A: The good news is that credit histories of spouses are not merged. In fact, it is possible to keep your credit history completely separate from your future husband’s, as long as you don’t add each other to your existing accounts or get new credit in both your names.

Keep in mind, though, that if you live in a community property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin) debts incurred by either spouse during marriage are considered community property. That means if he does start qualifying for credit again, you could be responsible for any debts he incurs while you’re married.

Also be careful about helping your husband rebuild his credit by cosigning new loans with him. By cosigning, you will be entirely responsible for those loans or credit cards. I may sound a bit cynical, but I see these problems all time. While your betrothed may have told you his poor credit history was due to circumstances beyond his control (and that may be true), my experience is that most people with credit problems don’t learn skills they need to keep them from repeating their failures.

It sounds like you and your husband have different approaches to handling money. It’s best to sort those issues out before you tie knot, since money challenges are cited as number one cause of divorce. Before you walk down aisle, run – don’t walk – together to a money management course where you can learn how to see eye to eye on this important issue.

Developing a credit rebuilding strategy is not as complicated as it may seem, but it can be time consuming and process can be frustrating. Dealing with consumer reporting agencies, agencies responsible for maintaining credit files of consumers, requires that you know laws that govern these agencies and how to use them to your benefit. The Federal Trade Commission has developed a set of laws that protects consumer, and most important of these laws is Fair Credit Reporting Act, this law gives consumer right to make sure their credit report is accurate and up-to-date.

Before any strategy can be developed, a firm understanding of what tools are available to assist in implementation of developed strategy is essential, and most important of these tools is Fair Credit Reporting Act. Before you can start developing a strategy you have to know what F.C.R.A. entitles consumer to do about their credit report, and what is covered under this act:

•You have right to receive a copy of your credit report. The copy of your report must contain all of information in your file at time of your request. •You have right to a free copy of your credit report when your application is denied because of information supplied by a consumer reporting agency. Your request must be made within 60 days of receiving your denial notice. •If you contest completeness or accuracy of information in your report, you should file a dispute with consumer reporting agency, and with company that furnished information to consumer reporting agency. Both consumer reporting agency, and furnisher of information are legally obligated to reinvestigate your dispute within (30) days. •You have a right to add a summary explanation to your credit report if your dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction.