Can my brother fix his credit?
Well, he could negotiate with the bank to pay off the loan before the foreclosure takes effect. That would obviously cost him a large pile of cash but might remove the foreclosure, and possibly the late payments, from his record. But the real answer is that, having signed the note, he should have been making sure payments occurred so it never got close to foreclosure. That's what he promised the bank he would do. Having failed to do so, he really isn't in a position to complain when they tell other businesses that he didn't meet that promise. In a nutshell, not really.  That's the risk you take when you co-sign for someone.  The lender only made the loan because of the strength of your brother's credit, not your mother's, so his reputation (in the form of his credit rating) is going to take the hit because of his mother's behaviors. The one thing he can do is this:  The credit bureaus allow you to add a comment or explanation to your credit file which may be helpful, provided potential creditors read it, which is never a guarantee.  It's worth trying though, so suggest to him to look into it. Here's a link for him/you/anyone to look at that can help explain how this works and what effects it can have: Adding a comment to your credit file for negative items I hope this helps. Good luck!
"Give him a second chance to fix it.  Some computer problems are hard to nail down.  THIS:  So you're a tech.  It's common to work a problem, do procedure A and B   that should've fixed it, test repeatedly to make sure it's fixed, and   hand it back to the customer... and then the customer, under his   operating conditions, has it fail again.  If it comes back to you, you have the foreknowledge that A and B   didn't work.  And you immediately try C and get it fixed.   This   knowledge does not magically transfer to other shops.   So the user goes into Yelp Mode and storms off angry to another shop... they   blindly try A and B again, burn in, send him home, it fails again,   user's even madder.  This is how computers DON'T get fixed. 5% discount for cash is reasonable. If you want to know why that's normal, sign up for Square.  Credit cards and checks have a significant overhead, including the risk of bounces and chargebacks, and that adds up to about 5%.  Only a few businesses actively solicit it, but many family-owned businesses would accept it if you offered.  So firstoff, does the shop give you a creep factor other than your feelings about him not fixing it the first time?  If so, cut your losses and bolt. You will definitely need to pay cash to have this fixed properly.  Otherwise take it back to him and give him a chance to fix it properly. Having dealt with a lot of customers, what you say sounds an awful lot like ""problem so minor I was able to use it for 9 months before bothering to get it fixed which I'm only doing because the warranty is ending"", and therefore, ""I am resentful about having to give it up for an extended period of time to have it fixed because the problem Just Isn't That Important"".  If that's true, you're in a values conflict and you might just be better off recognizing that.  Cheap PCs are cheap.  But the vast majority of niggling PC problems are not in fact hardware problems, they are just MS-Windows being MS-Windows." You can sue them for damages. It would be hard to convince the court that the drop in the credit score was because of that loan, but not unthinkable. Especially if you sue through the small-claims court, where the burden of proof is slightly less formal, you have a chance to win and have them pay the difference in rates that it cost you. My son who is now 21 has never needed me to cosign on a loan for him and I did not need to establish any sort of credit rating for him to establish his own credit.  One thing I would suggest is ditch the bank and use a credit union. I have used one for many years and opened an account there for my son as soon as he got his first job. He was able to get a debit card to start which doesn't build credit score but establishes his account work the credit union. He was able to get his first credit card through the same credit union without falling work the bureaucratic BS that comes with dealing with a large bank. His interest rate may be a bit higher due to his lack of credit score initially but because we taught him about finance it isn't really relevant because he doesn't carry a balance. He has also been able to get a student loan without needing a cosigner so he can attend college.  The idea that one needs to have a credit score established before being an adult is a fallacy. Like my son, I started my credit on my own and have never needed a cosigner whether it was my first credit card at 17 (the credit union probably shouldn't have done that since i wasn't old enough to be legally bound), my first car at 18 or my first home at 22. For both my son and I, knowing how to use credit responsibly was far more valuable than having a credit score early. Before your children are 18 opening credit accounts with them as the primary account holder can be problematic because they aren't old enough to be legally liable for the debt. Using them as a cosigner is even more problematic for the same reason. Each financial institution will have their own rules and I certainly don't know them all.  For what you are proposing I would suggest a small line of credit with a credit union. Being small and locally controlled you will probably find that you have the best luck there. "It's not just that credit history is local; it's that it's a private business run for profit. The ""big three"" credit bureaus in the US are Experian, Equifax and Transunion.  They collect information on debt usage and abuse from various companies in the US, and charge a fee to provide that information (and their judgement of you) to companies interested in offering you further credit.  But there's nothing stopping a company from collecting international credit histories, or specialized credit histories either (for instance, there's a company called ChexSystems which focuses on retail purchase financing (mostly auto) and checking account abuse, while ignoring other types of lending). That being said, I don't know of any companies which currently collect international credit histories.  Perhaps in Europe, with more nations in close geographic proximity, there would be, but not in North America." "Despite the unmarried status, you need to see a lawyer.  Essentially you have a business with this person owning a home as the asset, and a mortgage for which you are responsible for.  A lawyer needs to examine any paperwork you have and with knowledge of your particular jurisdiction's laws can advise you on the proper course of action. You paint a really ugly picture of this guy.  I bet you are correct that he is kind of a horrible person.  ""Tough love"" time:  You willingly entered into a long term contract with this person.  Why would you do such a thing?  Perhaps some self reflection and counseling is in order.  This is probably more important than worrying about your credit. All that being said, it is good of you to want to break ties with this person.  You can rebuild.  All will be good if you concentrate on the right things." Talk about opportunity cost. Show a rope, and put a tag with him on the end of it.  Explain that since he has max out his credit, he can no longer get more.  Without more credit here are the things he can't have The key to illustrate is that all the money he makes, for the next several years is obligated to the people he has already borrowed it from.  Try to have him imagine giving his entire paycheck to a bank, and then doing that for the next five years.  To drive it home, point out that there are 5 super bowls, 5 college championship games, 5 final fours, 5 annual concerts he likes, 5 model years of cars, 5 or more iPhone versions in those five years.  Or whatever he is into.  5 years of laptops, 5 years of fishing trips. These things are not affordable to him right now.  He has already spent his money for the next 5 years, and those are the things he cannot have because he is, in fact, out of cash. Furthermore, if he continues, the credit will dry up completely and his 5 year horizon could easily become ten. To illustrate how long 5 or 10 years is, have him remember that 10 years ago he might have been in college or the military.  That 5 years ago Facebook was no big thing.  That 5 years ago the Razr was an awesome phone.  That 5 years ago we had a different president. Lifestyle Credit Solutions, LLC is a credit repair business that provide the consulting and legal signing services in the USA. We provide educational tools to assist our clients on how to improve, how to monitor and maintain credit score in the future. Call us at 757-350-3467 for free consultation! "It is possible to achieve a substitute for refinancing, but because of the ""short"" life of cars at least relative to housing, there are no true refinancings. First, the entire loan will not be able to be refinanced.  The balance less approximately 80% of the value of the car will have to be repaid.  Cars depreciate by something like 20% per year, so $2,000 will have to be repaid. Now, you should be able to get a loan if your boyfriend has good credit, but the interest rate will not drop too much further from the current loan's rate because of your presumably bad credit rating, assumed because of your current interest rate. While this is doable, this is not a good strategy if you intend to have a long term relationship.  One of the worst corruptors of a relationship is money.  It will put a strain on your relationship and lower the odds of success. The optimal strategy, if the monthly payments are too high, is to try to sell the car so to buy a cheaper car.  The difficulty here is that the bank will not allow this if balance of the loan exceeds the proceeds from the sale, so putting as much money towards paying the balance to allow a sale is best. As a side note, please insure your car against occurrences such as theft and damage with a deductible low enough to justify the monthly payment.  It is a terrible position to have a loan, no car, and no collateral against the car." I would advise against this, answering only the first part of question #1. Borrowing and lending money among friends and family members can often ruin relationships.  While it can sometimes be done successfully, this is most likely not the case.  All parties involved have to approach this uniquely in order for it to work.  This would include your son's future significant other.  Obviously you have done very well financially, congratulations.  Your view for your son might be for him to pay you off ASAP:   Even after becoming a doctor, continue to live like a student until the loan is paid off.   