Community Property State
Credit and Marriage - Goes together...No, Frank Sinatra never sang about it, but it certainly is important in this world of credit bureaus and credit scores. Your credit future is now more of an 'ours' than a 'mine'. Think of it like your tube of toothpaste, you are not really fond of sharing it, but you don't have much of a choice.
Now you are starting to wonder, How married is my credit? That is going to depend on many factors; your location, the types of accounts you open, and the date your accounts were opened.
First, where do you live?
If you live in Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, or Wisconsin you live in a community property state. That means that your credit has now become more of a 'we' than a 'me'. Even if your name does not appear on an account you may still find it on your credit report. This helps if you're not working, working a few hours a week, or have a low-paying job, it may be hard to show a positive credit history without your sweetheart's income.
This could be negative though, if one spouse has damaged credit history. If this is the case, a credit report should be requested to find out exactly what is showing on all credit reports. If negative marks are found on any of the credit reports, the credit bureaus should be contacted. You can either do it yourself or have a reputable credit repair company like Lexington Law firm do all the contacting for you.
Second, what type of account did you open?
There are two types of accounts, joint and individual.
Third, when did you open the account?
If the account was opened before June 1, 1977 these rules may not apply. You would need to contact the company who holds your account.
You still remember the day.
The cake, the friends, and the fun. You said, 'I DO' and the two became one. The two becoming one might have included more than you thought.
If you live in Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, or Wisconsin your two credit reports may look more like one. This did not seem like a bad idea when your marriage was in a blissful state, but now that the lines have been drawn and the lawyers called in may not be looking good. This means that you are both responsible for his new golf clubs and her many trips to the salon.
Many times during divorce settlements spouses will be assigned old 'community debt' to pay off. According to your divorce papers you are no longer responsible for that debt, if your spouse was assigned to pay it. That would be great if you could also divorce your credit company at the same time, but you can't.
Credit companies do not recognize divorce agreements. If your less-than-faithful spouse starts flaking on making payments, they will start contacting you. If you ignore these requests for payments thinking that your ex is responsible, your credit report will look worse than your cake did on your one-year anniversary. Don't bother sending your divorce papers to the credit companies, they didn't sign them, they don't need to adhere to them. They want to be paid and they are not concerned about who sends them the check. Mr. or Ms.
What do you do now???
It depends at what point you are finding out this valuable information. If you just started receiving request for payment you may want to grin and bear it and start making payments. Your good credit is priceless. If you ignored those notices, thinking that your ex was responsible, start paying now and work on removing the negative marks on your credit report. You will then want to apply for credit in your name so you can start improving your credit report.
Good luck and may cupid's arrow strike better the next time.
|
Credit Report Repair Information |
| Browse Archives at groups.google.com |
