My brother is moving back from decades of overseas living to go to graduate school.
He has around a 650 credit score (nothing negative but lack of hx).
He will be a student with no income.
Can I co-sign a lease for him? Any pros and cons to consider.
The other option is to have him buy a used car but he rather lease a new car.
Thx for the input!
Beggars can’t be choosers
Yes. Without income and with that score he won’t qualify on his own. Will he live with you? In the same state?
You are on the hook if he doesn’t pay.
Indeed. Could also look at assuming an existing lease (not 100% certain how that works with a cosigner, others might).
Out of curiosity, what kind of car does he plan to borrow your credit and income to lease for himself?
If problems arose, would you be willing to put up the car payment in your brother’s steed? If he failed to pay, would you be okay with a repo on your credit history? Would you be okay with your credit history taking a hit if he was habitually late with his payments?
yea, i understand the credit risk but i was wondering more about if co-signed leases were available especially for a primary with no income stream. i didn’t want to walk into a dealership and be told co-signing leases were not available where the primary has no income stream.
we’re looking at a $200-225/month ($0DAS) subaru impreza or hyundai elantra or '19 base sonata.
thx for the input
Yes it’s possible to cosign a lease like you would cosign a loan. You may be able to boost the approval odds but you might still be stuck with a lower tier RF since you aren’t the primary. Not to mention the primary has no income stream…
Basically, the pro goes to your brother at the expense of your con.
Reading this headline made me cringe
There’s 3 points here that are negative. Low score, lack of history, no income.
To answer your question if you can co-sign:
Yes
To answer your question about pros and cons to consider:
The cons far outweigh the pros for you.
Just throwing a thought out there but if you’re going to be on the lease anyway have you considered being the primary and having him pay you directly? It’ll count towards his credit and you can protect yourself by making sure payments are being made.
Is this possible? Can he insure the car himself if I’m primary.
The best way to do this is for you to be primary borrower with brother co-signing. Insurance will be in your name with your brother additionally insured. The other thing to consider is garage address for the insurance
If you trust him, best way to go in terms of qualifying for top tier credit.
If I cosign will my credit score (800+) be used to determine lease terms or will it be his (650+). Itll be hard to hack a lease then. Maybe we should reconsider. Anyone know definitely?
Wow you have an 800+ credit score and you’re considering co-signing?? Fellow 800 scorer myself here and I’m surprised to hear that.
To each their own but personally I would reconsider. Or do what you can as to not put your financial future in his hands.
I’m late 20s with only 10 years credit history and not those crazy high paid. (I do qualify for CVRP low income…)
I’m still able to cosign 5 leases for my relatives. They are mostly new immigrants with less than 2 years or limited credit history (FICO 6xx), but they do have a job and income.
Some lender would ask you to be the primary lessee
Pros:
Incentives - if you qualify for loyalty/grad/military/fleet, he gets the benefit
Helping him building credit
Cons:
Those had been told above by Hackers
Insurance would still be higher than used car, and you require for full coverage
Once again, if you are the lead on the app, then yes it should be your score. If you co-sign, his score will be play a bigger factor.
They will use your credit score to get the tier 1 credit, if you have strong credit history and income
So to clarify, brother will be primary but if I cosign contract will be based on my credit score?
I dont want to put adult brother on my insurance. That’s my I dont want to be primary.
I already answered this question. NO. You have it backwards. More weight will be placed on your score only if you are the primary borrower. Double check with the finance manager at the dealership if you want confirmation
He can get his own policy as long as the car is insured, they don’t care whose policy it is.
If he only has limited history, 90% of the chance that you will be asked to be the primary in order to get the credit approval.
Regarding the insurance, he could get his own
The policy will need to be in both names if op is the main borrower. And if brother has limited history, his quote is going to be significantly higher
Not true, I have a friend who is borrowing my car and he isn’t even on the Lease contract but was able to have the vehicle insured. I do not have an active policy for it at the moment. No issues what so ever as long is it covered and has the minimum required insurance coverages as stated in the contract.