Apartment lease and house refi

So, let's assume your name is on a lease for an apartment. The credit inquiry is going to show up on your credit report. Further assume you want to refinance your mortgage at today's low rates. Although it's a joint application, you'll be handling all the paperwork and phone calls, which will enable you to spin the credit inquiry, should it come up, in any of several plausible ways.


Question: If your spouse's only participation in the refi process is signing documents at closing, how likely is it that that one inquiry will come up at closing?


Asking for a friend.


And, yes, the friend knows he did something stupid and broke a rule, but there's nothing he can do about that now, so there's no point in berating him. Constructive responses would be appreciated.

At times like these, investigating sales opportunities, even to the point of filling out a credit application would sound pretty good.

"I've been looking at buy some distressed properties - before they'll talk I had to go thru some credit checks"

A random thought, if you knew a guy who had a hot SB on the side, how do you get him to start sharing her info? - asking for a friend.

That depends how involved or nosey the SO is, if you handle all the phone calls and paper work goes through you first, you might get away with it

So, let's assume your name is on a lease for an apartment. The credit inquiry is going to show up on your credit report. Further assume you want to refinance your mortgage at today's low rates. Although it's a joint application, you'll be handling all the paperwork and phone calls, which will enable you to spin the credit inquiry, should it come up, in any of several plausible ways.


Question: If your spouse's only participation in the refi process is signing documents at closing, how likely is it that that one inquiry will come up at closing?


Asking for a friend.


And, yes, the friend knows he did something stupid and broke a rule, but there's nothing he can do about that now, so there's no point in berating him. Constructive responses would be appreciated. Originally Posted by Sir Lancehernot

In the closing docs the loan application is included and if your SO likes to read the details it is going to stick out like a sore thumb. That being said there are a million pages to sign and it would behove you ask the closer to just blast through the process without going into detail.

At the end of the day it depends on how detailed focused your SO is. The risk is always there.

Good luck OP.

It may not even show up. Often times, pulls for apartment communities are either "soft inquiries" or they go through another service altogether that tends to bypass the big 3 bureaus.

Iirc, I had a similar situation (apt rental co signor) in a diff city. Credit inquiry from the apt complex didn't matter, but the rental payment was going from an account I had disclosed. So they added it the the liabilities in the loan application and it impacted my income to debt ratio. I checked 2 of the refinance packages in the last 4 years and credit report is not part of the closing docs.

I can’t imagine this not showing up on a credit report. Especially if you were late with a payment. It’s a monthly bill, like a mortgage, car, utility, credit card histories of payments, late payments, etc.

Remember a few years ago when we refi’d the mortgage, the loan officer telling a few stories about couples and their “true confessions” when applying for a loan or Refi. Funny as hell.

I don't have a good answer, only a good response if the SO sees the offensive disclosure at closing.

"God Damn it, I told Experian 2 years ago, that they got me mixed up with someone else"!

look mad, look agitated.. but say it with conviction.

discerning_guy is correct in his post above.

And, I've never seen the actual credit report that the bank runs included in the actual real estate closing paperwork. And I've been at quite a few real estate closings.

The credit report is way before closing, when the bank approves the loan.

At times like these, investigating sales opportunities, even to the point of filling out a credit application would sound pretty good.

"I've been looking at buy some distressed properties - before they'll talk I had to go thru some credit checks" Originally Posted by mtabsw

Good idea, but I don't think it would pass the smell test.

A random thought, if you knew a guy who had a hot SB on the side, how do you get him to start sharing her info? - asking for a friend.

That question pretty much assumes the relationship is the SD/SB variation of P4P. My understanding is that this is not. It also assumes the lady in question would be interested in having her information shared. Again, I do not believe that to be the case. Buy me an after-work drink at a place that has windows and I'll fill you in if you are interested.

Iirc, I had a similar situation (apt rental co signor) in a diff city. Credit inquiry from the apt complex didn't matter, but the rental payment was going from an account I had disclosed. So they added it the the liabilities in the loan application and it impacted my income to debt ratio. I checked 2 of the refinance packages in the last 4 years and credit report is not part of the closing docs. Originally Posted by discerning_guy

Sounds like the answer to the basic question is that my friend shouldn't have much to worry about if his spouse is only interested in signing the docs and getting back to the TV.


Other possibilities might include identity theft.

Question: If your spouse's only participation in the refi process is signing documents at closing, how likely is it that that one inquiry will come up at closing?

Slim to none. The credit report isn’t part of the paperwork at the closing, it’s only a qualifier to get you there.

If your friend’s wife doesn’t check credit reports, then he is definitely a lucky man.

I don't have a good answer, only a good response if the SO sees the offensive disclosure at closing.

"God Damn it, I told Experian 2 years ago, that they got me mixed up with someone else"!

look mad, look agitated.. but say it with conviction. Originally Posted by Chung Tran

Excellent advice.

I actually had a item that showed up on my credit report way back when that showed a girlfriend at the time got a credit card using my last name. I did exactly what you mentioned - fumed and stomped around, got really mad, and yelled at the banker that if that stops the loan someone else will give it to me.

Mumbled about it on the way home how fucked up computers are and how some dickhead can get the wrong information in a computer and it never goes away.

She got tired of hearing about it.

I don't have any loans or mortgages anymore so it doesn't matter but having done enough of them in the past just know that if one banker won't play ball, another one will. At the end of the day, they need to close deals and can make shit happen as well as go away.

I occasionally check my credit report explicitly to make sure weird stuff doesn't show up and anything I don't recognize I ask my wife about. If she doesn't recognize it then I tell her I'll call and check on it - then I just quietly pay the bill and it goes away.

Best to use cash, obviously.

If anyone ever asks you to cosign a loan you should just laugh at them or be highly insulted because they must think you are a mark to even mention it.