Dear Liz: I cosigned for a truck six years ago for a friend whose family was in trouble. He missed four payments, and even though I made more than $2,000 of payments for him in an attempt to keep my credit reports clean, my scores have been seriously damaged.
Is there any way to clear this up, or does a good turn remain unrewarded — and for how long?
Answer: The phrase you’re looking for is “No good deed goes unpunished,” and cosigning a loan for someone who doesn’t make the payments is a punishing experience indeed.
There is no way to clear up this mess. You put your good credit in your friend’s unworthy hands when you cosigned the loan. What’s more, since you had good credit and your friend didn’t, each late payment actually hurt your credit scores more than they hurt his.
If the loan has been paid off, your friend won’t be able to do further damage to your credit, but it will take a while for your scores to return to their old levels. The late payments will remain on your credit report for seven years, although their effect will fade over time if you handle the rest of your credit responsibly.
If the loan is still outstanding, you might want to seriously consider paying it off so that your friend can’t inflict fresh injury on your scores.
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