How can I protect my credit after my husband goes through a short sale?
Two years ago my husband bought our condo. The condo is only in his name because at the time I was going through a career change and thought my lack of an income would hurt our chances with the loan. That was actually a blessing in disguise. Because of our interest rate adjusting we will not be able to afford the payments. The bank will not approve us for a loan modification because to them having $50 left over at the end of the month is good enough! So we will be doing a short sale. Since the loan is solely in my husbands name, i believe only his credit will be affected. But we have joint bank accounts and credit cards. Do I need to separate our finances so that I will not be hit on my credit score? Because we need my credit score to rent out an apartment. Do I even need to worry about my credit score being damaged because my name is not on the loan, but I am his wife, does his bills equal my bills? I’m so confused. Sorry if it was a little long. Any advise is appreciated. Thank you!
bdancer222, thank you so much…I live in CA, which is a community property state. I’m not worried about taking on his bills because we are together and are doing this together. I just want to make sure that my credit score stays intact so that I can rent an apartment for us. Since I do live in a community property state will that affect my credit score?
(Call 888-995-HOPE or go to hopenow.com.)
I put this number up there because there might still be a way for you to keep your house. Our government did pass some legislature to help people that are in danger of losing their houses because they can’t keep up with payments. Don’t worry… this is legit. You can check my history on Yahoo Answers.
But to get back to your actual question: Your own credit will be unaffected. Only joint credit accounts can affect both partners credit.
Make sure that the bank doesn’t all the sudden want you to be there and sign papers… send your husband only. To be on the safe side:
Open your own checking accounts and make sure that your income is deposited only in your own account. Keep the joint accounts but get your money out of them. Closing the joint accounts could be seen as trying to defraud the bank… but no one said you couldn’t open your own account with another bank and start taking your money out of the joint accounts and deposit your future checks into the new account.
As far as the Credit Cards go… you should be safe. They don’t have anything to do with your secured mortgage loan. Just keep the balances low… because your credit card co. could reduce your credit limits since your credit score for your joint credit card accounts could take a hit when your husband credit score goes down because of the short sale.
If it is only in his name, don’t worry about it. But talk to an attorney ASAP about closing out your joint accounts.
References :
(Call 888-995-HOPE or go to hopenow.com.)
I put this number up there because there might still be a way for you to keep your house. Our government did pass some legislature to help people that are in danger of losing their houses because they can’t keep up with payments. Don’t worry… this is legit. You can check my history on Yahoo Answers.
But to get back to your actual question: Your own credit will be unaffected. Only joint credit accounts can affect both partners credit.
Make sure that the bank doesn’t all the sudden want you to be there and sign papers… send your husband only. To be on the safe side:
Open your own checking accounts and make sure that your income is deposited only in your own account. Keep the joint accounts but get your money out of them. Closing the joint accounts could be seen as trying to defraud the bank… but no one said you couldn’t open your own account with another bank and start taking your money out of the joint accounts and deposit your future checks into the new account.
As far as the Credit Cards go… you should be safe. They don’t have anything to do with your secured mortgage loan. Just keep the balances low… because your credit card co. could reduce your credit limits since your credit score for your joint credit card accounts could take a hit when your husband credit score goes down because of the short sale.
References :
Since the mortgage is only in his name, it will have no affect on your credit. Marriage doesn’t mean your credit reports get merged.
You don’t need to close any joint accounts either. As long as joint accounts are in good standing, they show positive on both credit reports.
As long as you don’t live in a community property state, you are not liable for bills in his name only.
References :