“To My Credit”

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Should you co-sign for your adult children to purchase a car?  Or illegally rent a car in your name for them to drive?

Signed,
Loan Agent

Dear Loan Agent,

You should never co-sign for anybody, and you should never do anything illegal.  God tells us to obey the laws of the land (Rom 13:1-4).  If you commit fraud in renting a car for your child, you are sinning.

Co-signing is similarly wrong.  Co-signing is the act of agreeing to take responsibility for paying the debts of someone else.  In essence, the bank has said that your child is too high of a risk to loan money to.  When you co-sign for them, you are saying that you are taking the risk that the bank is unwilling to.  God says that this is a very bad idea (Pr 17:18).  He also promises that you will suffer for it (Pr 11:15).  If you have co-signed for something, God tells you to do whatever it takes to get out of that situation (Pr 6:1-5).  Eventually, your children will be able to purchase that vehicle on their own.  It is a good thing for them to bear the burden of working for things on their own (Lam 3:27).  As it’s been said, “It builds character.”  Of course, you also always have the option of simply giving them the money if you feel they need it so badly.

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