How Divorce Affects Buying a New Home
The best time to ask this question is before the divorce happens, and the best people to ask are qualified divorce attorneys and tax professionals who understand the many tax issues relevant before, during, and after the dissolution of a marriage.
It's true that when a person goes solo, so goes a significant piece of their buying power, but that's not the whole story. Unless certain provisions and agreements are made, an ex-spouse may become liable for debts created by the other ex-spouse.
And for couples who have been previously divorced, it behooves both parties in the new relationship to fully investigate the financial implications of their former marriages on their current financial situation.
And when you're putting together your file of documents, make sure you put a copy of your divorce decree in there as well. A lender may request to see it.
Did you know your loan officer can be an effective ally in fixing errors on your credit report? If you go to a lender and your loan gets rejected due to a credit error that you can prove, pull together that paperwork, put it in your loan officer's hands and let her go to work on the problem. The credit reporting agencies tend to listen to lending officers because lenders are the credit bureaus' biggest customers.
Can my credit report hurt my chances for a job?
It's possible. A prospective employer can legally pull your credit report. It is far more damaging to you if you lie on a job application, but certain companies want to know how leveraged you are if they are a business that worries about theft or the wrong people having control of funds.
