Seriously...would you not marry someone if they had bad credit?

[Crazy Dave]

Those "free credit report" commercials are pretty funny but the one with the guy and his new bride reminds me of a couple I once new where the guy wouldn't marry the girl because she didn't pay some medical bills before they met and it would ruin his perfect credit if they tied the knot versus just living together.

She stayed with the idiot for a few years but eventually...

He still had good credit but he was heartbroken :rofl:

BTW - She was pretty damn hot and good in the sack too ;-)

[Lyric]

1. It wouldn't even occur to me to care.

Unless you're marrying for pure convenience, marriage is about love. If I love someone, nothing else matters.

Call me old-fashioned. I fucking hate the credit industry, and the way that the value of a human being is now measured by one's credit rating. I reject that whole mentality. If I had ten billion dollars in the bank, I STILL wouldn't have a credit card, or buy a single item "on credit" at any establishment that does business with the credit reporting agencies. I loathe them and oppose them with every ounce of my soul.

The worth of a man or a woman is far, far more than a number on a credit report.

[Crazy Dave]

9. My credit is still a little messed up because of my ex

And even though my house is paid for, my homeowners insurance is a little bit higher because of my credit rating. And even though I pay the entire year premium in advance legally they can do that with auto and homeowners insurance. They think people with bad credit are more prone to accidents and natural disasters I guess.

[Lyric]

15. I know exactly how you feel. We're in a very similar situation.

Both of us have terrible credit--mostly due to late utility bill payments, because we're college students with a kid who barely make seven bucks an hour.

We're currently trying to find an apartment to rent at one of the big complexes that are specifically geared toward college students. These places charge about $500 a bedroom (which would be $1000 a month, because we'd need a 2-bedroom place) BUT that includes *everything*...rent, furniture, appliances, utilities, cable, broadband internet, and a shuttle bus to campus that runs until 3:00 am. Between us, we have enough financial aid coming to be able to cover it, so we're planning on just paying the entire semester's worth of rent *in advance*, and then doing it again in January.

Unfortunately, we've hit a major snag. They insist that we need a "guarantor" to co-sign our lease, because our credit isn't good enough to qualify on our own. I'd understand this requirement if we were paying month-by-month, but we're going to have a six-month lease, paid in FULL, in ADVANCE, plus the security deposit.

Apparently, people with bad credit are more likely to go steal back their rent money? Or trash the place? Even when they're working adults with a kid?

*sigh*

[RetroLounge]

24. Your kid makes $7 an hour?

:wow:

RL

[Oeditpus Rex]

38. More likely

you'll turn the place into a meth cook.



Low-income = drug abuse/dealing. It's a proven fact.



Just ask your doctor.

[jobycom]

2. I wonder who would marry a man who musically whined about them

in front of his friends instead of helping with the laundry.

[struggle4progress]

3. Depends on why and how bad

"Paid a few bills late" ... who cares

"Spent $50,000 on beanie babies by maxxing out ten credit cards" ... backing away slowly, nodding and smiling

[TroglodyteScholar]

4. I married a woman who had bad credit

She let me pay it off, then she divorced me after 5 years.

Go figure.

[Deja Q]

17. Sad.

:(

(seriously. I'm just beyond words at how some can behave at times.)

[TroglodyteScholar]

27. Well...

I don't necessarily think she only married me to get the debt paid off, but she left without really telling me why her mind was made up, why she wouldn't consider trying counseling, etc. When no clear reason is given for a divorce, all kinds of possibilities cross your mind.

At least she didn't take me for everything I had. A lot of guys have had it worse than I.

[NewJeffCT]

50. that happened to me as well

with my ex-wife.

she had bad credit and a pretty good amount of debt when I met her - car loan, student loans, several thousand in credit card debt.

Meanwhile, I had no debt beyond my mortgage, and never carried a balance on my credit cards and my car was all paid for.

so, of course, after we get married, I helped her to pay off her debt since I assume we'll be married forever and it's now "our" debt. Since I didn't have that much cash, I took out a second mortgage since I could at least get the interest deduction on my taxes...

And, almost immediately afterwards, she started getting distant, refused any sort of counseling, started spending a lot of money on our now joint credit cards, etc - like a fool, I thought maybe if she spent a little money now, it would cheer her up and things would be okay in the long run.

But, less than a year after we got married, she filed for divorce and told me I was lucky she didn't max out all the credit cards first.

And, yes, she was attractive, had a big chest and was wild in bed.

[kay1864]

74. That Sentence Is Useless Without...

:rofl:

[NewJeffCT]

75. which sentence

may i ask? and, i assume you mean pictures?

I had added that last line because of the OP's last line in his post.

[kay1864]

76. There were other sentences in your post?

:P

[NewJeffCT]

77. I assume you mean the last one...

sorry, no pictures left over of her.

