While your spouse’s debts and credit history do not get onto your credit report, and mostly you are not responsible for that debt, the repayment of those debts will impact you as a couple since there will be less money for other things.

If your spouse has not so good credit, you can help by giving good advice in the management of funds but you should know how to protect yourself.  If you are applying for a loan where your spouse’s income will be a factor, you will be paying a much higher interest rate and this could cost you tens of thousands more during the life of a loan for a large dollar amount, like a mortgage.

First of all, do not put your spouse’s name on your bank account, do not open joint bank accounts at a bank nor on a credit card and do not apply for credit jointly.  Do not put your spouse’s name on your credit card accounts as a Joint Account Holder.

You do have the option of adding your spouse to your credit card account as an ‘authorized user’.  This is much safer for you and your spouse’s lousy credit will not be factored into your score.  If your spouse in turn adds your name to his or her account, your credit score will be harmed.

An employer needs your written permission before he can run a credit check on you through an agency.  If you don’t agree, you probably won’t get the job.  It would be a good idea to get the jump on the situation and explain your situation and your efforts to correct it.  Although bankruptcy cannot be used against you, it is best to be honest and forthcoming.   These are highly valued traits in most jobs.

Another good thing to check for is a duplicate listing of the same account and also for outdated listings.

You will want to check each report carefully.  There may be errors on your personal information.  Check the birth date, the Social Security Number, your own name, your addresses.  Sometimes we skip that part and just look at the list of names.

Make sure you check for inquiries on your credit from companies you don’t recognize.  While not always the case, inquiries from companies you don’t know could indicate fraud.

You will be relieved of having to work on minute details of your file and even better, the strenuous process of negotiating with each lender or company that put a ‘late’ on your credit report.  Credit repair is the goal and the sooner it can be done, the better.

In fact, you are paying an agency to pay your bills for you from funds you provide.

On the other hand, you can relieve the stress by knowing that you are working with experts in the field of credit repair.  They will treat you in a professional manner and that is a good start.

Normally, these firms have connections that would allow them to negotiate credit balances, debts and set up repayment plans.  This is not something you would be able to yourself and achieve the results you want.

There is a monthly fee ranging from $3 to $10, interest rates range between 10% and 23%.  It is very difficult to function without a credit card.  You can’t book or order anything online and some companies will not accept a secured credit or debit card but this is better than having no card at all.  Of course, you have to deposit the funds up front and some banks will require a co-signer anyway.

Getting a secured credit or debit card will help you to rebuild your credit.  Make sure you are working with a company that reports regularly to the consumer agencies.  If you make on-time minimum payments and maintain your balances under the credit limits with all your creditors, your credit scores will improve.

For more information on fixing your credit through the use of secured credit cards, check out www.creditcards.com

You will want to include copies of any documentation proving that the information on your credit report is incorrect.  Politely ask the agency to investigate.  By law, they have to investigate within 30 days and whatever proof you sent the agencies, they have to forward to the company that posted the information to your credit report.

If the investigation finds that in fact the disputed information is incorrect, the company that posted that information to you credit report is responsible for correcting that information with the credit reporting companies.

Read the report carefully and make sure there are no errors, not only in regard to transactions but also to your personal information.

Not only would your credit history reflect the late or non payments on your mortgage but now you would have a cancelled credit card account to add to the record.

To be on the safe side, if you know your credit record will be in trouble, open an account at a bank that has nothing to do with your mortgage or with your car loan or other major loan you already have.  At least, you are not risking having your card cancelled if your bank is taken over.