Cosign loan for child after bk

[Jf24]

Is it possible to cosign student loan for daughter starting college next year after I got ch7 discharge just last October?

[pamkev]

Don't do it even if you can. I did for my daughter and wish that I didn't, she is paying them. I can't wait to get them out of my name another year of on time payments by her and that will happen it just takes the burden off us.

I also thought I read somewhere that if your filed BK you can not co-sign and that will free up federal money for her to go to college.

Pam

[AngelinaCatHub]

You just got out of BK and why would you put your first step to repeat debt by assuming a loan for another person? I don't care who it is. I signed for a friend and owned that loan and lost that friend. Don't do the same stupid thing I did. If you have a creditor, you have someone else owning a piece of your life. You are finally free, so stay that way. Credit sells your future. Don't use it. 'Hub

[frogger]

It is probably possible to cosign, however if you do, be prepared to pay the loan back yourself. Not saying that your daughter will not pay it back, but you don't want to ever have family problems over a loan.

[Pjmax]

I understand as a parent you feel responsible for, and want to help with your daughter's education. We can't always do for our children everything we would like. Make an appointment with the school's financial aid office and explore ways to finance her education without you as a co-signer. It can be done. Help with cash where and when you can. Help with planning and budgeting advice. You will be passing on to your daughter valuable info about financial responsibilty. You are recovering from bankruptcy. Co-signing is digging yourself in deeper before you've had the chance to bounce back. If you make the difficult decision to NOT co-sign now, you will be doing the right thing for your own financial recovery, and hopefully, will be in better shape down the road to provide help in the future.

[AngelinaCat]

Jf24, you are just in the beginning of financial recovery for yourself. I know you wish to do and provide for your daughter, but NOW is the time to show her what financial responsibility is. She certainly knows that you are in BK, and she should respect that. She needs to work for a while and save up some money. She may have to go to school part time and work part time. She can apply for grants. If she is looking to go to an expensive out of state school, she needs a reality check and go to an In-state school. There are many ways it can be done.

A very wise man offered this opinion:

Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.

Robert A. Heinlein

[bcohen]

I would sooner take poison than cosign a loan for ANYONE, even a regular kind of loan such as a credit card or car loan. At least with a regular loan, you could rid yourself of the debt in bankruptcy if that becomes necessary. Student loan debt will follow you to the grave, and the government (or private guarantor organization) can even garnish your Social Security and other retirement funds!

I suggest you tell your daughter that unfortunately, you don't feel comfortable cosigning for any student loans, and that she needs to apply for financial aid on her own. It is possible that she will have to wait a certain number of years to go to college in order to be treated as "independent" from you. I remember when I graduated from high school, I could not afford to go to college without taking on crippling student loan debt--which I refused to do--because my parents were considered too "wealthy" for me to qualify for financial aid, but not willing to impoverish themselves to pay for my education (not that I blame them). So instead, I went to work, and didn't go to college until much later, when I lost my job in the economic collapse. I was 29 at the time, and I was able to qualify for need-based financial aid which pays almost all of the tuition and fees.

I believe that after your daughter is 25 years old, she can apply for financial aid based solely on her income and assets, and without disclosing any information about her parents. As an added benefit of going to college at an older age, she will be more mature, and more focused on her studies, rather than drinking, partying, and having fun.

[tobee43]

you would still apply for the loan and then get denied. once you are denied your daughter takes that denial and then can apply on her own and it will or usually works just fine to get her student loans.

while your name may not be on the loan itself, that doesn't mean you can't help her with the payments

[TheBajan]

We are in a Chap 13. Our youngest son is in his second year of college. Last year they wanted us to take out a PLUS loan for his tuition. We told him we are not allowed to take on any credit while in BK. The school asked for a copy of our BK papers and a letter from our attorney indicating that and then and that was it. After that, they allowed our son to take out an additional loan on his own.

I want to point out that years ago we co-signed a student loan for our daughter. It was the worst thing we ever did financially. It never got paid and we ended paying it ourselves ($15,000). It was at the beginning of our financial slide and our relationship took years to recover. Our son knows that we would not co-sign for him even if we were allowed to. I completely agree with AC.

Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy!

[AngelinaCatHub]

you would still apply for the loan and then get denied. once you are denied your daughter takes that denial and then can apply on her own and it will or usually works just fine to get her student loans.

while your name may not be on the loan itself, that doesn't mean you can't help her with the payments

Actually that is a pretty brilliant move. Not only is the OP off the hook but looks good for "trying". The only down side I could see is if he actually is approved. Then it throws a wrench into both ideas. I think it would have to be told to the daughter that this is a ploy to help her get aid and by chance if accepted, they would have to back out. Good thought though. 'Hub

[tobee43]

hub, that actually was the way it worked in the "old" days or back in the 90's. each school handles financial aid differently. it's kinda like trying to get an FHA loan from a bank that has different guidelines than that of the FHA. usually at the beginning of the year the child gets their financal aid award letter. most have included are those parent plus loans, but if the parent doesn't qualify the child is allowed to apply for the loans themselves, but they have to have the denial first from the parents to be able to apply themselves. isn't that a kicker, so the child can't even apply themselves if they are still your dependent.

maybe times have changed now!

[Jf24]

Thanks for all the replies and advice. I like the idea about showing Bk papers so she would get the extra loan if needed. We are talking her into going to a local school.