Co-Signing

Sometimes, a person’s income and/or credit need to be boosted by another applicant in order to get approved for financing at competitive rates and terms. This is where a cosigner comes in.

When it comes to the cosigner situation, everyone involved ultimately has the same concern: How long will this arrangement have to be in place for?

Technically, the cosigner is on the mortgage and title for the entire term of that mortgage. However, if the borrower feels that their income or credit has strengthened over time, they can apply to carry the mortgage on their own after a period of time. As long as the borrower qualifies to do this, and the lender doesn’t have a policy stating otherwise, the lender will most likely approve them to carry the mortgage on their own.

The minimum period of time that a lender will consider removing a cosigner from a mortgage is one year. Regardless, any time you get out of a mortgage before the scheduled term to make changes, you will be charged a payout penalty.

Once the cosigner is removed from your mortgage, you will need to pay a legal fee to remove them from your property title.