A friend of mine is going through a tough time and has really bad credit also. She does have a savings account at a credit union, but they will not give her a checking account or an ATM/check card since she had bounced checks a while back. Her boyfriend and her are going to probably be parting ways, therefore we are trying to cover her butt financially since her $ is direct deposited into his account for bills, etc. So I was wondering - if I open up a checking or possibly just savings account with me as primary and her as secondary, will they still run a credit check/chex on her? She needs a checkcard even if it's just from a savings account. I'm not 100% sure I trust my name on checks with her since she has bounced them in the past - just becuase I don't want anything negative coming from a joint account with her. I know that might sound selfish, but I worked really hard to get my credit where it is and I don't want to do something stupid to screw it up. But I want to help her if I can without damaging my credit history or anything negative with Chex. Anyone have any experience with this? Or any ideas on how to help without setting myself up to experience some potential headaches? I think my gut is telling me that mixing $ and friendship probably isn't the best idea, but I wouldn't be putting any of my $ into this account - I'd just open it so that she could use it.... or is this just a dumb idea from the start? Thanks, Ozzy.
It would be FINE if you KNOW FOR A FACT that there WON'T be any BOUNCED CHECKS...if there is any BOUNCED CHECKS...YOU WILL GET HURT!!!
I have not heard you say anything selfish. Do you ever watch Judge Judy? One episode keeps popping out in my mind where the ex-bf sues the ex-gf cause she wrote a bad check on the acct after they were split up. Judge Judy said 'it is just stupid to have a joint acct. unless you are married'
Hey Ozzi, Don't do it. You've worked way too hard to get where you are to allow something like this to screw it up. You're letting your big heart get in the way here. You can help your friend by showing her how to fix her own problems. One time, a long time ago I was in trouble and asked a friend to help me. He said: "I cannot step in and remove you from a situation GOD himself may have you in, in order to get you to learn something". HE WAS RIGHT! Let God do his work. As far as "not putting any money into the account". Yes you will have to, eventually, just to keep from getting burned. Remember, if she screws up once you may pay for it for 7 years and have your great scores trashed. Follow your gut Liz. (huggs)
Ozzy, Honor your gut! If the bank uses Chexsystems they will run it on both of you. She can have bills automatically paid from a savings account if she can't get a checking. She may have to live without an atm card -- I live without an atm card just fine. Mr. Sassy refuses to write down withdrawls so I refuse to have one, LOL, it's an old fight, he just CAN'T -- anyway, we live without it. We either make a bank run during the work week or know where we can write a check for over the purchase amount. Or, she can find a non-chex bank, there's a list of them posted here. Sassy
Dude I don't think it is harsh or unkind to say no, you can't put yourself in harms way to help out a person who needs to figure out how to help themselves. I think you have your heart in the right place to even consider it.
Thanks so much, everyone, for your insights on this. Guess I'd really be asking for trouble... thanks for the reality check! =-) Ozzy.
Anyone have any experience with this? Or any ideas on how to help without setting myself up to experience some potential headaches? Ozzyburger ===================== Even if she doesn't screw up the checking account it could still mean trouble for you. Say she is using it to pay her bills from. If she becomes delinqint on her bills her creditors can come after you to pay up.
There are other options...she could get a prepaid Visa. I'm with the others...don't chance it. For all the best intentions sometimes stuff happens. L
