Does My Husband's Credit Affect Mine for a Mortgage?

Credit reports are individual documents, so credit solely in your spouse's name will not affect your report, and vice versa. However, when applying for a mortgage, most couples assume they will buy together. Each of your credit scores will impact the mortgage application unless only one of you applies for the mortgage.

Separate Credit Scores

You and your husband have separate credit scores. Each of your scores is based only on accounts in that spouse's name. Therefore, any accounts you have that list only your name will appear only on your credit report, and accounts in only his name will only be on his report. Joint accounts will appear on both of your credit reports. Therefore, any negative aspects of your husband's credit, such as delinquent payments on his accounts, collection accounts in his name or his filing for bankruptcy in the past will not affect your credit because your name was not on the account.

Applying for Mortgage

When you apply for a mortgage, the lender considers only the credit score of the applicant. If there are two applicants, the lender considers both credit scores. Therefore, if you would like your husband's credit not to affect the mortgage determination, you will need to apply for the mortgage without listing his name on the application. That way, you will get a more favorable interest rate based on your good credit score.

Income for Mortgage

In addition to your credit score, another important factor for obtaining a mortgage is your income. Lenders generally do not allow your monthly payments to exceed 28 percent of your monthly gross income, according to The Mortgage Professor website. The only income the lenders consider is that of the person or people listed on the application. Therefore, if you leave your husband off the application because of his bad credit, you will not be able to count his income toward qualifying for the mortgage. This might mean you won't be able to buy as expensive a home as you could qualify to buy together.

Improving Spouse's Credit

One way to approach getting a mortgage when one spouse has bad credit is to take a few years to work on improving that spouse's credit so you can apply together. One simple technique is for the spouse with good credit to add the spouse with bad credit as an authorized user on longstanding credit card accounts. This will put all of that good credit history on the credit report of the spouse with bad credit, helping his score. The spouse with good credit can also help the spouse with bad credit stay on top of his individual debts, making payments on time and paying down credit card balances to improve his score.