could that ever be a problem? it's because I moved to his house after we got married and he never bothered adding my name to them. I've been paying the bills, should I have my husband add my name? if yes, why?
2007-10-25 09:10:57 · 17 answers · asked by S007 3 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
Thanks all for your responses. Yes, I have excellent credit and I get my cell phone bills and personal bills at our address, so it doesn't look like I need to add my name to the utilities (Florida). Thanks again :-)
2007-10-25 09:37:15 · update #1
Utility companies DO NOT report on any credit bureau UNLESS you don't pay the bill. There is absolutely no benefit to you adding your name to the bills. Other than cell phone companies, you will even be able to make changes to the accounts without your husband's concent in most cases.
2007-10-25 09:21:18 · answer #1 · answered by orangeflameninja 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you already have a good credit established I wouldn't worry too much about it. The only time that this would cause an issue is if you tried calling on his behalf to have something changed or a technician come out to the house. If you do not have a good credit history with any of the utility companies I would have your husband add you to them so that you can help raise your credit. If for some reason you ever try getting utilities in your name, some companies like to see that you have had a prior history with other utility companies. If they don't see that history they may charge you a deposit.
2007-10-25 09:14:46 · answer #2 · answered by vanstelp 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you might need a utility bill for something official at some point so it's a good idea to change the name to yours or add yours to something simple like a gas bill but you might want to keep only one name on most of them...that way if you ever run into financial problems and can't pay things off on time, only one of you will end up with the bad credit and the other one will still have the freedom of taking out a loan if you needed the money.
2007-10-25 09:15:32 · answer #3 · answered by quambewy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Working on getting the collection information is the best first thing you can do for your credit score. Your next big problem is your credit usage. Credit usage of 30% or less of what is available demonstrates a responsible use of credit. To determine your credit usage add all the credit limits for your cards, and all the current balances. Credit Usage = current balances / credit limits. A credit usage of .25 would be 25%. Your Credit Usage is 97% - that is very bad. It would not be a good idea to transfer the balance. Your best bet is to stop using those cards and pay them down as quickly as possible. Pick one (either the one with the highest interest rate, or the one with the lowest balance) - and pay as much on that card as you can. Only pay the minimum on the other card. What I am doing on one of my cards is that every payday I pay as much as I can - I get paid every 2 weeks - so every pay day I pay half of what I am going to pay for the month. I also pay online - and have the money taken out of my checking account. The sooner in the month that I can pay on my account - the lower my Daily Average Balance is when they calculate the interest charge. As a response to your statement "I have never missed a payment on either card but I have gone over the limit on the first card when the interest was added. I really don't understand why that's over the limit because technically I didn't SPEND over my limit but that's what they told me and that's why the interest rate is so high." You do not have a "Spending Limit" - you have a "Credit Limit". Finance charges are added to your balance BEFORE they mail you your bill - so make sure to leave a gap for that. Be very careful here - Your $990 balance will generate about a $17.74 finance charge and put you over your limit again. Your $2860 will generate about a $71.48 finance charge and put you very close to your limit.
2016-04-10 05:08:10 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Usually the utility bills are only filed under one social security number anyway -- irregardless of how many names are listed. Adding your name would make no difference.
The only problem would be if you divorced. I'm guessing you're happily married, so that's not going to be an issue.
2007-10-25 10:02:36 · answer #5 · answered by leysarob 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure about where you live, but here in Hawai'i, our utility companies won't let us have 2 names on the account. Weird! I don't know what the problem is with that!!?
Usually, they don't care who's name is on the bill, as long as it gets paid. When my dad got sick, I moved back home to help take care of him & help with the finances. After he died (1999), I just kept paying it.
When my fiance moved in, he started paying it with his check. Still under my dad's name, but they didn't care. We tried to change it to my fiance's name, but they wanted to charge us $75...just to change it to a new name & wouldn't allow 2 names. They did allow us to change it to my mom's name at no charge since she is his surviving widow, & we still pay it with his check.
As long as you pay on time, it won't effect his credit report. So, unless you & your honey are having problems ... which seems unlikely (because break-ups can really mess with credit reports if one person is vindictive...been there)., it shouldn't matter that it is under his name.
If you are hoping to build your own credit history, make sure you have a few department store cards & credit cards. Use them occassionally instead of cash/check & pay them off in full monthly to establish your own good credit report & score or rating, & to avoid un-necessary finance charges.
2007-10-25 09:27:57 · answer #6 · answered by Yobo Cat's Mom 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why NOT? Your husband should be willing to make this addition/change to your account; should something happen to him (sudden death), you will have a difficult time getting credit if you don't already have a payment record established in your name.
2007-10-25 09:14:21 · answer #7 · answered by miz.bhavin 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, because you will not be able to make any changes to the accounts if needed. Also if you would have a problem with one you may not be able to schedule repairs.
2007-10-25 09:16:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need your name on something including the house. Your married now and it's no longer his and yours. It's ours. Plus if something should ever happen to you what proof do you have that you ever lived there?
2007-10-25 09:16:19 · answer #9 · answered by Redbutter 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes he should add your names on some doesn't matter if its all..the reason is sometimes if you are applying for something they want proof of a bill that has your address on it..
2007-10-25 09:14:50 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