Joint bank account and car loan question...

[bbqrobj]

Hi all,

I am currently on a joint bank account with my mother so I can do her banking for her as she is disabled. This was her idea several years ago. She will be depositing a large sum of money into this account due to the sale of my grandfather's house. I am planning to buy a new car of my own and have to list all accounts I have for the financing application. So I assume I need to list this joint account as well?

My mom is worried that if I list this account as an asset for my loan, and she wanted to get a new car down the road also, that she could not list the account as her asset because I already did. I don't really know how this works because we both have equal rights to the account. If the money is there, then we should both be able to show it as our asset, right? Or do we have to list half of the account since there are two of us?

I am not using any of the money in the joint account for the loan, it's just a savings account. I also have a bank account of my own that is separate so I could just list that on the application, but I want to be honest.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Rob

[marvholly]

I can only tell youwhat my family has done. DD1, my brother & I are ALL signatories on my parents checking account. this was set up MANY years ago first for me to pay their bills while they traveled and then for my daughter to pay them. Brother has their personal and medical POAs. Brother currently writes checks for all my Dad's bills.

NONE of us ever listed or would consider listing their assets on a loan application. This $$ is NOT ours to spend for ourselves in any way, shape or form.

Frankly, it has been a MAJOR PITA for me since their checking bank runs MONTHLY credit checks on all signatories. It has cost me MAJOR FICO points.

[bjl584]

Hi all,

I am currently on a joint bank account with my mother so I can do her banking for her as she is disabled. This was her idea several years ago. She will be depositing a large sum of money into this account due to the sale of my grandfather's house. I am planning to buy a new car of my own and have to list all accounts I have for the financing application. So I assume I need to list this joint account as well?

My mom is worried that if I list this account as an asset for my loan, and she wanted to get a new car down the road also, that she could not list the account as her asset because I already did. I don't really know how this works because we both have equal rights to the account. If the money is there, then we should both be able to show it as our asset, right? Or do we have to list half of the account since there are two of us?

I am not using any of the money in the joint account for the loan, it's just a savings account. I also have a bank account of my own that is separate so I could just list that on the application, but I want to be honest.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Rob

I don't think that you should list it. It's your Mom's money. You just have access to it.

Besides,
Eveytime I bought a car and financed it, all that anyone ever cared about was my income. I never had to disclose assets.

[bbqrobj]

Sounds good to me, i won't list it. I have my own account, very good FICO score and credit. I was just confirming that it was not necessary to list on an application. I dont want to cause myself any headaches by ommitting income sources.

Thanks all,

Rob

[Petunia 100]

I can only tell youwhat my family has done. DD1, my brother & I are ALL signatories on my parents checking account. this was set up MANY years ago first for me to pay their bills while they traveled and then for my daughter to pay them. Brother has their personal and medical POAs. Brother currently writes checks for all my Dad's bills.

NONE of us ever listed or would consider listing their assets on a loan application. This $$ is NOT ours to spend for ourselves in any way, shape or form.

Frankly, it has been a MAJOR PITA for me since their checking bank runs MONTHLY credit checks on all signatories. It has cost me MAJOR FICO points.

Good news. Soft inquiries do not impact your FICO at all whatsoever. Only hard inquiries do.

What are inquiries and how do they affect my FICO score?

[marvholly]

Petunia
I am aware of that. However, this is the ONLY credit check on my report for nearly 7 years and I keep losing a few points every quarter.

NOTHING else negative. Mtg paid off. CC bills paid in TOTAL every month. No issues of any outstanding medical, cable, internet..............outstanding bills.

[kv968]

Petunia
I am aware of that. However, this is the ONLY credit check on my report for nearly 7 years and I keep losing a few points every quarter.

NOTHING else negative. Mtg paid off. CC bills paid in TOTAL every month. No issues of any outstanding medical, cable, internet..............outstanding bills.

I'd have to wonder if the bank's credit checks are the thing shaving off the points. They shouldn't be doing hard pulls but I'd call them and ask them just to make sure.

The only thing I could think of, since you pay everything on time, is that maybe since you don't have a mortgage or possibly any type of installment loan and just revolving credit, that may ding your score. Who knows with the way these companies figure some of this stuff out.

I'd just check with the bank and see what kind of credit inquiry they're making. If it's a hard pull ask them why and ask them to stop it.

[Petunia 100]

Petunia
I am aware of that. However, this is the ONLY credit check on my report for nearly 7 years and I keep losing a few points every quarter.

NOTHING else negative. Mtg paid off. CC bills paid in TOTAL every month. No issues of any outstanding medical, cable, internet..............outstanding bills.

There is a section in your credit report which lists hard inquiries and soft inquiries. Have you looked to see where the bank is showing up? It should be listed under soft since you haven't applied for new credit.

Having no mortgage is a negative when it comes to credit scores. To score perfectly in this area you need a mortgage, an installment loan, and revolving lines of credit.

Is your score still above 740? 740 is considered "excellent", so as long as you are above that, you are fine.

Have you heard about Credit Karma? It pulls your info from Trans World and calculates your score. It has a nifty tool where you can change your particulars and it will re-calculate your score. It's kind of fun to play around with. Credit Karma is free, but you have to input your SS#, which some aren't willing to do. creditkarma.com

[disneysteve]

I am currently on a joint bank account with my mother so I can do her banking for her as she is disabled.

I'd recommend you change that immediately. You should NOT have a joint account with your mother. She should have a solo account and you should have power of attorney, giving you the authority to write checks and make transactions.

With a joint account, the money is considered to belong to both parties equally. If anything were to happen to you, half of the money in that account would be considered an inheritance for your mother. If you were to be sued for some reason, your mother could lose those assets in a settlement against you. A joint account puts her money at risk unnecessarily.

[snafu]

Power of Attorney status is excellent and covers lots of situations which aren't anticipated but before setting this up, please check with the specific bank as they may have preferred phrases inserted in the document. Just now banks are touchy about details.

[bbqrobj]

I'd recommend you change that immediately. You should NOT have a joint account with your mother. She should have a solo account and you should have power of attorney, giving you the authority to write checks and make transactions.

With a joint account, the money is considered to belong to both parties equally. If anything were to happen to you, half of the money in that account would be considered an inheritance for your mother. If you were to be sued for some reason, your mother could lose those assets in a settlement against you. A joint account puts her money at risk unnecessarily.

Thanks, I'll pass on the info to her.

EDIT ** I'm reading a lot of info online where banks are not honoring power of attorney documents due to "staleness" or some bank fine print. I am not sure this is the best route to go. I don't want any issues like the horror stories I am reading. I suppose we will have to call her attorney and see what she recommends.