diana617•1d agoMost Upvoted

Nearly ruined my credit score by co-signing a lease for a friend in Atlanta

I co-signed an apartment lease for a buddy at The Mason Atlanta last year, and he stopped paying rent after 3 months without telling me. The landlord reported missed payments to the credit bureaus, and my score dropped 80 points before I even knew what happened - has anyone else had a co-signing blow up on them like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

williams.sage1d ago

That stopped paying rent without telling me part hits home hard. What people don't realize is some co-signing agreements let the landlord ding your credit immediately for late payments, no warning required. Did you check if your buddy signed anything promising to let you know before it got that far?

knight.felix1d ago

Man, I feel for you. @williams.sage is right, those lease agreements can be brutal with the credit reporting clause - my buddy co-signed for his cousin and got blindsided the exact same way when the cousin lost his job. The WORST part is zero warning, you just check your credit one day and see that massive drop. Did you reach out to the landlord directly after you found out? Sometimes they'll cut you some slack if you work out a payment plan before it goes to collections.

spencer9811d ago

Yikes, what if the cousin actually planned this whole thing knowing the co-signer would take the hit?