Should You Cosign For Your Boyfriend’s Credit Card?

Today we have a special treat, A Guy! Mike from Credit Card Forum is going to share with us his thoughts on Co Signing for Your Boyfriend. Welcome Mike!

Recently, a forum member emailed me asking whether she should cosign a credit card application for her boyfriend. She told me “he’s the one for sure” and that she wants to help him rebuild his credit with the American Express Blue Cash Preferred. Is this a smart idea or not? Here are five points to ponder.

1. Love can lead to irrational thinking

Often times when we’re younger (teens and early twenties) we fall in love – or what we think is love – and believe that person is who we will spend the rest of our lives with. But how often does it actually work out that way? How many friends have you known that were dating and madly in love, only to see them broken up and hating each other’s guts a year later?

Think about it- cosigning for a credit card now could jeopardize your credit record
for several years to come if the account is abused. Do you really want to be left
picking up the pieces if the relationship goes sour?

2. Is second time around really the charm?

If your boyfriend needs you to cosign because he wants to rebuild his credit, then
what makes you think he won’t repeat the mistakes that got him into the current mess
he’s in? There are definitely some situations which negatively affect our credit
that are largely outside our control, but more often than not, we are the ones
responsible for the problems. What makes you so sure he won’t repeat them again?

3. Rewards and/or premium cards should not be a priority

If someone is trying to rebuild credit, some card issuers are not a good idea for a couple reasons.For starters, American Express is notorious for remembering bad debts. If things were to go downhill on the account, it will blemish your good credit and greatly impact your
chances of getting a card from them in the future.

Secondly, when someone is rebuilding credit things like rewards should really be the
last thing on their mind. Instead they should focus on getting the lowest cost card
(preferably without an annual fee) and managing it properly. Earning a rebate of a
couple percent on spending is nice but that should be the least of his concerns
right now.

4. Remember you both will be equally affected

When you are a cosigner on a credit card account you need to be fully aware that both you as
well as the other party (your boyfriend) will be equally affected by what happens
with the account, whether it’s bad or good! Furthermore, once the account is open
you usually don’t have the option to remove yourself from the account, unless the
other person (the boyfriend) tells the credit card company he’s okay with you doing
that. Imagine what would happen if down the road you break up and you want off the
account, but he refuses and instead goes on a spending binge using your good
creditworthiness? If that happens, it will hurt you credit record in the same way as
if you did it yourself!

5. For rebuilding credit he should go with a secured card

If your boyfriend is trying to rebuild his credit, then he can save up a small
security deposit and open up a secured card under his own name, no cosigner
necessary. This is what he really should be doing and since he will be fully liable
for the account, it should give him more incentive to manage it properly – both now
and down the road (even if you two break up). This makes a lot more sense rather
than muddling up your relationship with money matters… those seem to only lead to
fights anyway, right?

Andrea

Andrea is the Chief Chick of Smart Money Chicks. After filing BK twice (once because she panicked, second time because the pro messed the first time up), she realized that it all could have been avoided if she understood more about how her Finances worked and the options available. At that point, she wanted to help as many as she could never make the same mistakes again. Our Promise is that all the content you read on here is created or edited by Andrea