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We understand that you always want to help out your boyfriend or girlfriend with any situation. Well, what about a credit situation? There may come a time when they need some help with their credit troubles and turn to you to help solve them. Should you? Trust me, it is a tough decision. You really want to help your loved one out, but it may end up affecting you. So before you make any large decisions, do your research first.
When Will My Score Be Affected
No matter what your situation (dating, married, etc) you two will continue to have two separate credit scores. So that is a good thing. You will be affected when you try to go and buy something together. Then your credit scores will become blended. This is when you will see a change. So for this reason, it would be a good idea to really help your boy/girlfriend get their credit back on track. You do not want to have anything holding you back from this great purchase.
What Should I Watch Out For
Well, usually when you help someone it should be a sefless act done with compassion. But you need to take a different, more selfish approach when dealing with your credit. You really need to make sure that your credit to not get exposed to any negative items while you are helping them. The last thing you want to do is get attached to the bad items they may have thus leaving your credit worse off.
So if you are doing something like piggybacking you need to watch out. Giving them access to your account or credit card is nice, but monitor it closely. Keep track of all they are doing on the card and do not let it get out of control. If they have a history of bad credit then it is reasonable to believe they may misuse your credit card as well. So pay extra attention.
Cosigning is also something that should be done very carefully. This also joins your credit at the hip. So you need to make sure you know all the details if this is truly something you want to do. But honestly, I would suggest that in your current situation, and their, you probably do not want to cosign (especially if you are just dating).
The Conclusion…
Only you can really choose what to do in this situation. If you truly want to help, then by all means do it. But just know that you are risking your good credit, which could really hurt you in the end. If you are just dating then I really would caution against this act, especially if you do not know how long the relationship will last. You do not want to have a good act you perform come back to haunt you a lot in the end. So it is understandable if you do not want to let someones else’s credit affect yours. Just make a smart well informed decision.
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