Does It Help My Credit If I Add My Name to the Title of a House?

Credit experts sometimes suggest consumers co-sign an account in good standing because the credit bureaus report the positive history for any name on an account. Adding your name to the title on a home gives you more assets to secure a loan, but won't boost your credit. If you wanted to use a home to improve your credit rating, you need to add your name to the mortgage.

Identification

Adding your name to the title on a home does not affect your credit. The credit rating bureaus only list accounts when a lender reports them. A bank would report a mortgage, for example, but the bureaus would neither know about your name on a property nor include it in a report because home ownership has no effect on a person's willingness to repay a debt.

Disadvantages

You may not be able to use ownership of the home to leverage credit. When multiple people claim ownership to a property, taking out a line of credit, such as a home equity line of credit, proves much more difficult. In most cases, you and the other owner must agree to ending a mortgage, such as if the original owner wants to refinance, or using the home to secure a loan. You and the other owner may have to go to court to resolve an ownership dispute.

Alternative

If you want to improve your credit, you should add your name to the mortgage rather than the deed. Almost all banks report payment history on a mortgage to all three major credit reporting agencies. However, this is risky for your credit. Should the primary account holder default, the lender reports the late payment on your credit history too. Also, the creditor often goes after cosigners in case of default.

Tip

Review the mortgage agreement with the primary account holder before adding your name to a deed. Most mortgages have a provision called "due on sale clause" which requires immediate repayment of the mortgage in full when the property owner changes or transfers ownership of the property. Some lenders may allow the primary owner to add you to a property if you ask them before attempting to change the deed.