His view might be more conventional; get the car and house and pay off my loans before I am 50.  He may start with your view, but two years in he marries a woman that pressures him to be more conventional.   My advice would be to give if you can afford to, but if not, do not lend.  If you decide to lend then come up with a very clear agreement on the repayment schedule and consequences of non-payment.  You may want to see a lawyer. For the rest of it, interest payments received are taxable. I've read multiple times that the way to rebuild the credit score is to get a credit card and then have some minor charges on it every month and have them paid in full every month. Old negative events age and this disciplined activity rebuild the score to some not to horrible levels. Now it's true that it's hard to get reasonably good credit cards when your credit score is poor. Yet it's not necessary to have a good credit card for this case - such things as large credit limit are not needed. All that's needed is a long grace period so that there's no interest between the moment a charge is done and a moment the bill is paid in full at the end of the month. Yes, the card may have rather high interest and rather low credit limit, but it doesn't really matter. I've read once on MSN Money that people are offered credit even while they're in the middle of bankruptcy, so it's not impossible to get a credit card in the described situation. Goes without saying that a lot of discipline will be needed to have all this implemented. "Just a word of warning: Most of the companies that promise to repair your credit are scams or close to them.  You could just as easily do yourself what they are going to charge you for. Essentially they write a letter to the credit agencies disputing most or all of the bad stuff on your credit report. When you do that, the credit agency sends an inquiry to the company that reported the negative information requiring them to justify it. If that company doesn't respond within x days, they remove the item from your credit report. These companies depend on the fact that some companies aren't going to hit that deadline or even respond. Perhaps they are just too busy to hassle with providing backup documentation for a $20 late payment. They are banking on getting a few of these cheap ""outs"" to your benefit and charging you for what amounts to sending out a bunch of form letters. If you don't mind writing a bunch of letters, then you can save a lot of money and get the exact same results. These companies want to pretend they have some insider knowledge or fancy lawyers that know special credit-magic, but they generally don't. The only option I'd consider legitimate and not a waste of your time is a referral from the non-profit National Federation for Credit Counseling. They aren't going to ""fix your credit"", but will give you advice on budgeting and repairing your credit on your own." "ASSUMING you're talking about a property in the United States, the answer generally would be ""no"".  You aren't actually paying any of the expenses for the property and yet you want to take the deductions for doing so?  That's a rather cheeky move, I'd say! (grin)   It probably would lead to some real strife with your brother, since he would have proper claim to those credit on the basis he's the one footing the bills for the property.  Before you do anything like what you're talking about, it might be best to speak with him, because both of you are running the very real risk of an audit, and if that happens then I can guarantee the IRS will slap the daylights out of you for it.  Your brother, I'm sure, is already claiming all of the deductions he can for what he's putting into the property, and on top of that you want to file for your half.  What half are you referring to, when your out-of-pocket is zero?  So what you're saying is, you think that between you and your brother you should be able to take a credit of 150% of the actual deductions...Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. I strongly encourage you to talk to a tax professional, but if you get a different answer to this than what I've already given then I'd be stunned.   I hope this helps. Good luck!" I'm not good at persuasion, and I'm not an expert at any of this, but here's what I've been thinking. Rather than telling him that he shouldn't rack up more debt, I'd ask him whether he's planning for his debt levels to increase, remain static, or decrease over the next five years. Try to make it feel like he's the one reaching the conclusion that he should be decreasing his debt load. If he says that he's fine with his debt levels remaining static or increasing, then I don't have any further advice. If he says he's trying to decrease his debt level, but it's actually increasing, then maybe he's in denial. The only thing that comes to mind is a recent HBO Real Sports segment (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDjkbgrgcmo) on a couple of NFL players who blew all of their money.  Seeing how they've ended up might make the right impression, but given that your brother ran up $148K in debt, I'm not optimistic. The problem here is that the metrics that are used to track the economy are looking for things like growth and change. In a perfect world, everyone would have exactly what they need and there would no need for economists because the economy would be static.