Does My Spouse’s Credit Affect Mine?

Credit score Q&A: “Does my spouse’s credit affect mine?”

So you’ve got excellent credit, but your spouse’s credit isn’t so hot.

Does this mean your spouse’s bad credit history will affect your pristine past? Not exactly.

Just because you’re married or living together doesn’t mean your credit history is commingled.

It doesn’t just blend together once you tie the knot; there is no joint credit score.

In fact, you could marry someone and keep your credit accounts separate if you so desired, though such a scenario would probably be unlikely.

Often times when two people get hitched, they share credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, and so forth.

As a result, any late payment or derogatory event (collection, charge-off) on these shared accounts would affect both parties involved.

So if the two of you applied for a new mortgage and missed a payment, you’d both see your credit score take a hit.

The takeaway here is that only joint accounts affect both people’s credit scores.

It’s Not All Bad

If you marry someone with poor credit, you can actually nurse their bad credit score back to health by applying for new loans together and paying them back on time.

Additionally, you can designate your spouse as an authorized user on your healthy credit accounts, which may benefit their credit score over time.

At the same time, both your credit score and your spouse’s credit score must be considered when you open new joint accounts.

For example, if the two of you apply for a mortgage, the bank or lender will likely use the lower mid-score from the three credit bureaus.

Your credit score: 765
Spouse’s credit score: 619

In this case, your mortgage approval and subsequent interest rate would be based on your spouse’s lower 619 credit score.

This explains why some borrowers exclude their spouse with bad credit when applying for a loan, assuming they can qualify on their own.

In conclusion, you are in full control of your own credit score, and you ultimately decide whether to get your spouse involved.

Just remember, old habits are hard to break, so a spouse with poor credit could eventually take you down with them.

If you don’t already know where you stand credit score-wise, you can get all 3 credit scores instantly for free for 7 days via GoFreeCredit.

(photo: niffty)