Do you have a question about consumer credit? You may find an immediate answer by using the search engine. If you can't find what you're looking for, please fill out the form, being as specific as possible.
Please note: The Ask Experian team cannot respond to each question individually. However, if your question is of interest to a wide audience of consumers, the Experian team will include it in a future column.
Our policies
The information contained in this column if for educational purposes only and is not legal advice.
You should consult your own attorney or seek specific advice from a legal professional regarding
your particular situation.
Please understand that Experian policies change over time. Column responses reflect Experian policy at the time of writing. While maintained for your information, archived responses may not reflect current Experian policy.
Credit Advice
Topics addressed on June 22, 2011:
Credit reporting account as “Joint” rather than as “Cosigner”
Dear Experian,
How should a loan I cosigned for my daughter be listed on my report? The creditor listed it as "Joint" but the credit union told me they put me in their system as the primary borrower, which is wrong. My daughter is the primary borrower.
- SJH
Dear SJH,
Your creditor apparently processed the account as joint rather than signer and cosigner.
If it is important to you, you will need to speak to the lender about why it was reported as joint and whether you can have it changed.
They may have set up the account as joint because your daughter did not qualify to be the primary signer. Normally, the signer is responsible for making the payment and, if not paid, the cosigner becomes responsible.
In either case, you will both have full responsibility for the debt, and from a credit reporting and credit scoring standpoint, it is irrelevant whether your association is joint or cosigner.
So, the most important thing for you to do is make sure there is a clear understanding of who will make the payment and that you have a way to verify that the payment is made on time every month.
Thanks for asking.
- The "Ask Experian" team