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Will My Spouse's Bad Credit Affect My Credit Score? - The Bills.com Blog
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Will My Spouse's Bad Credit Affect My Credit Score?
Monday, Aug 10, 2009
Question: I married someone with bad credit. Will it affect my/our credit? How does all that work?
Answer: Do not worry about your personal credit going bad because of your spouse's bad credit. The only time your credit would be reported jointly would be if you applied for joint credit in the future. Even then a credit report would still identify those credit items that you were solely responsible for and those that your partner was responsible for.You will each continue to have your own credit file. If you apply for loans/credit as an individual, they will only look at your credit record. If you apply jointly for a loan as co-borrowers, they will look at both your reports, but they would do the same thing if you weren't married and applying for a joint loan.
Generally speaking, simply marrying a person with a poor credit history will not damage the spouse's credit. The only way that I can foresee your credit being affecting by your spouse's poor credit is if you added yourself as an authorized user on any of your spouse's
accounts with less-than-perfect payment histories. If you're added to any of your partner's accounts with that have delinquent payment histories, these accounts could appear on your credit report as well, thereby damaging your credit score.
On the other hand, you may be able to help improve your spouse's credit score by adding him/her as an authorized user on some of your healthy credit card accounts, or by co-signing on a small loan with them, such as an unsecured personal loan. You can use your good credit to help you establish new credit lines, which should have a positive influence on your partner's credit score.
Of
On the other hand, you may be able to help improve your spouse's credit score by adding him/her as an authorized user on some of your healthy credit card accounts, or by co-signing on a small loan with them, such as an unsecured personal loan. You can use your good credit to help you establish new credit lines, which should have a positive influence on your partner's credit score.
Of
course, you might want to broach this topic cautiously, as money disputes can be a very taxing on a relationship. But since this is blog is a financial, not a relationship, forum I'll leave that for you -- and perhaps whoever writing Ann Lander's column these days -- to decide.
You and your spouse will find a great Bills.com article describing ways to improve/build credit entitled Credit Building From Scratch .
If you would like to find out more about credit, credit scoring, and ways to improve your credit, I also encourage you to visit the Credit Solutions and Resources page at Bills.com.
I hope this information helps you Find. Learn. Save.
Best,
Bill
www.bills.com/blog/
You and your spouse will find a great Bills.com article describing ways to improve/build credit entitled Credit Building From Scratch .
If you would like to find out more about credit, credit scoring, and ways to improve your credit, I also encourage you to visit the Credit Solutions and Resources page at Bills.com.
I hope this information helps you Find. Learn. Save.
Best,
Bill
www.bills.com/blog/
Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!
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1. Posted by A2 on Tuesday 20th October 2009 16:04
I live in Wisconsin and my spouse's credit history is always checked by banks and credit unions when I apply for loans, etc. as an individual. I have been told that his lower credit rating will affect my mortgage rates when I take out a home loan. Are some states more restrictive than in the scenario you descrive above? Also: I just discovered he's gone on a spending spree (because the credit union pulled his report when I was in today conducting business. I was quite surprised. As a spouse in a common property state, do I have the right to get greater specifics on his credit card transactions?
2. Posted by Bill on Tuesday 20th October 2009 16:17
Regarding your first question, states do not set the requirements for people getting a mortgage. The lenders have their own requirements, and I'm not aware of any state that requires both spouses to reveal their credit history when applying for a mortgage. Regarding your second question, if you are a co-signer on your husbands credit card(s) you can have access to the transaction records. However, if you are not a co-signer or a joint account holder, I would be surprised if his credit card company even gave you the time of day.
Update: When I answered the above question, I was ignorant of Wisconsin's so-called "Tattletale Notice" as set forth in Wisconsin statute Section 766.56(3)(b). In Wisconsin, when a married person applies for a loan, the lender is required to notify the non-applicant spouse of the contract. Therefore, it is customary in Wisconsin for lenders to require that spouses reveal the contact information for non-applicant spouses. As a result, it is not surprising that lenders will run a credit check on the non-applicant spouse to get a more complete picture of the household's financial health.
3. Posted by Mou on Wednesday 4th November 2009 09:27
My credit score was great when I added my husband as an authorized user to a couple of my credit cards. Since then, due to some life changing events, my credit has been destroyed. His credit is a little better than mine (and currently other than 1 unpaid medical bill, he has no unpaid credit card bills). Do you think if I remove him from my credit cards as an authorized user, it would raise his credit score? Thank you.
4. Posted by Bill on Wednesday 4th November 2009 17:42
You are on the right track. When your credit score was good and your spouse's was poor, you did a wise thing by adding him as an authorized user. Now you need to do the same thing in reverse. Remove him as an authorized user on your card and ask him to add you as an authorized user to one of his healthy credit cards. Neither you nor your spouse may see an overnight change to your scores, but there should be a change in 60-90 days.