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Will my dad's credit card spending affect my home loan if I have joint account with him?

• My fiance and I are closing on a house and have been preapproved. We're just waiting for the appraisal to go through before we find out if we get the loan or not. We both have excellent credit scores (above 700). My dad has a credit card that he uses occasionally and always pays off completely and on time. When I left for college he gave me a joint card for emergencies. All the billing goes to him. This is partially why I believe my credit score is so good. I read that when closing on a house, it is advised that you don't spend over $50 with your credit card. I just found out my dad spent over $1000 dollars on his card last week. Will this affect me and my home loan? If you need anything clarified just ask, its hard to explain.

• Answer:

  If the card account is showing up on your credit report, yes, it may delay your application. What may happen is that when the loan officer pulls your report the day before closing (and he/she will, that is part of the new lending standards), the charge will show up. The underwriter will question the charge (they do not want you to run up any bills during the loan processing period). If you can convince the underwriter that the account is joint (shouldn't be too hard) and that the charge is your father's (see if he will get you a copy of the receipt with his signature on it), you should be okay. You may be able to circumvent this by calling the loan officer and explaining what happened and (after talking to your father) volunteer to provide a copy of the receipt.