately file for bankruptcy. In this situation, you want to make sure that you both file for bankruptcy so that you’re not entirely responsible for the co-signed loan.
In another blog from our credit repair agency, “Is It A Good Idea To Co-Sign?” we outlined the implications of co-signing and solutions to avoid credit score pitfalls. Be sure to check out that blog if you want more information about effective co-signing.
If you or your partner has bad credit, it behooves you to work with a credit repair agency. As we mentioned, lenders look at individual credit scores when they decide to approve a loan. You might have a glowing credit score, but your partner’s bad credit could be enough for them to deny your application.
My Credit Guy is a leading credit repair agency, and we offer a special deal for couples seeking credit restoration. We will work with you on improving individual credit scores, and we can also assess your co-signed debt.
To repair bad credit and get back to the lending table quickly, give My Credit Guy a call today!
