Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York

Guarantor's credit information

Does being an apartment lease guarantor affect my credit? Will signing as a guarantor for my parents apartment lease show on my credit report?


Asked on 6/20/08, 11:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Guarantor's credit information

Yes,

especially if your parents break the lease or pay the rents on the lease late.

It depends on whether the lessor is a company or an individual. A company which leases many properties has clerical procedures in place to report breaches or late payments to the credit reporting agencies (CRAs). An individual lessor/landlord may simply not bother to report same.

Essentially, your guarantee of the lease makes you a party to the lease (which is a contract). Not only can the lessor attempt to sue your parents for back rent, the lessor can also sue you.

Finally, will the act of entering into a lease (contract) show up on your credit report, just like opening up a credit card account shows up on your credit report? No, I don't think so.

By the way, I checked out the following article after I typed the above, and it agrees with what I typed:

see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR2006020301583.html

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Answered on 6/22/08, 3:55 pm


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