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Whether you were recently divorced or decided to partner up with someone on a financial venture that went sour, chances are your credit worthiness and credit rating have taken quite the beating. There are many reasons that consumers fall behind or quit making their monthly credit installments all together. For some it may be lack of funding due to being laid off from a job, unforeseen medical expenses or even family emergencies. Whatever the reason may be it sometimes isn't out of fault of their own, they had every intention of always making the payments and paying them on time, but due to unforeseen circumstances they are no longer able to make the minimum payments. If like others your credit is in need of repair, you need to first ask yourself if you can even work with your partners or Ex-partners to see if you can develop a reasonable plan to begin to repair the credit rating and debt on your joint credit account.
Set up a meeting with your joint partner or if it is your ex-spouse or current spouse, to take the time to sit down and talk about a reasonable plan for you both of you to pay back the debt. Do not wait until you start to receive collection notices before you have a plan in place, at this point it will be too late and you may already be in default. The creditor will be less likely to work with you at this point on repairing your credit.
Make sure you discuss a viable plan to get out of the debt and not re-accrue it. Once you have a feasible plan set in motion contact your creditors and tell them you are in the process of paying the past due and any late fees that have accrued. This is essential in repairing your good credit with that creditor and keeping your credit report accurate by not obtaining a lower score.
Ask your creditor if you can set up reasonable payment arrangements such as the ones you have worked out with your joint partner. If they are acceptable, be prepared to make the payment immediately over the phone to avoid late fees and to satisfy the creditor.
Make sure you organize who will be responsible for making the payments to the creditor each month or as set up with your payment agreement per the creditor. Make sure you designate when the funds have to be sent out and which one of you will be mailing out or making the payment to the creditor in a timely manner. Making each payment on time will ensure that your credit will be repaired quickly and with a minimal amount of negative effect to your credit rating and FICO score.
When initially accepting the terms to apply and pay for credit with other individuals always keep in mind that no matter how great their financial and personal character may be, they can still default on their payments to the creditor or to you.