How to Protect Your Credit Report in Marriage
- 1). Get your credit report and score as well as your spouse's. Have a candid discussion with your spouse and talk about your credit histories. Get copies of both your reports from the AnnualCreditReport.com website.
- 2). Remove names from credit card accounts. If you have your spouse's name on one of your credit cards as an authorized user and vice versa, call your credit card company and have the name taken off the account. In return, your spouse's bad credit habits will not affect your credit report.
- 3). Keep your credit and debts separate if your spouse has a history of late payments and poor credit habits. Joint accounts appear on both your credit reports, and if your spouse pays a joint account late or skips a payment, your credit report and rating will suffer.
- 4). Think twice before co-signing a loan for your spouse. You may feel compelled to help your spouse acquire an auto loan or other type of financing by co-signing a loan agreement. Be careful, though. If your spouse can't pay for the loan, the creditor will come after you for the payment.
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