Pros & cons of co-signing a lease?

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Co-signing an apartment lease is an important decision because the potential negative impact on the co-signer can be quite high. When a person co-signs a lease, the signer agrees to pay rent on an apartment in the event the actual tenant defaults or damages the apartment. A co-signer is committed to the responsibility and financial security of the lessee. The pros and cons of this situation, then, depend on whether the tenant is actually liable and whether or not this situation creates legal or financial problems for the co-signer.

People are generally advised not to co-sign a lease because of all the negative consequences that can result if the tenant fails to meet their responsibilities. The cosigner is responsible for the entire rent for the apartment, which can be a huge financial burden. A major problem that can arise is when more than one person shares the apartment but only one of those people has a co-signer. In this case, even though one person may have thought he or she was only co-signing for one person, he or she may have effectively co-signed for both because the signer is responsible for the entire rent.

In some situations, co-signing a lease can also lead to less access to credit for the signer, bad credit history in case of unpaid debts, or even legal battles over the apartment. On a social level, the joint signing of a lease can generate interpersonal conflicts between the signatory and the tenant. While co-signing on a car can leave a co-signer with a recourse, such as repossessing the car, an apartment doesn’t always lend itself to this type of action.

Even taking all of these negative possibilities into account, there are still some positives to co-signing a lease. In many cases, a person may not be able to rent an apartment without a co-signer, particularly when the tenant is young and lacks a credit history. A parent might benefit from co-signing at a child’s apartment because doing so promotes independence and helps the child transition into adulthood. Co-signing a lease provides very few financial benefits, but the social benefits can be great when all payments are made according to plan.

The pros and cons of co-signing a lease depend on the specific situation at hand. For reliable tenants, there may not be any problems associated with co-signing a lease, but for delinquent or irresponsible tenants, the problems can be quite devastating. In weighing the pros and cons of co-signing, the signer must weigh the character of the lessee against the potential risk to him.

Smart Asset.

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