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When should I add a co-borrower

How to know when adding a co-borrower will help

Judy avatar
Written by Judy
Updated over 3 years ago

Customers have the ability to add a co-borrower to increase their ability to get pre-qualified or see the more competitive offers. A co-borrower can be added to the Acorn form immediately after the primary applicant submits their information.

Benefits of a co-borrower: Some of our funding partners accept applications with co-borrowers, so we encourage adding a co-borrower when you apply. Adding a co-borrower can help customers:

  • get pre-qualified in cases where they may lack sufficient income or a strong enough credit score to qualify for the requested amount on their own.

  • get pre-qualified for a larger amount than they might individually.

  • If the amount requested is $25K+, adding a co-borrower may help you qualify for more competitive rates.

When will adding a co-borrower help?

  • if the amount requested is at least $5K

  • If the primary applicant has a credit score <680 and the co-borrower has a credit score of 680+

  • If the primary applicant has a credit score of 680+ and the co-borrower will add additional income without adding a significant amount of additional debt

  • If the co-borrower shares the same housing debt as the primary applicant (i.e. spouse/partner) - this can help lower the debt to income ratio see if this obligation is shared and the co-borrower does not increase the amount of debt that is shared with other additional monthly debt obligations.

Add Co-Borrower to loan application

Where in the loan application do I add a co-borrower?

The option to add the co-borrower appears after the primary applicant accepts terms and submits their application (see below)

Co-Borrower Phone App

Important Tip!

  • If you own with a mortgage or have a shared monthly housing payment:

    When the co-borrower is completing their portion of the application, make sure not to double count the housing payment if the primary applicant has already included the total monthly obligation on their portion of the application.

    • Example

      • The total monthly housing payment for your household = $1500

      • The primary applicant filled out the initial section of the application with $1500 when asked "What is your monthly housing payment"?

      In this example, when the co-borrower goes to complete their section of the application, they would respond to "What is your monthly housing payment" with $1 (the field won't allow you to enter $0) because the primary has already included the entire $1500 obligation in the first part of the application.

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