{"id":355690,"date":"2018-01-22T17:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T00:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/?p=355690"},"modified":"2022-03-30T20:36:24","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T02:36:24","slug":"should-i-cosign-on-a-loan-for-my-relative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/lending\/should-i-cosign-on-a-loan-for-my-relative\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Cosign on a Loan for my Relative?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-355072\" src=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/CoSign.jpg\" alt=\"CoSign Loan\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\"><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.governing.com\/gov-data\/economy-finance\/average-credit-score-by-state.html\">average credit score<\/a> in the U.S. is 687, which is considered fair. Many people in the \u201cfair\u201d range of credit can have a difficult time getting approved for loans, credit cards, or even apartment leases. While it\u2019s not impossible to get a loan while repairing your credit, it may require a cosigner. If you\u2019ve been approached by a relative to co-sign a loan, here are some things to consider.<\/p>\n<h2>Your Responsibility<\/h2>\n<p>When you cosign a loan, you aren\u2019t just giving someone your proverbial stamp of approval. You\u2019re actually agreeing to be responsible for repayment of the loan in the event that the borrower defaults. Depending on your own financial situation, this could potentially have a major effect on your credit.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you currently live paycheck to paycheck, you may want to consider the worst-case scenario of being a cosigner. Can you afford to make an additional monthly loan payment? If not, it may not be wise to cosign a loan for anyone.<\/p>\n<h2>Your Credit Score<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking of credit, a loan that you appear on as a cosigner will still appear on your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/loans-and-borrowing\/4-things-that-affect-your-credit\/\">credit report<\/a>. If payments are made on time, and the loan ends up being paid in full, this will likely boost your credit score. However, if the loan amount is large, and you are planning to take out a loan of your own in the near future, this could hinder you from approval.<\/p>\n<p>If cosigning on someone else\u2019s loan bumps your own debt-to-income ratio above 40 percent, this will definitely make a difference in your ability to take out another loan of your own. So before you agree to cosign for someone else, make sure it will not impede any of your own financial goals, or lower your own credit score.<\/p>\n<h2>Your Relative<\/h2>\n<p>Many of your concerns about cosigning on a loan probably come down to your level of trust in the relative in question. If it\u2019s your child or a sibling, cosigning could be an opportunity to help them build credit and become a more independent adult.<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s an older relative, caution may serve you well. If an individual has had years to build credit, but still finds themselves needing a cosigner, it may speak to a history of financial instability, or a past foreclosure or bankruptcy. While it\u2019s usually considered uncommon, and even impolite, to discuss finances with your relatives (other than your child), if someone has asked you to cosign a loan, you have a right to know more about their credit history.<\/p>\n<p>If this relative is someone who has a demonstrated history of paying bills on time, has a steady job, and is likely to be employed for the foreseeable future, then you may have nothing to worry about. It really just comes down how well you know this relative and how much you trust them to pay their bills (on time and in full).<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re considering cosigning a loan for a relative, only you can ultimately decide if this is the right decision for you and your credit. Many people have had to ask for a cosigner and have gone on to achieve great financial stability and success. To learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\">credit repair<\/a>, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/\">creditrepair.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Carry on the conversation on our social media platforms. Like and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/creditrepaircom\/\">Facebook<\/a> and leave us a tweet on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/creditrepair\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The average credit score in the U.S. is 687, which is considered fair. Many people in the \u201cfair\u201d range of credit can have a difficult time getting approved for loans, credit cards, or even apartment leases. While it\u2019s not impossible to get a loan while repairing your credit, it may require a cosigner. If you\u2019ve [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[419,67,41],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.5 (Yoast SEO v18.5.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Should I Cosign on a Loan for my Relative? - CreditRepair.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve been approached by a relative to co-sign a loan, here are some things to consider.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/lending\/should-i-cosign-on-a-loan-for-my-relative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should I Cosign on a Loan for my Relative?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve been approached by a relative to co-sign a loan, here are some things to consider.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/lending\/should-i-cosign-on-a-loan-for-my-relative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CreditRepair.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-23T00:00:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-31T02:36:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/CoSign.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Candice Sherman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"CreditRepair.com\",\"description\":\"We are the credit repair experts\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/lending\/should-i-cosign-on-a-loan-for-my-relative\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/CoSign.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/CoSign.jpg\",\"width\":1978,\"height\":1347},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/lending\/should-i-cosign-on-a-loan-for-my-relative\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/lending\/should-i-cosign-on-a-loan-for-my-relative\/\",\"name\":\"Should I Cosign on a Loan for my Relative? 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