I would say about the same height & build as lionesspriyanka, only with fair skin and big blue eyes.

[kay1864]

78. Dude. Photoshop. Work with me.

Lotsa pics of lioness on my hard drive here on DU to choose from.


Thanks in advance!






Have I threadjacked this enough yet?

[Eurobabe]

41. Sucker

sorry just kidding. that sucks. :(

[skygazer]

5. That would depend on why they had bad credit

If it was because they were an irresponsible bum, I would choose not to marry them because they were an irresponsible bum. The bad credit would just be the indicator of the underlying problem. :P

[Crazy Dave]

10. Medical bills?

With no insurance a trip to the emergency room can run you $10k in a night. I think her case she had appendicitis, was a waitress at the time making minimum wage, no insurance...

[skygazer]

12. Medical bills would be easy to understand

Hell, my credit is nothing to write home about. I'm just thinking of my deadbeat son-in-law whose credit record consists of maxing out every card he can get his hands on buying gaming systems and beer. :eyes:

[Crazy Dave]

16. That's my step-daughter and her boyfriend

Beer, pot, playstation games, etc. instead of paying the light bill, the rent or even buying enough groceries to last them the week. And of course I'm the biggest asshole in the world because I won't give them any "extra money" or let them move in with us for free.

No kidding, about a month ago they needed money and thought it was perfectly fine to ask us, "well how much extra money do you guys have this week?".

[Seedersandleechers]

6. Your post got me thinking

about an ex-bf I had for 15 years. At 45 he had never ever been late paying even one bill. He had perfect credit but I didn't. For years he said if we got married I would ruin his perfect credit rating. This guy has obsessive compulsive personality disorder. Everything was always my fault....:spank:

[Withywindle]

11. I had someone dump me for basically that reason.

We'd been together six years too - I just couldn't get out from under those student loans fast enough to please him.

(We had class issues all along - he came from money; I don't. He was a militant penny-pincher; I'm not.)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. Marriage is as much an instituion as credit.

[flvegan]

8. Usually credit consideration falls to the higher score, anyway.

Kind of a dead point, as marrying a bad credit risk will help his/her credit rise if they enter a loan together. Both parties win!

[Lil Missy]

13. Depends on why they have bad credit.

[1]

14. well i married my dream girl, i married my dream girl. but she didn't tell me her credit was bad...

so yeah, i think it would be better to "be a happy bachelor with a dog and a yard."

but that's just me...

[Guava Jelly]

18. If she had a nice rack I would.

:evilgrin:

[LeftyMom]

22. You certainly have your priorities in order!

:thumbsup:

[Guava Jelly]

23. Thank you

It's all about the rack :D :hi:

[NewJeffCT]

51. Maybe I should introduce you to my ex-wife

see my post above in this thread...

[MorningGlow]

19. Mr. MG had awful credit when we met

His business went under several years before we met, and unlike his partners, he refused to declare bankruptcy. I didn't give it a second thought. We managed to buy a house (FHA, high percentage rate mortgage) and his credit (and mine) improved immensely. Ten years on, we're still in debt up to our eyeballs, but we pay our bills on time, so our credit rating is good. Mixed blessing (our credit and debt, not our relationship!)

[Fox Mulder]

20. I couldn't care less about someone's credit.

I would marry a woman if she had bad credit. That wouldn't bother me.

[Wapsie B]

21. There is a way around that through a kind of prenup.

According to a friend who's a loan officer there is a way to keep the finances separate so the person with bad credit not affecting the person with good credit.

[Crazy Dave]

26. They don't ask for prenup agreements on credit apps.

Once you're married everything is community property so if you buy a car or a home the creditors could care less and are not legally binded to what your prenup says.

[Chan790]

25. Hypothetically...

I can't see me married, but it wouldn't matter to me. I'm a risk in my own ways.

[bigwillq]

28. My boyfriend's ex-wife

totally ruined his credit. You have to be very careful. It depends on much risk you want to take with that person. I had to sign for the loan for my boyfriend's condo b/c he couldn't get approved b/c of his bad credit. After a few years, his credit approved and he was able to get the mortage in his name.
It all depends on the individual, imo. But I guess if you really loved that person it wouldn't matter.

[Midlodemocrat]

29. I had terrible credit when we married. I had taken in two teenaged

boys who were homeless and I simply couldn't afford them.

He didn't care and married me anyway.

[sasquatch]

31. ?

Please explain

[Midlodemocrat]

32. Explain what?

When I was teaching I took in two homeless teenagers who were throwaway kids and my salary could barely cover my expenses, let alone theirs.

[flvegan]

44. Midlo, not a day passes that you don't impress me somehow.

Your capacity to care for people and kids is incredible.

[Midlodemocrat]

45. That is, without question, the nicest thing anyone has said to me here.

:loveya: flvegan.

[sasquatch]

47. I agree with flvegan

Whatever happened to those two young men?

[Midlodemocrat]

48. Both married with families of their own. Worked out very well.

[Midlodemocrat]

52. And, thanks, sasquatch. That was really kind.

:loveya:

[NewJeffCT]

59. well

I think most of us on DU would agree with flvegan's sentiments.

[Midlodemocrat]

61. Thank you, Jeff. Very kind of you.

:loveya:

[Rabrrrrrr]

30. Depends on circumstances, but I would seriously consider not marrying someone with bad credit.

Their bad credit could very easily end up being my debt and/or responsibility, and/or it could utterly ruin my credit.

I don't think it would cause me to love someone any less, but getting married (or letting the state know it, anyway) is a legal contract with all sorts of nasties attached to it - I would or could happily live with said person in a committed relationship, but never make it legally official.

[Zuiderelle]

33. Given that marriage is a contract, it would be a bad decision to marry someone with bad credit.

Even if I was allowed to marry the person I'm with, if she had bad credit, I would have to weigh the pros and cons before marrying. The whole reason for marrying in the first place is for the security it brings to the relationship. If the credit was so bad that it was a detriment to the relationship, I would definitely not get married until the credit was cleaned up. I would however, help my partner clean up her credit and eventually get married.

[Mojambo]

34. Credit would not be something I would consider. n/t

[Rob H.]

35. I know someone who wanted to check a man's credit rating

before she went on a single date with him. Of course, he was 44 years old and still living with his parents, so she had reason to believe something was up with his finances--turns out he was just a cheapskate.

[carlyhippy]

36. I would marry the free credit report.com guy, he's hot!

best thing would be to have the bad credit partner not get invovled with any loans if that is possible today.

[SPKrazy]

37. I Helped Pay Off Bad Credit Debt

forfeited student loans

credit card debt

etc.

[Ikonoklast]

39. Look, I just like wearing a pirate outfit, OK?

Don't be so judgmental.

Arrgh.

[Oeditpus Rex]

40. Seriously? I'd have to give it due consideration

If she were committed to fixing it, I don't think it'd be a problem. But when you marry someone, you marry their entire life, and if there's one thing newlyweds don't need, especially if they're young, it's financial problems.

[lildreamer316]

42. I was just going to ask this question. Dumb commercial,if you ask me. n/t

[Mutley]

43. If he was working toward fixing it, then I wouldn't let his bad credit stop me.

But if he had bad spending habits that weren't likely to ever stop, I'd seriously consider ending the relationship. My own credit isn't that great, but I'm repairing it, and I plan on keeping it good once it gets there.

[TankLV]

46. wouldn't even be on my radar...

but I wouldn't combine accounts, either...

[WritingIsMyReligion]

49. Depends on how bad and on the reasons WHY it's bad.

If your credit's decent, just not great--sure, I'd marry you, as long as the rating was on an upward trend, not a downward one. If your credit is bad to the point of being a bit frightening, I'd be wondering, particularly if my credit were fine. Marriage is about love, yes, but not historically, and it still remains an entangling of lives, including your financial ones. So yes, I'd be wary.

[DarkTirade]

53. Depends.

How hot is this theoretical credit risk? :P

[av8rdave]

54. Once

[annonymous]

55. My husband was bankrupt when I married him

I had to get a prenup agreement stating what assets were legally mine. When we bought a house, it was in my name only until the bankruptcy cleared from his credit report. We also have a joint account to pay household bills which we contribute 50% of our paychecks. My husband eventually cleaned up his credit but it was a struggle to do so. Recently, some collection agency tried to collect on a bill that was discharged in bankruptcy in 1993. It seems there are some bottom feeders that will try to collect on very old debt even though the statute of limitations has passed. My credit is reasonably good but won't be for very much longer if I don't find employment soon.

[NewJeffCT]

57. What a lot of collection agencies do

is buy up the old debt from banks and other financial institutions for pennies on the dollar and attempt to get some suckers to pay off the old debt.

[raccoon]

56. Depends on the reason for it. If it were a one-time thing, say most of his life

he'd had good credit, but then had humongous medical bills, that I could deal with. If it was just that he was always overspending his income, fuggedaboutit.

[Wcross]

58. I wouldn't be bothered by it.

I don't use credit & see no future need for credit. Now, if the person had problems with overspending it might turn me off.

[Zuiderelle]

60. I'm surprised by all the responses saying it doesn't matter. What about buying a house?

Or some other big purchase like a car... If you're saddled with someone else's bad credit, the rates you get, if you can get a loan at all, will be far higher than if you don't get married until after your partner's credit is cleaned up.

Seems to me the most sensible thing to do is to help your partner clean up the credit first, and then get married. Or, never get married if you can't get the credit cleaned up. The alternative of having bad credit in this society is just not feasible.

I certainly wouldn't enter into a business partnership with someone who has loads of debt that would then become mine. Why would I enter into marriage contract with someone if doing so would ruin my own credit and result in a lower quality of life for us both? I would take on the debt without linking it to my own credit, but I would never take on the bad credit if there's an alternative.

[Midlodemocrat]

62. When we bought our house, Mr.'s name was on the mortgage.

Mine was added about 2 years later. Both names are on the deed and have always been.

[Zuiderelle]

63. Was your credit bad, or were you just in debt?

I did the same thing with an ex of mine several years ago... she had no credit and no job, so the house was in my name only for a couple of years until she got a job and we refinanced. I didn't have the option of marrying, of course, so maybe I'm wrong about someone's bad credit affecting the other's in a marriage?

[Midlodemocrat]

65. It was bad. I had taken in two homeless teens and I truly

couldn't afford to do it on a teacher's salary. At the time, I didn't see any other option. I couldn't put them back on the street, so they slept on the pull out in my living room. I also pulled them from public school and put them in the Catholic school where I was teaching, so of course, that was a bit of money every month.

It wasn't horrible, mind you, but I was always at least 30 days late with the Visa payment.

It didn't hurt us because the house mortgage was in his name only for the first two years, but BOTH names were on the deed. I think that is what matters. The house is then in both your names so nothing squirrelly can go on.

[Zuiderelle]

66. I thought that a marriage would cause the debts of one spouse to appear on the other's credit report

Maybe your credit wasn't so bad after all, or maybe I'm wrong. I've been wrong a couple of times in my life :)

[Midlodemocrat]

68. Maybe it varies from state to state?

We currently have two credit cards, one that was in my name where he is an authorized user and vice versa.

I know both cards show up on both credit reports, but if I run just my credit report, I get just mine, not his. I think in order for it to be 'intertwined', you have to apply for the loan or mortgage in both names and therefore both SSNs.

I'm not totally positive, though. :shrug:

I just know that my poor credit didn't affect our getting a mortgage, or the rate in 1990. Of course, rates have gone down tremendously, so when we refi'd a few years later in both names, we got an even lower rate.

[snooper2]

64. Bad credit can be a fairly accurate sign of irresponsiblity

putting emergency hospital bills to the side...

[Crazy Dave]

67. And student loan debt

Not because people were irresponsible but because after they spent years of their lives and tens of thousands of dollars to get their diploma...they couldn't get a job in their field.

[snooper2]

69. I would include that....

I defaulted on a student loan and had my paycheck garnished for a couple years. I could have paid $200 a month but was too busy getting drunk and going to parties.

[Crazy Dave]

70. That would have been me

Except I never went to college until I was in my mid-30's

I once worked part-time as a janitor and a co-worker of mine who was also working part-time was actually a doctor just out of med school doing his residency and starting to pay on what he described as "six figure student loans".

[Tyrone Slothrop]

71. Considering that the last 3 jobs I've applied for have all run credit checks...

I'd have to at least pause and consider it.

I think it's ridiculous, absurd and a symptom of how sick our society has become that businesses now run credit checks on job applicants; but, that said, putting my future career in jeopardy (along with home ownership, etc.) would give me pause.

[Crazy Dave]

72. I've had employers do a criminal background check

But never a credit check that I'm aware of as none of my occupations with the exception of restaurant manager in the mid 80's, had anything to do with handling money or finances.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

73. None of these jobs have anything to do with money-handling either

My interview last week was for a position as a copy writer/editor for a multi-national corp.

Still, the HR department sent a bunch of forms I was to fill out and bring to the interview; one was simply a form I had to sign off on so that their HR could run a full credit check on me.

[kick-ass-bob]

79. I always wondered how bad credit made the guy

in the Pirate Restaurant have to get a job there.

[ThePowerofWill]

80. Credit rating would be one of the last things on my mind.

There are too many other things more important to me. I would rather sleep in a shack, with a mailbox full of overdue bill with someone i cared about, than live in a mansion with someone i did not care for.

[stuntcat]

81. I hate that commercial

We were talking about that commercial just this weekend!
Like wtf, she's your "dream girl" but you can't deal with her drama? And how did you decided she was your "dream girl" without ever talking about this kinda stuff with her?

Also I think they shouldn't put down people who work at seafood restaurants or people who drive old cars. I used to think those commercials were cute but now they make me mad.

[Brigid]

82. I hate that commercial too.

There's just something mean-spirited about it. There he is jamming on a stupid song with his buddies, while she's doing the laundry, whidch at least is something useful. Typical. :eyes:

[Crazy Dave]

83. I've always been a small car guy no matter my credit or income status

Always been a "just give me something that's affordable, economical and gets me from point A to point B" type person.